Written by Adam Horth

One of the greatest challenges faced by real estate leaders is the attraction and recruitment of talented salespeople. So much so that these leaders often hang onto the wrong salespeople, believing that someone is better than no one.

When the real estate market is ‘hot’ (what we call a Seller’s Market), there are strong arguments for having boots on the ground. Now as there are undeniable signs that the market has slowed in many areas, it is important to re-evaluate your team members.

For agencies to thrive regardless of the market, their salespeople must have the right tools and skills for every market. As the leader of the agency, it is your duty to provide the environment for them to acquire and then implement these skills and tools.

Below are some key points to help ensure your salespeople are ready for today’s new market.

Change 1: Expectations

Good markets slowly condition salespeople to believe that every action they take will likely lead to a result. They become convinced that the marketing of a property will inevitably lead to inquiries, and showing a property to buyers will almost certainly lead to a sale.

In balanced markets, this is not the case. More energy must go into each transaction.

Salespeople should begin to change their expectations around their actions' return on investment. When they get comfortable with knowing more work is required to achieve the same level of results, they will become less frustrated and more focused on helping buyers and sellers achieve their goals. A true win/win outcome.

Change 2: Listing Presentations

In strong seller’s markets, salespeople tend to focus their listing presentations on their ability to sell a property quickly and for a high price. Often the agent that tells the sellers the highest price is the agent that wins the business. 

Yet to win the living room in today’s market, salespeople should adapt their presentation to focus on their strategy of securing the best buyer from the market rather than the inevitability of doing so.

Many sellers are less confident that a sale will be achieved with minimal fuss, and by extension, are becoming choosier with their choice of agent.

Encourage your salespeople to pivot presentations from “I have a buyer” to “I have a strategy”.

Change 3: Seller Communication

Every day, listed sellers ask the question, “What is my agent doing to sell my house today?” We need to have systems and strategies in place that guarantee our salespeople are constantly answering this question.

More guidance and coaching are required to successfully lead our sellers from listed to sold. High levels of communication are the foundation of this.

As a leader, you can support your team by making some of these calls yourself. In the Smartre Management System, we encourage the implementation of Leader’s Calls at the commencement of a campaign, and again at the 3- and 8-week milestones if a sale has not been achieved.

These calls are an opportunity for you to get feedback on your salespeople’s performance from those working closest with them.

Who Will Change?

The big question to ask is, which of your salespeople will change, and which won’t?

There is no escaping that a change in the market requires a change in knowledge, skill, and action. If you can’t change your salespeople, change your salespeople.

As previously mentioned, many real estate leaders hang onto team members they shouldn’t when the market turns. The right salesperson in one market isn’t necessarily the right salesperson in another.

Take the time to assess each of your salespeople and watch to see who is genuinely embracing change and who, if any, is reluctant.

If reluctance descends into refusal, then it will likely be time to move this salesperson on. Yet be mindful, that refusal and reluctance can sometimes be fear in disguise.

Skilled salespeople never fear the market. With skill, they know how to survive and thrive in any market.

Recruitment & Expenses

Consider your current recruitment strategies. What applicants are you attracting? Who will join your team next?

A skilled team is your ‘market insurance’. A skilled team ensures that your office prospers regardless of the market. If you have a skilled and active team, why would you ever need to worry about the market?

If your market is shifting, now is the time to focus on decreasing needless expenses and increasing revenue. Smartre Training can work with you and your salespeople to achieve both.

Winning Ways

Smartre Training works with real estate agencies in three ways: a Management System, Leadership Coaching, and a proven Sales System known as Winning Ways.

Winning Ways has been presented to thousands of real estate agents across the country for over three decades. Continually evolving, it ensures that salespeople in any area, in any market, can achieve results.

Winning Ways is exclusively available to the salespeople of agencies we work with. It is not open to the real estate industry at large.

Why? Because we believe that our members have a desire to do business better than their competitors. By better, we mean more ethically and more effectively. Winning Ways is designed to achieve these two aims.

It is a system of selling that is complemented by the Management and Leadership arms of our System.

If you’d like your salespeople to attend the next presentation of Winning Ways (in Brisbane in late August), we need to catch up and talk.

Reach out to me today and I can discuss how your team may be able to attend arguably Australia’s best Real Estate Sales Seminar.

A changing market must be met with change from within your office. And you, as the leader, must be the champion of that change.

To your success,

Adam Horth