To Win The Real Estate Game: You Need A Great Team!

Never go it alone, says Lee Iacocca!

Certainly there are games that you can play alone and sometimes there is a great value in playing a game that is solely determined by your expertise alone. And it’s true that the happiest people are those who are concentrating on being their own personal best, instead of proving something to the rest of the world. But the synergy that happens when others are included in the playing, when there is a team, expands the accomplishment and fun.

Corporate business has  whole departments focusing only on managing relationships with their clients: CRM, Customer Relationship Management. You’ve been told real estate is a numbers game. I believe passionately that it is easier to win the Real Estate Game when it is a relationship game instead of numbers game.

 One of the most common reasons for agent burnout is…

what used to work: just focusing on numbers, is returning less and less. You must do more, harder faster, just to keep up with what they used to be able to do if you focus just on numbers.

Does less effort……. more results sound appealing? Then,  building a great big team is key. With the new rules of real estate in the 21^st Century, new players emerge from unexpected places. What new players could give you a stronger team?

Think not only of the obvious people, but include everyone you do business with. People like to do business with people they know and like AND with people who do business with  them!

Creatively design a list of 100 people who could be part of your team. The Coachu Team 100  list can give you some ideas.

“The time to make friends is before you need them.”  John Wooden

New Players, New Positions

Traditionally the top agents have made some alliances with other  real estate related partners, such as your title company and your loan officers. Here is a chart you can use to identify these people

GROW YOUR NETWORK

Now, let’s expand the team!  There are, undoubtedly, many merchants or services that you use that would be good to add to your team. People like to do business with people who they know, like and trust AND people who do business with them. So over the next month, keep this list with you and each time you spend money somewhere, consider adding that person to your list. I’ve started this list for you. Expand it with additional categories that fit your life and business. These people will usually be others who are building their businesses and would benefit from some mutual referrals.

EXPAND YOUR GURU STATUS

You are already the Guru of Real Estate to a group of people. Maybe it is a small group of past customers, clients and your family. Or, maybe you have done a good job at creating a niche for yourself with a large group and you are THE GOLF COURSE PRPOPERTY GURU in your town. Regardless of how successful you have been in the past, the conscious expansion of products, services and people to serve your niche will make you more valuable and increase your guru status.

Who are your ideal clients are?  Who are those clients that you most often serve?  Where you are farming or prospecting? What hobbies or interests do you enjoy?   What are the common demographics of the people who are in these categories? What services or needs might be valuable or of interest to them? The list below to brainstorm these potential team players.

 If you are a golfer, it could be the golf courses, the golf shops, the golf pros, etc.

If you farm a neighborhood, all the small business owners, entrepreneurs or service people who live in that neighborhood or want the business of those living there.

These three charts give you  100 contacts. It is estimated that every person has an average of 200-250 people in their sphere of influence. You are shifting your focus from looking for the client to focusing on people who may know and refer a client. Your sphere is then greatly expanded. If you add 2 new team members each week will expand it to over 100 by the end of the year! This is a more profitable and fun way to prospect than cold calling.

Once you have expanded the team, it is important that you make them feel important and part of the team. An ongoing program and automatic system to stay in contact, to reward and to send as many outgoing referrals as you can is critically important.