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One of my favorite authors and thinkers is Tony Schwartz.  Tony is the CEO and founder of The Energy Project, a consulting firm that helps individuals and organizations solve intractable problems and add more value in the world by widening their world view. (https://theenergyproject.com/team/tony-schwartz) 

Tony is the author of several books but he is perhaps best known for The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. 

I want to share with you one of Tony’s deceptively simple diagrams that illustrates my personal struggle with getting everything done I want to get done – without becoming a danger to myself and others.  This diagram helped inform my thinking about The Rhythm of Our Business and embracing the natural seasonality of the real estate market to ensure we are prepared to seize every opportunity that presents itself, while preserving our health and personal well-being. 

The Rhythm of our Business, and Tony’s diagram below, are both about taking care of the goose that lays the golden eggs.  (That’s you!)

The goal is to spend as much time as possible on the right side of the diagram, alternating between the Performance and Recovery zones.  We find ourselves on the left side of the diagram when we strive to stay in the performance zone at the expense of recovery.  My goal is to be in the performance zone whenever it makes sense, and to spend as much time as possible in recovery before I find myself in the survival or burnout zones

 I hope you find as much value in this simple diagram as I have over the years. 

As always – here’s to the good life!

Care To Learn More About Our Company?

This franchising information is not intended as an offer to sell a franchise or the solicitation of an offer to buy a franchise.  Certain states regulate the offer and sale of franchises.  If you are a resident of one of these states we will not offer or sell you a franchise unless and until we have complied with the applicable presale filing, registration, and disclosure requirements for your state.

I have written repeatedly about the 4 Freedoms for the Real Estate Professional. They are the Freedom of Money, the Freedom of Purpose, the Freedom of Relationship, and the Freedom of Time.  On a practical, day-to-day level, the Freedom of Time has everything to do with balancing the need to seize the opportunities that come your way, with the need to take care of yourself. 

Getting control of your time is not easy.  It requires intentional effort and more importantly, an absolute self-confidence in the value you bring to the market.  A real estate professional should not look at their practice any differently than any other professional would.  You would never pick up the phone and randomly call a doctor, lawyer, or accountant and demand an immediate audience. 

Don’t let anyone try to do that to you.

Having said that, there is a rhythm to our business.  While working by referral undoubtedly makes for far more consistent income throughout the year, there is still a seasonality to the market.  We need to be aware of it and we need to make the seasonality work for us.

Having my tracked my personal productivity and the productivity of my agents for several years now, I know exactly when I need to be ‘in’ my business, working ‘on’ my business, and when I need to be focusing on recovery and rejuvenation so I can go out and do all over again.

Holidays and Long Weekends

First of all, free time, time off, a holiday, or a vacation should not be something you have to earn and reward yourself with.  For a full time, ‘all in’ professional regular time off is absolutely necessary to continue to operate in a peak state.  If you do not take time to rest, rejuvenate, focus on your family, and do something outside of real estate I guarantee at some point you will burn out, lose interest, start making mistakes, and get sick.

I hear time and time again from agents that they like to be on call over holiday weekends because they think they are going to get a step ahead of the slacker agents enjoying some much-needed time off with their families.  I used to be the same way until I realized that the random showings and appointments I took rarely resulted in a closing, much less a referral relationship of any kind.

Therefore, my first piece of advice is this, mark off every national holiday on your calendar as a free day for the rest of your life.  Don’t just mark off the holiday, mark off the weekend that surrounds it.  Start with the Big Six national holidays.  Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. 

Take this time.  Plan for this time.  Your clients are taking this time off and more importantly they are going to understand if you are.  Customers who do not understand can go find another agent. 

The ‘All In’ Season

Spring and summer without a doubt is the prime season for real estate.  Your referral-based business will produce significant steady income throughout the year, but spring and summer is when you have the opportunity to grow your business and harvest additional financial rewards.

It is easy to see why.  Not only does your past client activity heat up with the change in the weather, but so do your incoming referrals.  Client activity and customer activity both increase in the spring.  It happens every year.

Here in Ohio I tell my sellers that they want to get their house on the market right around Valentine’s Day.  That way when the very first new buyers of the year start to dust off their Realtor.com apps, their property is ready and waiting.  If the winter has been particularly harsh, that first glimpse of warmer weather leads to a dramatic increase in activity in March.

Spring and summer is when we have to be in our business and committed 100%.  Spring and summer is when I know I will be working late at least a couple of nights a week and probably at least one day each weekend.  The business is there.  Our clients need our help and this is what we signed up for.  It’s time to go to work!

The latter half of February, March and April are prime time but there are breaks in the business where things naturally slow down a bit. Significantly, there is a pause in activity during Easter and spring break season.  Your clients are taking a break and I want you to take a break here too.

May, June and July are generally the busiest months of the year.  We are going to be putting in the time, we are going to be busy, we are going to be having a great time making things happen and we are going to make a lot of money. But there are natural breaks I want you to take here too. 

Memorial Day weekend comes the same time every year and I want you to enjoy it.  June tends to slow down every year for a few days around graduation party season and Father’s Day.  If you can swing it is a great time to schedule a weekend or two off.  July is super important but again, take the 4th of July off.  4th of July week is one of the most popular weeks for summer vacations for your clients so it is a great time for you to take off too.

July is transitional.  A lot of business will occur in a short time between the 4th and the last week of the month.  By the end of July however, things start to slow down as people squeeze in their last bit of vacation time before school starts again. 

Which brings us to August.

August – The Mid-Year Recovery

There is still business to be had in August but in reality, it is one of the slowest months of the year for placing houses under contract and securing new business.  It is however one of the biggest months for closings and your customer service and contract management skills are going to be on full display. 

You have just spent six months making the most of your business and opportunity.  Whether you want to admit it or not, you need, and yes deserve a break.  This is the month to take a vacation and back off a few days.  Celebrate. It has been a hell of a year so far.

The ‘On the Business’ Season

While you will still be enjoying a steady stream of referrals over the next few months the fact is it is time look at the past spring and summer with a critical eye.  What worked, what did not, what goals did you meet, and where did you fall short?  While September will be relatively busy, and October is a little bit like August with quite a few closings, now through November needs to be where you start thinking about next year’s ‘All In’ season.

I like to focus on developing new capabilities, marketing ideas, advertising plans and financial goals for the next twelve months during the fall.  I like to make sure I create space to reflect on and make plans to improve my business.  The pace this time of year is a less frenzied than spring and summer.  This is the time of year the National Association of Realtors schedules their convention.  This is the time of year to get better, sharpen the saw, and set new business goals and standards.

The Holidays

The holiday season in the USA starts with Halloween and spills like a hangover into the first week of January.  It happens this way every year.  From a working by referral perspective the holidays are the most important time of the year. This is the time when making calls, writing notes and cards, giving gifts and going to parties and visiting with your database are the most natural things in the world. 

Those agents that approach the holiday season with a plan and sense of purpose can contact everyone in their database at least once and sometimes more than once.  The seeds you plant and the referrals you earn during November and December can create the closings in January and February that other agents can only dream about.  This is an ‘All In’ season but in a different way than spring and summer.

The Year-End Recovery

Once again you have done great work the last three or four months and it is time celebrate, take time for yourself and your family and get ready for the New Year.  Christmas through New Year’s should be a guilt-free opportunity to enjoy yourself and your accomplishments.  After all, spring and summer is right around the corner. 

Here’s to you and the good life!

Care To Learn More About Our Company?

I believe that where our passion for our business intersects with our desire to be heroes to our clients, lies our opportunity as entrepreneurs to be rewarded handsomely for our efforts. This is not a magic formula. If it were, many of us would be very well-off indeed. Profitability requires focus, structure, a set of proven processes and intentional execution.

Hero

Adding Value

Being of Use

Trusted Collaborator

$

Passion

Doing what you love for

 people who appreciate

what you have to offer.

Our business plan is deceptively simple.  It is designed to offer our agents and clients superior experiences not regularly obtainable in the market, at a competitive if not premium price.  In short, we offer superior value.  My goal is to offer our broker owner partners and franchisees superior value as well.

Care To Learn More About Our Company?

A primary tenant of our company culture and staffing strategy is to create an environment where everyone is free to do what they do best.  Every team member in our offices has a defined role on their team and are given the tools and the latitude to do their jobs. We have a number of hiring tools to assist us in identifying ‘right-fit’ team members.  One way to ensure that our agents are free to do what they do best is to support them with a staff person we call the Agent Service Manager (ASM).

The Agent Service Manager’s sole responsibility is to support the daily business activities of the agents assigned to him or her.  The ASM is often the primary point of contact between the agent and the brokerage. Consequently, this key team member must embody the best of what ROOST Real Estate Co. and Lucky Town Real Estate Co. aspire to be.  

The ASM manages all of the agent services the brokerage provides and provides ongoing technical and training support as needed.  The ASM may be licensed or unlicensed but we feel an unlicensed person is best so that it is clear that he or she is a supporting role and not in competition with the agents.  The ASM plays a critical role in the successful day to day functioning of the brokerage.

The ASM in many respects functions as a personal business assistant to the agents assigned to them.  This means, within reason, of course, the ASM is expected to do whatever it takes to assist the agent in facilitating the completion of a transaction and getting paid.  This may mean scanning and emailing documents, getting signatures, pulling files, making copies, scheduling a random appointment, or in many cases just being there to listen when the agents are ‘in the weeds’.  

Job Description / Agent Service Manager (ASM)  

It is important to highlight what we do not want to task the ASM with.  The ASM is not the company bookkeeper or the office receptionist.  They are not a salesperson, but they may interact with customers and clients during the performance of their duties.  Overall office sales volume and agent count will determine the ultimate task list for any staff member, but as a rule, if the task does not directly benefit at least one agent, the task should be performed by someone else.

The ASM needs to be proficient with Microsoft Office, be able to navigate the web, maintain electronic files, use all of the tools we provide our agents, and become familiar with the deposit and check writing functions of QuickBooks Online.  We recommend the ASM candidate take a Kolbe A (www.Kolbe.com) assessment and complete an office task ‘test’ prior to extending an offer.  He or she must be available in the office during normal business hours.

ASM Support For Working by Referral

We offer Referral Maker CRM (Client Relationship Manager) to our agents.  This desktop and mobile platform is offered by Buffini and Company our training and coaching partners.  Referral Maker allows agents to track their referral creating activities, relationships, and transactions.  Referral Maker for Teams allows the broker or sales manager to manage leads, and reward referral producing activities for all agents in the office.  

The ASM assists new agents with importing their database of relationships to their Referral Maker account, directing agents to experts at Buffini and Company when questions arise, and accessing each agent’s database each month in order to create the monthly Item of Value (IOA) mailings.

A key tenant of ‘working by referral’ is the personalized Buffini and Company designed monthly Item of Value mailings.  We mail up to 100 Items of Value each month to our agents’ very best clients – at no cost to the agent.  This jump-start to the Working by Referral business model is one of the most valuable services we provide. The ASM must insure this monthly task is executed without fail.

ASM ‘Backstage’ Support

A real estate professional focused on building relationships, generating leads, and closing transactions doesn’t always have time for all of the ‘backstage’ activities that make the ‘on stage’ work possible.  That is why we offer each agent a complete productivity package designed to allow our agents more time with their clients and customers.

Each agent is set up with an account at Centralized Showing Services or Showingtime Showing Service to eliminate the need to personally set up showings on their listings.  Each of these services provides a mobile app allowing each agent to quickly and easily tailor the service to the needs of each seller.  These services and others like them, automatically ask the showing agents for feedback and that feedback can be shared directly with the seller in real-time.

Each agent is set up with a Dotloop account.  Dotloop allows agents to create contracts and listing packages electronically on their desktop computers or mobile devices.  It provides a secure platform for obtaining signatures electronically and ensuring that contract packages are complete for compliance purposes.

Each agent is set up with a personal 8X8 Phone Number.  Our offices are equipped with an 8X8 state-of-the-art cloud-based auto-attendant and voicemail system.  The 8X8 system allows each office to tailor their answering and communication services to the needs of their specific clients and market.  Through either a desktop computer or mobile app, agents direct their incoming calls to ring through to their desk, home office, cell phone, a fellow team member, or to voicemail, at select times of the day.  Agents can be notified about voicemail messages via email as well.  

Conclusion

Each of the above services requires periodic upgrading and additional training from time to time.  The Agent Service Manager is responsible for implementing not only upgrades to existing services as needed, but also bringing new agent services online as opportunities arise.  The ASM is ultimately responsible for making sure the office ‘works’ – meaning the office has dependable wireless internet access, fully functioning office machines and backup plans, and that the overall office is clean and maintained.

Care To Learn More About Our Company?

If you’re ready to make the leap and live the good life, email me directly at Chris@ROOSTRealEstateCo.com with ‘Let’s Start’ in the subject line.

Real Estate Brands Ltd is the franchising entity for ROOST Real Estate Co. and Lucky Town Real Estate Co.

Our Mission

We at Real Estate Brands want to be heroes to real estate brokers everywhere who work hard every day for their agents and clients.

The Vision

Our goal is to redefine the real estate brokerage business model by ensuring superior support and services for our clients whether they are renting their first apartment, buying their first home, their second home, investment property, or an empty-nest condominium. We want to be our clients’ real estate brokerage for life.

We provide our Broker Owner Partners with the tools and marketing muscle to create new streams of income from all facets of the real estate industry. These streams of income include listing and selling residential property, selling, leasing, and managing a commercial property, and working closely with the owners of investment property to ensure their properties are working for them and not the other way around.  

Broker profitability and positive cash flow is job number one.

As we continuously expand our client base, whether they are renting or buying, we expand the opportunities for our licensed real estate professionals to grow their businesses in a thoughtful and intentional manner. At ROOST Real Estate Co. our licensed professionals are the best in the business and are all dedicated to continuously adding value, expanding their capabilities, and deepening long term relationships with their clients.

Real Estate Brands Ltd. is about the way our clients live today and the way they want to live tomorrow.

What We Stand For

Real Estate Brands Ltd. is the place for agents who commit every day to make the real estate dreams of their clients come true.

Real Estate Brands Ltd. is the place for brokers, owners and managers dedicated to supporting and adding value to the lives and businesses of our agents every day.

Real Estate Brands Ltd. is the place for the buyers, sellers, tenants, and investors that reward us with their business and allow us to help more and more people get to where they want to be.

Real Estate Brands Ltd. is made up of the very best real estate professionals in the business building relationships, adding value, delivering results and earning the referrals that allow us to do it over and over again.


The Two Biggest Concerns Most Of Us Have

The two biggest concerns we hear from agents who want to join our brokerage are losing income during the transition and the emotional turmoil involved with telling their current broker or manager that they are leaving.  There is nothing harder than telling someone you are moving on regardless of how good a business decision you know it is. Even if you are angry at or disappointed in the company you are leaving, the act of resigning causes anxiety for many of us.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

There is no easy way to do this.  I’ve been on both sides of the conversation. We suggest writing a formal resignation letter and asking for a one on one meeting.  There is no reason to get too deeply into the details at this point as chances are your manager already senses something is amiss.  Be the professional you are but you owe it to yourself and your future to make a clean break and allow yourself to get excited about this new chapter in your life.

Moving Your Business Can Create An Income Gap – Don’t Let That Happen!

By some estimates, agents can lose 20% of their income for the first couple of months at the new firm.  At ROOST Real Estate Co. we attack this concern headlong with The Quick Start Plan™.  Our brokers and Agent Business Managers begin to work with our new agents prior to actually making the move to ensure they hit the ground running.  In our experience agents can expect an increase in business activity within days of joining.  

A Little Time To Gear Up Is Helpful

In a perfect world an experienced agent joining our company will have two weeks lead time before moving their license.  This allows us to put everything in place that an agent needs to make a huge impact in the market on day one. Of course, sometimes things happen much faster and unexpectedly and we adjust.  As the saying goes however, those who fail to plan – plan to fail – and nobody wants to lose 20% of anything.

Our Agent On-Boarding Checklist

Checklist for Two Weeks Prior to Launch Week  

Checklist for the Week before Launch Week

Checklist for Launch Week 

Your Agent Service Manager

Your Agent Service Manager and broker/manager will be instrumental in helping you make sure all of this – and more – happen during week one.  As you can see our goal is to ensure your transition is seamless and actually gives you an immediate income bump.

Care To Learn More?

Check us out at www.CareerWithROOST.com and be sure to like us on Facebook.  To schedule a confidential conversation about your bigger future click HERE.

Do you think you and your office would benefit from the culture, attitude, environment and opportunity that a Real Estate Brands Ltd affiliation provides?

Why not think about referring your broker/owner to us?  We are always on the lookout for Great Fit brokers, owners and managers to join us.  

If you think we can help your broker owner and team create a bigger and better future – we want to talk to you.

Give us a shout. You have nothing to lose and The Good Life to gain.

Here is a quick refresher from the Ohio Association of Realtors about the legalities and responsibility of licensees when a listing agent receives more than one offer on a property.

Q: If I receive multiple offers on my listing, am I required to notify all of the agents/buyers that they are in a multiple offer situation?

A: Even though there is nothing in the license law that requires such disclosure, many agents believe doing so is a good idea for two reasons. First, they believe this is fair to all of the parties involved. Secondly, they believe that making all parties aware of this situation is in the seller’s best interests because it could cause the buyers to increase their offers.

While both of these may be true, disclosing that there are multiple offers could result in one or more of the buyers withdrawing their offer because they don’t want to be in a “bidding war.” If this occurs, it is certainly not in the seller’s best interests. More importantly, the fact that the seller has received other offers could be considered confidential information. For these reasons the fact that there are multiple offers should not be disclosed without explaining to the seller the benefits and risks of such disclosure and obtaining the seller’s informed consent.

Standard of Practice 1-15 of NAR’s Code of Ethics likewise provides that the existence of other offers can only be disclosed if the listing agent has the seller’s consent to do so. However S.O.P. 1-15 goes a little further. It provides that if the seller authorizes the listing agent to disclose that there are multiple offers, that the listing agent must also disclose whether the other offers were written by the listing agent, another agent in the same brokerage or a cooperating agent — but this is only required if the listing agent is asked who wrote the other offers.

For more information, click here or here.

More on Multiple Offers from the Ohio Association of Realtors

1. A listing agent describes an offer to an out-of-town seller over the telephone. The seller verbally indicates his acceptance of that offer, which the listing agent communicates to the buyer. Before the seller receives and signs the original offer, the listing agent receives another offer, which the seller wants to accept. Is there a binding contract with the first buyer?

Answer: No. Although the seller verbally accepted the first offer, under the Statute of Frauds there would not be a binding contract because the seller did not sign the offer. Therefore, the seller would be free to accept the second offer.

2. Negotiations have been going back and forth between a seller and a buyer for over a week. The seller is considering a counteroffer from this buyer, when another higher offer is received. Is the listing agent required to notify the first buyer that another offer has been received and give that buyer an opportunity to increase his counter offer?

Answer: No, there is nothing that legally requires the seller to give the first buyer an opportunity to raise his offer. Of course, if the seller wishes to give the first buyer such an opportunity, he may do so, and the listing agent would have to follow these instructions.

3. A listing agent has received an offer which he is planning on presenting to the seller that afternoon. Before she makes this presentation, she is notified by a cooperating agent that another buyer will probably be making an offer the next day. Should the listing agent wait until this second offer is received to present the first offer?

Answer: The listing agent must present the first offer she has received as soon as possible. Therefore, she should present the first offer that afternoon as planned. However, her fiduciary duties to the seller also require her to notify the seller that another offer may be forthcoming. It will then be up to the seller to decide whether he wants to wait for this offer. This listing agent should review the first offer to determine how long it is open for acceptance, so that it does not expire before the seller decides to accept or counter it.

4. A seller has received two offers to purchase his property. Can he make counteroffers to both buyers?

Answer: While he can do this, it is not recommended for the seller to make more than one counteroffer at a time. This is because both buyers could accept the counteroffer and deliver notice.

5. An offer is presented to the seller which is signed by the seller. The listing agent immediately calls the buyer and leaves a message on the buyer’s answering machine that the seller has accepted his offer. The buyer receives this message. Five minutes after the seller signed the offer, another offer is received which is higher than the signed offer. Can the seller accept the higher offer or is he bound to the contract he signed? The contract is silent regarding the method and delivery of acceptance.

Answer: The seller accepted the offer by signing the contract. To have a binding contract the seller’s acceptance must be communicated to the buyer. As the contract does not require that the communication be by physically returning the signed contract to the buyer, verbal notification to the buyer, would be sufficient. Therefore, the sellers have entered into a binding contract with the first buyer.

6. If I receive multiple offers on one of my listings, must I notify all of the agents/buyers that they are in a multiple offer situation?

Answer: There is nothing in the license law that requires such disclosure. Most agents do so because they believe it is the fair way to handle negotiations and that it could get the buyers to increase their offers. While this may be true, disclosing that there are multiple offers could result in one or more of the buyers withdrawing their offer because they don’t want to be in a “bidding war.” For this reason, Standard of Practice 1-15 of NAR’s Code of Ethics states the existence of other offers should only be disclosed with the seller’s consent. For more information, click here.

I’d love to hear your questions and comments.

A Culture of Support and Productivity

Technology that Supports Your Marketing and Advertising Initiatives

Technology that Supports Working by Referral

Technology That Allows You To Do What You Do Best

Making Sure It All Works – The Agent Service Manager (ASM)

Care To Learn More?

Originally published on Forbes.com

People ask me all the time, what do you think is going to change about our business in the next 25 years?  I believe that the digitization of content, interpersonal communication technology, and automated transaction management, will likely accelerate in the coming years.  The widespread proliferation of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics will make what has happened over the last 10 years look tame by comparison. 

Technology Will Thin Our Ranks

Technological acceleration will result in a thinning of the Realtor®, lender, and title professional ranks in the years ahead.  The more routine the transaction, the more likely it will be completed directly between a buyer and seller using an app on their iPhone. The broker owner that is suffering in the face of commoditization today, has likely more misery to look forward to tomorrow.

A Better Question to Ask

A more interesting question to ask is, what is going to stay the same? 

There will always be a market for skilled professionals to help and guide people as they navigate their real estate investments.  However, the skills and capabilities that make the best of us successful today, will not be the skills and capabilities that will keep us successful tomorrow.  The bar will continue to be raised.

Relationships Are Where It’s At – Now and Forever

I believe that a referral based business mindset will always be an advantage.  Relationships will continue to be infinitely more valuable than transactions. To succeed in future, we must continue to offer greater and greater value and expertise, much of which we may never be directly compensated for. 

We Excel By Each Doing What We Do Best

Twenty-five years from now there will still be great strength in the intentional identification, and exercise, of the unique talents and abilities of everyone we work with.  We will always do better when everyone is free to do what they do best. This is the only way to ensure each other’s long term success.

I like to think I am a pretty good Realtor and advocate for my clients.  My clients appreciate me and I appreciate them.  I am eternally grateful for their referrals and their business.  At the end of the day however, I will never be what I consider to be a world-class Realtor®.  I am simply not wired for it.  I am however a really good broker and I think I can become world class at this one day. I have to believe that hard work, curiosity, ambition and dedication will never become obsolete.

My Job as a Real Estate Broker Supporting Agents and Their Clients

Regardless of which way the wind blows or what the future brings, I am certain that my job description and responsibility to my agents, brokers, and franchisees will stand the test of time.  My job is to:

1)    Make our company the most referred real estate brand in the land.

2)    Help our agents keep their clients for life.

3)    Be the only partner our agents will ever need.

4)    Lead the industry in average agent productivity and income.

5)    Support the most profitable broker / owners and franchisees in the business.

The Danger of The Shiny Object Syndrome

The danger to all of us in the real estate community is The Shiny Object Syndrome.  When we are distracted by the next new thing, we tend to shy away from the basics of the business including focusing on our clients and further developing our unique abilities.  

There is no question technology has empowered legions of home buyers and sellers to facilitate their transactions with a better understanding of their local markets, and how the business works in general.  However, these same buyers and sellers count on their agents for helping to assess fair value, advice for making offers that will be accepted, negotiating price and terms, and getting to the closing table.  I doubt I see the day when an artificial intelligence can do that.

Care to Learn More?

Check us out at www.PartnerWithROOST.com.

ROOST™ Real Estate Co. is a licensed real estate brokerage and property management firm working across Ohio and Florida.
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Ohio License REC.2014000032

Florida License #CQ1047793

Equal Housing Opportunity.

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