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The 5 Elements in Every Superior Managing Broker

by Peter Thomas Ricci

Smooth Jazz

At their most basic level, real estate offices must run smoothly. If, for instance, the office’s staff is not adequately trained on processing contracts, or agents do not understand how to file the necessary paperwork for a transaction, or, even, the phone lines do not work in a seamless manner and messages are not directed to the appropriate parties, business will prove quite difficult – and to ensure that never happens, managing brokers have to conduct all the office’s operations in an efficient manner.

The key to that efficiency, explains Bill Rawlings, the vice president/managing broker for the North Atlanta Office of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty in Alpharetta, is hiring the right personnel, both at the staff and at the agent level.

“The most important thing is hiring the right people,” Rawlings says. “We are very, very selective in our interview process, and actually do a three-stage interview process where the candidate interviews with multiple people, including the owner of the company, prior to being asked to join our company.”

Those standards, Rawlings says, are integral to the Sotheby’s brand (they were in place when he joined the office in 2011), and by being so particular, and by deliberately hiring people who match the brokerage’s culture, he’s able to establish a smooth-running office where every need is accounted for.

Standards are similarly important for Lane Jones, the senior vice president/managing broker for Harry Norman, Realtors’ Cobb/Marietta office.

“My big thing is having a standard,” Jones says. “If your standard is that you’ll hire anyone, then that can create some issues with that standard. So I wanted [Harry Norman] to be viewed not only as a company that has been in business for more than 80 years, but I wanted our office to be seen as such a high-producing office in our market area, not just one that holds licenses.”

Beyond her personnel, though, Jones also made “subtle” changes to some of the processes in her office when she took over in the summer of 2011, all with the intention of easing life for her agents. One notable example was her implementation of a checklist for each stage of the homebuying process, one that included all the documentation the agent needed for that stage. So whether it was the listing of the property or the closing period, the agent would be clear on what documents were needed.

When it came to how her agents conducted their business, though, Jones was careful not to be overbearing, and instead pursued an agent-driven approach that empowered them to make their own decisions.

“I did not mandate anything,” she explains. “I opened my door for one-on-one meetings, so that they could share with me their past and their future goals. Then, I would offer suggestions for how they could accomplish those goals. But still, I let them approach me for those meetings. I learned a long time ago, early in my management career, that if you worked really hard for them, and they didn’t have any skin in the game, at the end of the day, you had worked hard, and they were onto something else … I did the same thing with my staff. I eased them into a new mindset where they made decisions. I’m not a micromanager, by any means, so I wanted to empower them to take ownership of their role and allow them to set their own goals.”

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Comments

  • Jennifer says:

    Great advice as usual! I alawys love reading your articles. Gets me thinking you know? Hope you have a fantastic day and don’t get too cold up there in Canada. I’m from California and our fall weather is just beginning. Brrrr coming this way soon!

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