A Real Estate Brilliance member came to me today with frustration and uncertainty about hiring a full-time buyer manager. For most real estate businesses, hiring a buyer manager is a major luxury which is why only a small percentage of agents take this step. With a good buyer manager costing north of $100,000, affordability isn’t an issue for high performing agents. Rather, the challenge comes from managing them.
Many agents struggle to manage themselves, let alone another person. The reality is, when agents are busy prospecting, listing, and selling, they often don’t have time to recruit, train, and manage a personal assistant.
The member that came to me with their frustrations today had worked hard to build the income and momentum to be able to hire a PA and had previously employed them part-time to build a task list and ensure they were the right fit. As their coach, I provided them with a framework and structure, as well as a job description to give them an idea of what tasks to delegate and what to keep for themself.
So where was the frustration coming from? The main point of contention was that the PA took all day to complete a task that would usually take this agent one or two hours. Not only did the task take an unexpectedly long time to be complete, the PA also made many mistakes along the way. This had them questioning whether they had made the correct decision in hiring this PA and whether they should continue with the experiment.
As we discussed this, I could see the focus return to their face and they finally asked, “What should I do?” We then discussed some steps to help move forward:
- Create the system together – If you want your PA to do something exactly how you do it, you have to show them exactly how you want it done. The easiest way it to give them the exact steps they need to take by writing out in a list, creating a video, or tutorial with them. The goal is to train them so well with that task and activity that they can then train the system to someone else.
- Tolerance and patience – Creating systems together with your PA and handing it over to them is one thing, but it’s important to remember this is the first time they are doing many of these tasks and activities. Unlike you, who have been doing them for years on auto pilot, they still need to think about what they have to do, and how they have to do it while trying not to make any mistakes. SO BE PATIENT AND TOLERANT.
- Do the task and activity with them – Once you have created the system, DO the task or activity with them to make sure they do it just the way you want it done, showing them the potential pit falls and trouble points.
- Let them do the task on their own – After you have shown them, let them do it themselves and check their work.
- Set expectations – Agree on how long it should take them to complete the task and what gets measured and managed. If you both have agreed on how long it should take you can keep them accountable using that variable.
- Add the task to their job description
- Check in with them – After 1 week, check the quality of their work and make sure you correct the mistakes by showing and telling. Assure them they are doing a great job and that you understand this is brand new and they will get there. Remember, we all had to start somewhere and not all of us got it right the first time.
- Commend them – When they do the job well, make sure to let them know their work is appreciated. This will help build their confidence when completing the next task and activity.
One of the most important things to remember is that the better you train your PA, the less hassles you will have when you are focusing on higher dollar productive activities and living the life of your dreams.
So, the short answer is to create the goal or desired outcome and fall in love with creating the systems and processes. When it gets frustrating, remember the reasons you created the goal in the first place and focus on that to give you the tolerance, motivation, and persistence to see it through. For more information on how to expand your team and how to create systems and structure for new hires, book a call with me, I’m always happy to help.
