I talk frequently with team leaders who are at the end of their rope with team members. The consistent complaint is that team members don’t seem motivated and aren’t doing what’s necessary to be successful. The word “lazy” is used often, and the frustration in the team leader’s voice is obvious. I’m always inclined to think that the problem could be the team’s culture, or lack thereof.
When investigating further, I start with these questions:
- Can you give me the specific definition of success, on a weekly basis, for each of your team members?
- What are your team’s core values?
I typically don’t get answers to either question.
Those of us who have raised babies into adults have had to help them understand the attitudes and behaviors that will make them successful in life, and then constantly monitor their actions compared to our expectations. We frequently have to step in and correct things when they fall short. This process doesn’t always result in perfect adults, but it most certainly creates adults who are far better off than they would have been otherwise.
So why don’t we raise our team members the same way we raise our babies? I think it’s because our team members are adults, and we expect them to figure out how to be successful on their own. After all, that’s what we did, isn’t it? Unfortunately, this attitude won’t help us raise great team members. In order to get the best performance, we sometimes have to treat team members like our babies and help them understand their weekly definition of success and the values we expect them to live up to.
My team uses a couple of very important tools to help accomplish these two things—and to create a culture of productivity and positivity:
- Income Goal Sheet
This worksheet breaks down the activities required to achieve a desired number of closings and commission income each year. If an agent wants to earn $100,000, they can enter all their specific variables—commission rate, average sales price, commission split, etc.—as well as their conversion rates, and the sheet will spell out the activities required weekly to reach their goals.
- Team Core Values
These written values are what we expect everyone to strive for every day. It’s very beneficial for everyone to know exactly what’s expected. Our team’s core values are: Respect, Wisdom, Partnership, Perspective, Courage and Performance. What are yours?
If you’d like to see the specific systems we use in order to create a weekly definition of success for everyone on your team and define some great core values, email me at [email protected].
When team members clearly understand their weekly definition of success and the values they’re expected to strive for, they might just “grow up” and start holding themselves accountable for their own success. Just imagine how proud you’ll be of the team members who start motivating themselves and holding themselves accountable.
Cleve Gaddis is a master coach with Workman Success Systems and team leader with Gaddis Partners, RE/MAX Center in Atlanta. He learned sales the hard way, selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door, and now puts those skills to use in helping his team close $60 million annually. He loves to share his systems and strategies to help others succeed. He hosts the Call Cleve Atlanta Real Estate Show heard weekly on NewsTalk 1160 WCFO. Contact him at[email protected].
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