Sometimes we get so caught up in building and marketing our businesses that we just sort of "overlook" what's happening "in" our business. Now you all know what a huge proponent I am of working "on" your business rather than "in" it, and I truly don't see the practice of stopping to look around at your own business once in a while as anything different. I have always kind of liked the idea of having a friend periodically call your business as a buyer and seeing how the call is handled. The results may scare you. My point is: no matter how tight you THINK your people are operating, you should always be setting SIMPLE and CONSISTENT guidelines for people to follow, so that you always provide the highest level of support possible. to your AMs. Break your systems down so that the lowest common denominator of an employee can easily understand and even teach it to others so that they can perform his job in his absence.While there are a multitude of processes to be created. The 3 below are the most universal "rules" that you should follow and hold your employees accountable to:
1. Being On Time Every Time. If a task is due in 24 hours and it arrives at 2:14 on Tuesday, then it is due at or before 2:14 on Wednesday, NOT 2:15. NO EXCUSES for tardiness. AMs will penalize you severely for repeatedly being late.
2. Be a Problem Solver. You are the eyes and ears for the AM. Never forget this. If you notice a property is in emergency need of attention (like a tree on the roof causing a major leak) then take care of it and THEN tell them AM. Do NOT send a frantic email at 3:00 A.M. asking the AM "what do I do". Show them that you are a hands on agent with the ability to make their job easier.
3. Never Lie. We all screw up and AMs know it. Own up to your errors and work swiftly to correct them. Trust is an all important piece to a solid relationship with your clients. By the way, this also goes for accepting assignments. Do not greedily or desperately accept any property that you cannot properly service. A property 100 miles away is going to negatively impact the level of support that you provide to your AMs. NOTHING should ever be allowed to compromise that! It is a highly respected practice in the REO business to respectfully decline listings that are far away. It is an even better practice to get to know brokers who work the ares that you do not service and to be ready to refer the broker to your AM right there on the spot. This is another way that you can show your AM that you are an agent who is always looking to make their job easier.
Refer to the basic concept of these 3 rules "making an AM's life easy" when creating processes in your business and you'll soon be heavily rewarded by your clients for your unique "partnership" approach to working with them. Believe me, very few agents ever get past "greedy" thinking and it severely hampers their businesses. I find it so funny how such simple mindset shifts can launch you right past the competition! Learn to think this way and you'll laugh all the way to the bank!
