CHAPTER 9: HIRING PEOPLE TO DO ALL THE LITTLE THINGS
How to be a small fish but get the food of a big fish
There is a Realtor from back East who has become the top grossing Realtor in North America for years on end who promotes a system of building a team to work for/with you. Ten years ago I signed up and tried his program only to realize it didn’t work for me. I was more interested in profit then I was in production. What I mean is that I didn’t care what my production was as long as my profit was maximized. At the time, this guy and his group grossed 1 million in commissions yet he only netted $200,000 for himself. Yet I grossed just over $100,000 and kept almost all of that as my expenses were minimized – and that was in my rookie years!! I prefer to make the most for the least amount of effort and headache.
During the last 5 years or so we have seen a huge increase in this ‘team’ concept among realtors. You will now see the ‘team so and so’ rather than just the realtor’s name. The idea is that you brand yourself as a team in which case you are supposed to give the customer better service for the same cost. The theory sounds good and a few realtors seem to make it work but my experience is that most teams are only as strong as their weakest members.
I have tried on two occasions to hire and train an assistant only to create more stress and less cash for me. I am a firm believer that you have to have direct control over the most important assets in your life. I don’t think anyone should entrust the services of a financial planner/broker/banker etc without your direct control and influence over your affairs as these people are handling your greatest financial assets. Based on this logic I don’t think anyone should just hand over their largest asset (in most cases) to a realtor without some very important system and controls in place for the owner/buyer’s protection. Call me crazy but I always encourage people to try to sell their home on their own and save the commission. I’m not in business to take money away from people but to make them money. I have found when I have that attitude of helping and/or making people money the deals that I do are appreciated.
As a realtor we should be in direct control of the most important components of our business. Our clients and commissions are probably the most important and therefore should NOT be trusted to anyone but yourself because nobody cares more about your clients and your money more than you do. Think about it. Why should they? You are the one making all the money and if you are not they should be scared ‘spit less’ because their job with you will be finished when you go broke.
I may be different than others in this respect because I am able to multitask and do several things at once and not necessarily better than someone else but I understand it better if I do it myself and in essence pay myself for doing it. I initially thought it would be better for me to have people perform more of the administrative tasks such as accounting, transaction record sheets, advertising (if I did any), filing reports and statements, tax preparation, submitting listings and sales etc BUT I have been able to do all this when I’m super busy or dead slow.
By the time I train someone to complete these tasks I have spent more time doing so than all the cumulative time it would have taken me to do it myself. Not only do I not save time I have to pay someone else to do the tasks that I could have done myself. So why not do the little things yourself because in essence you are paying yourself 25-$100/hour!! If you prioritize your tasks you can easily work this into your daily business saving money (in essence making money!), saving time, and having fun by learning.
Advice: Take control because you are the boss. Making money, saving time and having fun is not about how much you make - it’s about keeping most of what you make.
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