How To Hire An Assistant For REALTOR®

How To Hire An Assistant For REALTOR®

by | Jan 29, 2020 | General, Uncategorized

We’ve noticed, through many of our Over A Pint episodes, that one of the most common issues that REALTORS® face is the overflow of work and their need for an assistant. Many REALTORS® are unsure of how to hire an assistant or train them.  “What kind of criteria should I be looking for?” “How do I know they’re the right person for the job?” “What if I don’t have enough work for them?”

Start With The Application Process

Once you’ve selected which websites you want to use to find your new assistant (click here for Canada’s 10 Best Job Search Websites), it’s time to type up your job listing. The trick is to include something in your listing that will think out the herd. For example, when I was looking to hire a social media marketer, I included a hidden question at the bottom asking applicants to mention our Facebook group. We had about 130 people apply for the position, around 80% did not answer the question, and only 7 people answered correctly. From the 7, I hired the person that best fit the job requirements and the personality of our company. 

Capacity Talent vs. Cul-De-Sac Talent

Next, you need to figure out exactly what time of assistant you need to hire. Rick Sergison, one of our special guests in the above Over A Pint video, mentioned 2 different types of talent that we’ve described for you below. Cul-De-Sac Talent : a person with cul-de-sac talent “is someone who can do the current job really well, but who does not have the desire or ability (thus the capacity) to learn and take on new tasks and responsibilities.”  Capacity Talent : this person is someone who can do not only the current job really well, but who also has the desire and ability to learn and take on new tasks and responsibilities.” Rick gave an example where an assistant, who previously worked with him, had come into his office with a question. Because Rick was on the phone with a client, the assistant chose to sit down and wait another 20 minutes before Rick ended his call. This is a perfect example of someone who doesn’t have the motivation to use every minute productively. He then decided to put a job listing up at their local school. He hired a mother who wanted to get back into the workforce while having flexible hours to take care of the kids. Though she didn’t necessarily work a 40 hour week, worked part-time in the summer, and took days off when the kids weren’t in school, she was a fantastic worker!  This assistant not only did the work assigned to her, but went out of her way to research and provide extra services that helped Rick grow his business and giving clients that extra personal touch. She didn’t need her hand held every step of the way and was proactive. 

Ask The Right Questions

Here are some examples of questions you can ask during an interview that will help you find an assistant with capacity talent!

  • Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something you had never done before. How did you react? What did you learn?
  • Recall a time when your manager was unavailable when a problem arose. How did you handle the situation? With whom did you consult?
  • Describe a time when you volunteered to expand your knowledge at work, as opposed to being directed to do so. 

For more questions, check out this Guide To Screening Candidates.

Give Us A Call

Now that you’re ready to hire an assistant, we want to help you with online marketing! You can book your free consultation here. We’ll discuss your goals and figure out the best way we can help you succeed online. Got any topics you’d like us to cover in a future episode or a guest you’d like us to sit down with? Let us know in the comments below! You can also reach us on Facebook and Instagram. Source : Ward Real Estate 

Grow Your Business with the DISC Personality Test

Grow Your Business with the DISC Personality Test

by | Jan 24, 2020 | Uncategorized

Grow your business with the DISC personality test!

 

When growing your business in real estate, there are many factors that come into play. Referrals, social media, online marketing, and much more. In the end, the idea is to create long-term relationships with clients that will tell their family and friends to hire you as well.

 

But how well do you know your clients? We’ve all experiences speaking to clients and people in general with different personalities. Do you know the best way to communicate with each individual client?

DISC Personality Types

 

Have you ever heard of the DISC system? It’s a personality analysis system developed by industrial psychologist, Walter Vernon Clarke, almost a century ago and based on a theory by psychologist and professor, William Moulton Marston.

 

Fun fact : Professor Marston was the inventor of an early lie detector prototype AND the creator of non-other than Wonder Woman! How cool is that?

 

There are four main personality types in this system:

D for dominance

I for influence

S for steadiness

C for conscientiousness

 

There are 12 possible combinations in total. By taking this test, you can identify which traits represent you the most and how they affect your behaviour.

Which One Are You?

DISC Personality Types

 

Learning about each personality type will give you a more in-depth understand of your coworkers and clients. This gives you an edge because you will then know how to interact with each client in a way that will make them feel completely understood and supportive.

 

For example, if you have a client who’s main personality trait is clearly “Dominance”, then you will know they are result-oriented and tend to focus on the big picture. They don’t need all the details listed, they want to know what the end goal looks like. Whereas someone who is more “Conscientious” is a lot more detail-oriented and will want everything spelled out in front of them every step of the way.

 

Click here to take the test now and find out which personality type you are!

We Want To Help Your Grow

 

Now that you’re taking care of getting to know your clients on a deeper level to grow your business with the DISC personality assessment, we want to help you with your online marketing.

 

Book your free consultation here. We’ll discuss your goals and figure out the best way we can help you succeed online. Got any topics you’d like us to cover in a future episode or a guest you’d like us to sit down with? Let us know in the comments below! You can also reach us on Facebook and Instagram.

Setting Standards For A Brokerage

Setting Standards For A Brokerage

by | Jan 14, 2020 | General

 

What do you look for in a brokerage?  What do you expect from them?

 

Brokerage Standards

 

Whether you’ve decided to move on from your current brokerage or are doing it for the first time, interviewing a brokerage can be a tricky process. Here is a list of standards REALTORS® Kristina Wilton, Rick Sergison, and Steven Sarasin, featured in the video above, look for in a brokerage:

  • Attention
    • “When I’m calling you, you’re not rushing to get me off the phone.” – Steven Sarasin
  • Support
  • Invests in you and your career
  • Proper training
  • Positive energy
  • Respect what you have to say

 

When Kristina met with her broker, she mentioned she felt unsafe working in the current location. She also didn’t like bringing her clients to the office as she felt it didn’t represent her business. Her broker listened and moved to a different office that resolved both issues.

 

This made Kristina feel respected, valued, and confirmed that she and the brokerage she works with have similar standards. 

 

Get A Prenup

 

As far as Rick’s concerned, the brokerage works for you. You as a realtor are the broker’s client. If the managing broker doesn’t do their job, the agents leave. He says that one of the most important questions to ask is, “How will you treat me when I leave?”

 

Brokers can offer you the world when you join them, but what will they do if/when you decide to move on? When your clients call, will they forward your new number or will they tell them that you’ve left the business? Legally, they can take your business after you’re gone. So you need to figure out if their ethical standards align with yours. Think of what you would put in a prenup before shaking hands and working towards growing your business with that brokerage. 

 

Give Us A Call

 

Book your free consultation here. We’ll discuss your goals and figure out the best way we can help you succeed online. Got any topics you’d like us to cover in a future episode or a guest you’d like us to sit down with? Let us know in the comments below! You can also reach us on Facebook and Instagram.

Setting and Keeping a Positive Mindset

Setting and Keeping a Positive Mindset

by | Jan 6, 2020 | General, Uncategorized

 

Setting and keeping a positive mindset everyday and knowing when to take a moment to recharge can change your business and your life.

 

Perspective

 

Most people don’t see the stress, struggles, and sacrifices that happen behind-the-scenes in real estate. The long hours, day after day. The interrupted family events, holidays, and vacations. The ones that are missed entirely.

 

It can be tiresome to smile all day for clients while working your butt off to sell/buy their home. It can be tough to stay positive at the end of a 12 hour day and know you have to get up and do it all over again tomorrow.

 

Kristina Wilton,  one of the special guests featured in this month’s Over A Pint, brought up the struggle of keeping a positive mindset.

 

“How do you get yourself out of a negative mindset?”

 

It’s all about perspective. If the way you are tackling challenges and everyday stress leaves you in a negative space, you need to change your outlook. It can be easy to enter a negative space and stay in it. Rick Sergison shared an example, in the video above. One of his coaching clients continued to self-sabotage everything they were doing. They’d put themselves in a “victim” mindset. One day, he decided to give his client a Superman t-shirt and asked them to go into the washroom and change. When his client came back, Rick said “Let’s start all over again and talk about this situation as if you were a superhero.” The conversation became something completely different.

 

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” – Henry Ford

 

Steven Sarasin, also in the video above, mentioned that wearing a suit and going into the office leaves him far more productive than working at home in sweatpants. Wearing a nice suit is his own version of wearing a Superman suit.

 

Change the way you think about the upcoming day and its challenges. Focus on the things you’re grateful for, make a list if it helps, and start your day ready to conquer!

 

If you’re feeling a little run down, as all people do sometimes, give yourself an extra boost. Put the Superman t-shirt under your button-up and wear your Clark Kent glasses. Don’t have a prescription? No problem, get yourself a pair of blue light glasses. They’ll protect your eyes from harmful blue light coming from your device’s screen. Hey, who doesn’t feel smarter with a good pair of glasses on?

 

Train Your Mindset

 

Creating a positive mindset doesn’t happen overnight. You need to consistently train your mind and be aware of when you’re entering a negative space.

 

Rick’s first piece of advice, and Steven agreed, is to read as many books as you can. Read any book that will inspire you. If you’re not someone who likes to read, listen to them. Realtors spend countless hours driving. What better time to put on an audio book and take a moment to put yourself in an inspired space?

 

I’ve always kept a pretty even, solution-based mindset. If something happened in my business, I’d think to myself “this is my fault, what do I need to do to fix it?” Rick brought up something interesting. He said not to confuse “fault” with “being responsible”. Most of us don’t like to hear this, but we cannot control everything that happens in life. Sometimes it’s just not your fault, but you are responsible for how you react to the issue and what the outcome is.

 

Your clients get the best of you. You take on their issues, their challenges, and then at the end of the day you have to go home and deal with your own. It can be a lot and leave you with a bad mood and short temper for your family and friends.

 

Find little tricks that can help you hit the reset button when you find yourself in a negative space. For example, when Rick’s in a bad mood and heading into the office, he’ll park further away from the front door. This gives him time to take a moment by himself, take a short walk to the front door in the fresh air, and reset his mind.

 

If you love music, create a playlist of songs you love to listen to on your way to an appointment or on your way home at the end of the day. Take a minute to take a few full breaths and list things you’re grateful for. Steven said that working out on a regular basis affected his general mood in a positive way.

 

Remember, You’re Human

 

Emotions, negative or positive, are completely natural and only make you human. It’s important to allow yourself to feel whatever emotion presents itself when working towards setting and keeping a positive mindset. Kristina says “if you’re having a shitty day – you can have a shitty day. If you’re feeling angry, if you want to cry, whatever it is you need to do, do it, but then end it.”

 

Take the hour, the day to feel whatever it is you’re feeling, but then let it go. “Allow yourself to feel it because they’re real and it’s healthy but then release it.” 

 

Give Us A Call

 

Online marketing is a stress that we can help you with! You can book your free consultation here. We’ll discuss your goals and figure out the best way we can help you succeed online.

 

Got any topics you’d like us to cover in a future episode or a guest you’d like us to sit down with? Let us know in the comments below! You can also reach us on Facebook and Instagram.