Blog / Leadership


Successfully onboarding new real estate agents


With Andrew McCulloch, Head of Network Development at Ray White

Imagine it is your first day working as a real estate agent for a new employer. You arrive for work where a friendly receptionist greets you by name, offers you a coffee, introduces you to your colleagues and shows you to your desk where a bottle of you favourite wine is waiting, along with a bouquet of flowers and a selection of chocolates and cheeses.

Your computer, email and mobile phone is configured and ready to go. A schedule of appointments are set including lunch with your new boss and meetings with marketing, payroll and other important stakeholders.

Corporate branding training has been arranged and a series of other training and development options are available to you over the next 12 months.

Everything is in place and there is someone to walk you through every step. You feel good to be there. You made the right decision.

Now imagine a different scenario for your first day. The boss isn’t there. The receptionist doesn’t know who you are and after making a couple of awkward phone calls, shows you to your desk which is stacked with a few old boxes of stationery and marketing materials from a previous agent.

“There’s your desk. Good luck!” the receptionist grimaces, eyes glazed.

You have no phone, no computer password and no email. You don’t know who to approach for help or what to do next.

It is amazing that this latter example is the more common method of onboarding a new sales agent, despite the process being so critical to the future success of that agent in your business.

Onboarding sets the tone for the working environment and office culture and is the introduction of an agent’s career with your business. It is a vital part of setting a precedent for how you operate and how the relationship will continue.

The process can never be repeated. You will never get a second chance at a first impression and you will struggle to recover the relationship from a bad onboarding experience.

The most important element of onboarding is to ensure new starters feel welcome and appreciated. To properly achieve this, having an understanding of your new agent prior to their first day is essential.

Onboarding should be process driven. It should be about training and cultural establishment.

Do it well and you can get away with the odd thing not being 100% throughout the work relationship, however if you onboard poorly your new agent will pick holes throughout everything you do, if they stick around long enough to bother.

Interested in finding out more? Let’s talk. Andrew McCulloch 0479 039 440

 

 

 


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