I am sure others will give you specific, practical information, but let me start with saying that a foundational approach, in my opinion, is critical when training people. Creating a good foundation will help tremendously when each salesperson begins implementing practical techniques.

I have found that most agents start in the middle of the process and try to do what the most successful agents are doing, then get frustrated when results don't magically appear.

One of the best books/tools I know of to teach people how to prepare for success is The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. It is not real estate specific but it applies to real estate organizations as much as any other organization.

It is chockful of topics to discuss at sales meetings that will deepen everyone's understanding of what it means to cooperate and learn, to analyze and test, to change and adjust, and, basically, how to prepare your thinking for success.

M

First of all Gail -- Congratulations on your new adventure!

I am interested in watching your post/response grow here. I am currently reading the "Red Book" or "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" by Gary Keller.  --- it's not anything that I thought it would be.  It is not the Keller Williams story...so even if your "blue" ;)  it's okay to read. (just read it at home...not in the office...;) It's a great across the board real estate book focused on systems, models and training and concepts that simply put, are the basics of doing business as a business.  

I serve on a Broker/Mgr. committe at my association and we are developing educational forum topics and courses specifically designed for the broker/mgr. community.  I would love to have your opinions and ideas for what you are looking for.  Even if we are miles away...some of the tools we use are the same.  Email me if you are interested. Again, Congratulations!!

As a previous office manager, I can tell you that what works for one agent may not work for another.  Each agent must find, sometimes by trial and error, those methods that work for them.  Copying a top producer or following a plan in a book will only work for some people.  

I was sometimes amazed that several agents, both new and experienced, would try the same prospecting method, putting in about the same the time and effort, and for some it would be terrific, for some just ok, and some got dismal results.  When a different method was tried, the agent's results would be reversed.

Of course, some people fail at almost everything and others succeed at almost everything.  Too bad we can't always know which ones are which in advance.

I finally got tired of training and managing people and became a sole broker.

Gail, I have one book that I found very helpful ... it is "Broker to Broker ... Management Lessons from America's Most Successful Real Estate Companies" ... by National Association of REALTORS. It has little bit of advice on just about anything that has to do with managing an office. The great thing about this book is that you don't have to read it all ... just go to the topic that you need at a particular time ... or simply open it wherever you like and start reading. It gave me a lot of great ideas, I just wish I had the time to implement all of them.

Good Luck!

Gail,

My broker has kept "on top" of the production curve through frequent training sessions and motivational opportunities. We [agents] are constantly given the opportunity to attend training sessions which have been arranged using "sponsors" such as closing attorneys, title companies, pest control companies,[supporting vendors to our industry] etc.  The sponsor contracts with a motivational speaker or real estate industry expert to provide a wonderful learning experience.

The other motivator to keep up production is the broker occasionally "throwing a bone" (serious lead) to agents who "seem to stay on top of their game".  Works for me..........best of luck to you!

"mentoring their success while increasing overall production"

I managed a RE/MAX office for over five years and also a GMAC office after that. During that time I used many coaching ideas from seminars and training I had taken over the last 22 years. I also used the tools that the franchise supplied us with since each had their own programs.

I am now in an office where management teaches seasoned and new agents the Brian Buffini concept (similar to Joe Stumph) of By Referral Only. We just finished our 100 days to Success series and I can honestly tell you that it has shed an entire different light on the way I will be practicing real estate in the future. For new agents who are told to call FSBO's and Expireds only to be eaten alive, this is truly a system that will work for them. We met one day a week, watched that weeks video, and had assignments to do for the remainder of the week. None included cold calling (Ugh!) or door-knocking (double UGH!). We simply 'worked' our realm of influence and past client base on a regular basis with handwritten notecards, pop-bys, monthly items of value, etc. adding additional names each week from people that we met and used the 'Mayor Campaign' on.

We have several new agents in the office and all are doing well using this program. I only wish I had been exposed to this concept prior to managing as I'm sure it would have made more successful, less stressed agents out of the new agents I hired and also set a fire under the ones who only came into the office to socialize. I'm a firm believer in 'you're never too old to learn new tricks'.

As a Team Leader for KW, my jobs (the TL at KW is 10 jobs) was to conduct 20 training sessions a week, build sales through one-on-one mentoring, run the business, market the business, and recruit, recruit, recruit.  I was not allowed to sell, which was actually a good thing.  Here's my point.

I think a Sales Manager, Office Manager, Team Leader or any other moniker you give the position should not be competing with your 'people".  It's an area I think Real Estate should rethink hard. I also think it's too much of a demand to place on one person, and I've rarely seen it pulled off. My opinion

This is what has worked for me though in my prior company and what I use in my firm now.  When I hire someone, this is the commitment I make to them.

"Im going to work with you every single day for the next 90 days.  The first thing we are going to do is sell a house.  (Until a new salesperson sells a house, it remains theoretical to them, and all the brilliant sales presentations and bagels will not change that).  During the sale of the 1st house, you and I will completely dissect the entire transaction for every contingency and potential issue that can occur.  If we work really well together, we should sell our first property in the first 45 days, and you should be prepared to fly solo following that.

During the first 90 days, we are going to completely immerse ourselves in the business, and frankly if we haven't succeeded in 3 months, we may need to evaluate whether this is a good situation for you.

One of my peeves at KW was that I was constantly wasting resources on new agents who clearly had no potential for success in the business.  We are not doing anyone any favors by dragging them along.  And if someone's ultimate achievement is to maybe sell 2 or 3 houses a year, than what kind of a business am I building anyways?

Give 100 percent of yourself to everyone, but not forever.  In my opinion this is not being harsh.  This is business.  Real estate babysits a lot of people whose driver's license indicates they are adults.  

Bringing production to the next level requires superior performance from the whole team.  My experience tells me that 10, or in some cases as few as 5 or 6 synergistic professional people can move mountains; whereas a crowd of 60 hangers-on can drain a manager's energy and strength, and pull the company balance sheet into very dark waters.

Gail - We have a husband/wife team as owners and they are authorized trainers of the program. They do not charge the agents for the booklets and supplies which they get in by the box full and they even give everyone a medium sized plastic storage container to keep everything together. The reason I am so positive on the program is because it gives the agents 'something to do' using a pre-planned program with accountability each week. I have never been much of a letter writer so writing five note-cards each week was the hardest part (not as hard as cold-calling though!). The programs and systems I had used for new agents were always chasing FSBO's and Expireds, cold-calling/pizza nights, setting up their prsentation book, choosing and farming a neighborhood, setting up a personal website, etc.  The Buffini course blows all of this out of the water, instead using your friends and contacts as your A-list for future business.

If you would like to discuss the program in greater detail and how much it costs the owners feel free to call or email me and I will give you their direct line.