Professional development in a workplace can look like many different things. However, at its core, growth in your job comes down to a few key principles. At the Keri Shull Team, we believe that training, continued education, accountability, and collaboration foster long-term professional success. In the words of our Development Manager Kat Soerensson, “I think that it’s really rare that we devote resources from all our departments…everyone is so involved with our continued education. And I think that makes us very, very different. I often feel like we’re more of a family because I genuinely believe that we’re invested in each other’s growth and success.”
In the spirit of those principles, we created a 10-week success program to better support our agents in ramping up their businesses! Now that the first iteration of this program has come to a close, we want to share what we have learned.
What is the 10-week success program?
The 10-week success program is our latest comprehensive training course geared toward new Keri Shull Team agents. It takes place for 10 weeks during the 3-month ramping period that follows our initial 80 hours of new agent training. Focused on building sustainable business pipelines and promoting organization and accountability, the program is a culmination of all of Keri Shull’s best practices that helped her become the highly successful real estate agent she is today. It also brings in the teachings of other industry influencers.
Throughout the course, agents learn how to write competitive offers, communicate effectively with clients, follow up with their prospects, and much more. This is achieved through workshops, client role-playing scenarios, setting and tracking micro-goals, and following a regimented daily schedule. The program aims to help newer agents focus their energies, grow their businesses, and stay on track to achieve their big-picture goals.
Obstacles along the way
Led by our Director of Sales and Growth Sarah Buie and our Development Manager Kat Soerensson, the success program evolved naturally over 10 weeks, shifting to accommodate agents’ learning styles and individual needs. The biggest initial barrier was the fixed program schedule that many agents weren’t used to, especially when it came to being in the office all day.
What started as a 9 am to 5 pm program shifted into a 12 pm to 3 pm program, allowing agents greater flexibility. Each day began with a check-in, followed by an in-person training, and ended with follow-ups and prospecting in the final hour. This shift helped to keep agents laser-focused during the program hours and gave them downtime to tend to their other responsibilities. To cut down the program schedule to three hours each day, training also became much more distilled, specific, and action-oriented.
The program started with 25 participating agents and ended with a much smaller group of five agents completing the entire course. This was because, Kat Soerensson explained, “if everyone could do it, there would be multiple brokerages like us in the area. There’s only one Keri, so to create a program that is based on Keri’s habits, obviously it is very grueling.”
Despite the shift in numbers, the program was a major success for its final participants. According to Sarah Buie, “everyone who completed the challenge and stuck with all 10 weeks, saw 75 to 100 percent improvement on all of the metrics that we had kept track of during the challenge.” When asked about the program, one of the tenacious participants and a Buyer Success Agent with the team, Sofia Luna said: “It is such an intensive program and it allows you to not only know the ins-and-outs of everything… but also create the habits that you need to be successful in this business.”
Takeaways
At the end of the 10 weeks, agents experienced the greatest improvements in their pipeline follow-up and nurture, especially when it came to creating balanced pipelines with varied buyer types. Video messaging, in particular, was highly successful in generating referrals and engagement with clients due to its nature. Below are some of the other key takeaways from the 10-week success program.
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“It All Boils Down to Outreach and Follow-up.” – Kat Soerensson
The most tedious part of the job for most real estate agents is being consistent with outreach and follow-up to both current and prospective clients. However, despite being time-consuming, these practices are the foundation of building a strong business. Without them, professional relationships fade and your pipelines stay stagnant. Staying top of mind for your clients and building genuine connections go a long way in succeeding as a realtor.
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Embody A Rookie Mentality
The word rookie often holds a negative connotation. However, being a rookie means constantly learning and striving to prove yourself. Thinking you’re the smartest or most knowledgeable person in the room can often lead to excessive arrogance, or falsely believing that you have nothing to take away from the people around you. This is simply not the case. You’d be surprised how often you can learn from those you perceive to be below your experience level.
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Every Agent Has Their Superpowers and Everyone Can Learn from One Another’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Through participating in the 10-week success program agents learn to acknowledge, both within themselves and publicly to others, their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their business. This level of vulnerability and honesty is important because it prevents shame and promotes improvement. Once you can admit your weaknesses, you know what you need to work on and channel your focus toward. Recognizing your strengths also builds a sense of confidence and generosity to share your tips with others.
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An Atmosphere of Collaboration Leads to Growth
It can be tempting to become one-track-minded when it comes to your success and development. However, no one can succeed in a vacuum. The real estate business is built on relationships, so understanding how to help others to also help yourself is crucial. According to Sarah Buie, during the challenge, she noticed that “people who jump in and dive into the spirit of that collaboration are the ones that are succeeding and ramping up more quickly than those that just want to go out on their own.” Teamwork is not the antithesis of growth. On the contrary, it is the catalyst.
Are you interested in learning more about the dynamics of our company and what makes Keri Shull Team agents so unique and successful? Check out our Real Estate Requires Real People video.
Whether you are an aspiring real estate agent looking to launch your career in 2022 or an already seasoned agent wanting to level up their business with the right resources, tools, and support, the Keri Shull Team has what you need to succeed. Our collaborative team structure, specialized roles, world-class training, continued education opportunities, and in-house marketing team will position you to become a top-selling realtor!
Do you think you’d be a good fit for our team? Learn how you can join us here: https://jobs.lever.co/kerishullteam.