Opinion: If change was straightforward, everybody would do it

I don’t assume many individuals would disagree that 2023 has been a yr filled with difficult landscapes and uneasy terrain for a lot of actual property brokerages.

Many brokers and brokers anticipated the summer time housing market to assist save the yr. However for lots of native markets, that summer time solar didn’t shine so brightly. As we strategy fall and winter, some corporations are having to make some laborious decisions and painful adjustments – that’s, after all, the businesses which are nonetheless in enterprise.

The massive query is, “How do you make laborious adjustments with out shedding brokers or shedding face?”

Spoiler: I don’t have the reply. Nevertheless, let’s have a look at some methods to assist mitigate backlash if you do should make robust calls. 

Provide options

My No. 1 rule when axing a program is to attempt to have an alternate within the wings. Even when a chunk of tech or a advertising initiative is comparatively unpopular, there may be invariably somebody who liked it and will likely be upset that it’s gone.

Whilst you can’t please everybody, attempt to present your brokers that you simply’re trying to unravel an issue and never simply saving cash. In my expertise, folks get extra upset after they aren’t clear in your motivations, they usually’ll make their very own assumptions. 

Rip off the bandage

Generally, we keep away from making troublesome choices. These delays can often make issues worse than taking motion immediately.

Holding poisonous staff is a good instance of this. They are saying, “one dangerous apple spoils the bunch.” That assertion holds true on the subject of work tradition. A poisonous particular person will unfold their damaging perspective to all corners of the corporate.

The identical will be true for a nasty tech suite. The longer you retain it, the more serious issues get. Ripping off the bandage, whereas painful within the short-term, is the preferable ending.

Personal your narrative

If there may be one factor this trade is thought for it’s gossip. Information travels quick, however dangerous information virtually travels at mild pace. If you must make some unpopular adjustments in your brokerage, count on folks to speak about it.

The extra public the adjustments, like closing or right-sizing an workplace, the louder the feedback will likely be. Arm your brokers and employees with speaking factors on why that is one of the best plan of action for the brokerage and the way it will profit them.

Relying on the connection you could have together with your folks, you will be susceptible. Perhaps the selection was down to shut the workplace or lay off staff. You may humanize the state of affairs by sharing that. It exhibits that you simply worth folks over property. Should you can win the buy-in of your people, it doesn’t actually matter what everybody else says. 

Closing ideas

These are simply three of the various issues you are able to do to clean issues over when troublesome decisions cross your path. Nobody likes to indicate weak point or seem as a failure. Nevertheless, as we discovered from the Nice Recession, brokerages that made swift adjustments and tailored fared a lot better than those who let ego dictate the plan of action.

It’s not enjoyable to be able of constructing robust decisions. On this enterprise, it truly is the robust that survive. Generally, that power comes at a worth that appears too excessive on the time. Solely you may know what’s finest for your small business. On the finish of the day, you must really feel that you simply made the fitting choices when the time got here.  

Stephen Meadows is COO of Coldwell Banker Premier in Virginia, a agency that was named a 2023 RealTrends GameChangers for its progress in transaction facet proportion over the previous 5 years.

To contact the creator of this story:
Stephen Meadows at [email protected]

To contact the editor chargeable for this story:
Deborah Kearns at [email protected]