10 Tasks real estate agents delegate (but absolutely shouldn't)
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10 Tasks real estate agents delegate (but absolutely shouldn't)

If the 80-20 principle is correct, it’s critical to make sure that you’re focused on what matters and delegate the rest. But agents have taken this too far, writes broker Nick Schlekeway.

The Pareto Principle states that approximately 80 percent of our results stem from only 20 percent of our daily work, but real estate agents display an alarming and consistent tendency to delegate or disregard some of the most critical responsibilities in their businesses.


Many of them do not know which 20 percent generates 80 percent of the results, and most do not delegate strategically to ensure their time is spent in those activities that are most productive. In extreme cases, their process for strategic planning and delegation seems to be formed around avoiding the things they don’t enjoy more than any real sense of vision for where they want to go.


Now don’t get me wrong: One person cannot do it all, nor should they. However, it’s also critical to note that you are responsible for the most important functions in your business. And you shouldn’t be passing them off to an admin — regardless of experience — who, by definition, does not know what you know.


Here are 10 of the most critical aspects of running a successful real estate business that should not be delegated (but often are):


1. Key relationships

Real estate sales are relationship sales in their purest form. The health and vitality of your relationships with others, your rapport, and your ability to engender trust is the most important aspect of success in a business that is ruled by referral and word-of-mouth advertising.


2. Critical moments in the transaction

Calming fears, relaying critical expertise and wisdom, closing the relationship, negotiating the deal, handing out keys, funding, and recording — if you aren’t there for the big stuff, don’t be surprised if you fail to get referrals and repeat business.


3. Personal visits and gift deliveries

Nothing says you care like personal visits, lunches, drinks, or gift deliveries on special occasions. Nothing says you don’t care, like delegating these things to someone else.


4. Lead generation and lead conversion

Simply put, you will develop relationships with all your best clients and the best referral sources. Although this group of “best” will evolve, these key relationships cannot be passed off to someone else or delegated. Ever.


5. Strategy and systems

It’s up to us to form a compelling vision first before communicating that vision to our team. Only then can we assist with forming the specific strategy and systems that need to be built to bring a vision to life. Assistants and administrators can jump in to help build the systems and execute the strategy only after we have done our part to form it in the first place.


6. Strategic partnerships

You must take charge of who will be a partner and how they fit into the overall plan, be they lenders, title and escrow officers, builders, referral partners, high-net-worth individuals, or legal or accounting professionals.


7. Branding and brand promise

Does your brand promise fit into your vision, or are you delegating this to your admin and just telling them to come up with something that looks good?


8. Marketing, advertising, lead generation

You cannot expect your administration to have the intimate knowledge of buyer and seller needs that you have as an experienced agent, nor can you expect them to understand your voice and how you want to show up in your advertising. You have to set the tone and the structure for these campaigns before you pass them off to be executed.


9. Marketing presentation collateral

What goes into your presentations — listing or otherwise? Yes, you can delegate putting them together, but if you don’t tell them what to include and what the objective is, don’t be surprised when it is not meeting your internal expectations.


10. Hiring and team building

Getting the right people on your team and building that team up takes enormous effort, patience, and vision. Attempting to delegate the vision of how your team will function or what types of people will fill the roles that need to be filled will end in disaster.


Tenga en cuenta, con cualquier función crítica de su negocio, que no tomar medidas y no permitir que su administrador o los miembros del equipo tomen estas decisiones por usted no es diferente a elegir delegarlas.


Además, observe que las palabras generación de leads aparecen varias veces en esta lista. Aunque los miembros del equipo pueden ayudarlo a ejecutar la estrategia, usted es, en última instancia, responsable de generar clientes potenciales y crear oportunidades para su negocio.


Si todo esto parece mucho trabajo, lo es. Esto es liderazgo en acción.


Casi puedo oírte decir: "¿Cómo se supone que voy a encontrar tiempo para hacer todas estas cosas cuando estoy abrumado como estoy?" La respuesta es dejar de hacer muchas de las cosas que haces actualmente todos los días y que deberías delegar y dejar de lado.


By Nick Schlekeway



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