Written by Andrew Trim

For many years it was estimated that for every dollar invested in training, real estate business owners saw a return of approximately $30. With today’s selling fees, that ROI has likely climbed to $100 for every dollar.

This is a big return for a small investment. So why does the real estate industry show little regard for training? Perhaps they are short sighted or don’t perceive the value? Maybe some feel they know enough already?

Whatever the reason, smart leaders know that properly trained salespeople produce more than their untrained counterparts. They understand training begins with the leader and continues throughout the team. To a smart leader, nobody is exempt from training. The best teams train to win.

The policies surrounding Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in New South Wales illustrate this contempt for training. A real estate person in NSW can renew their qualifications with 12 CPD Points from Learning Category 3, which earns points at a rate of 3 points per hour, or a total of four hours’ training for the entire twelve points. That is all the training required for the year. A situation replicated across most states.

While four hours’ training satisfies the legal requirements, this does not come close to the training needed to reach, and remain at, a high level of competence. Good real estate leaders know this, but the concept appears to be lost on the greater industry.

Similar Excuses

On many occasions when visiting agencies with struggling teams we are given the same reasons – “We’re not getting called in”, or “We can sell anything we list, but we just can’t get the listings!”. No doubt you have heard similar comments over the years, and understand these are excuses rather than reasons.

With teams in this situation, we use a process of testing to identify the real problem as it can really only be one of two things; a lack of knowledge or a lack of action.

Firstly, their knowledge must be tested. You have to test knowledge because you need to know if that is where the problem is.

It is not draconian to give your people assessments. They get assessed at every listing presentation. If a seller said to your salesperson, “Sam, why should I list with you?”, Sam has just been given an examination. Do you want Sam to give the best reply? If you want the right words to come out of their mouth, you have to put the right words in their head first.

You must test occasionally to see if the right words are in your team members’ heads.

Without adequate knowledge, you have an incompetent salesperson representing your company. Get them to work as hard as you like, prospect until they’re blue in the face, but if knowledge is low, all you have is:

Hardworking Incompetence

You will find in almost every real estate agency the salesperson with the best knowledge achieves the best results.

Now if this does not convince you that you must train to win, nothing will.

• The highest in dollars is the highest in knowledge.

•  Second highest in dollars is second highest in knowledge… and so on all the way to the bottom.

You should believe the saying, “The more you learn, the more you earn”. There is undeniable evidence of this in every real estate agency in the country.

Incompetence costs agencies hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Every listing your salesperson misses is a selling fee lost to your agency.

Winners thrive and survive any market, because winners train to win.