Overcoming obstacles and roadblocks in their work will make or break a CRE broker, so here are some useful strategies that might be helpful to you.
In this article:
- Learn the Cause of the Bottleneck
- Reset the Current Mindset to Overcome Challenges
- Go Beyond One Step Further
- Get a Neutral Perspective
- Review Past Experiences to Face Challenges
- Partner with Indirect Colleagues to Solve Any Obstacle
- Walk Your Problems Away
- Learn While on the Job
- Just Do It
9 Ways to Overcoming Obstacles
Learn the Cause of the Bottleneck
Treat the disease, not the symptom. In the CRE sales funnel, analyzing current problems is necessary but is not enough. Ensuring the accuracy of the data and metrics for analysis is the gamechanger.
Anything that is measurable can have improvements. Having free CRE daily progress trackers can weed out the uncertainty and inaccuracy of your internal data.
After gathering accurate and timely data, the troubleshooting moves to classify the obstacle. Most bottlenecks are either external problems or internal ones. External obstacles are problems that CRE brokers cannot control, like the weather, tax rates or regulations. Internal obstacles are things within the agents’ and brokers’ control.
By categorizing the obstacle, CRE brokers who are experiencing difficulties can find better solutions. Struggling CRE brokers are better off finding different angles if the obstacle is external. Fighting against regulatory documentation or the local cultural and economic mindset will do more harm than good. Instead, it is better to work with the flow of external obstacles. Rather than solve external obstacles, working around them can give CRE brokers a better shot at success.
If the obstacle is internal, digging to the root cause can lead to valuable business insights. If the problem is lack of revenue, and there are little or no external obstacles, as other agencies are flourishing, then a review of internal processes may show where the bottleneck is.
Reset the Current Mindset to Overcome Challenges
Sometimes, all you need is a change of perspective. More often than not, CRE brokers will accept a few things as absolute truths. A low economic environment will mean a lower number of clients, so ordinary brokers give discounts or accept losses. Because of this mindset of readily accepting defeat, CRE agencies will cut down their prices, furthering the vicious cycle of lower revenue until only a handful remain.
A different mindset leads to a different conclusion. If the same information goes through the same old mental process, the same strategy comes out. If you change mindsets, you almost always can change the results.
An excellent example for CRE brokers lies in the marketing mindset. For most agencies, reaching out to a large number of people may sound like a proper mindset. However, for a commercial real estate agency, marketing to a smaller group with better focus can give a competitive edge that other agencies do not have.
With the right information and expertise, a CRE broker can become the best agent with proper marketing techniques. By having a shift from your current mindset to a different one, bottlenecks may soon be a thing of the past.
Go Beyond One Step Further
Prospecting is the lifeblood of the CRE world. There is no perfect prospecting script, but that does not mean you cannot make a script that works best for you. This is an example of how a CRE broker can overcome obstacles by doing something indirectly related to current processes.
Sometimes, you just have to be a rebel to be useful. The most common strategy for agencies when they encounter obstacles is to review what they did in the past. A good CRE agency goes further; they not only go with their template but also add and experiment over time.
Get a Neutral Perspective
A fresh set of eyes is a valuable source of information that many people undervalue. If you encounter an obstacle that you or your team just cannot seem to overcome, then having an outsider give insight can lead to useful strategies.
An example is workplace synergy. Most office workers may become too accustomed to each other. Being comfortable is a good thing, but it runs the risk of complacency and sometimes mediocrity. Asking a third party to give opinions as well as suggestions can smooth out possible friction, as well as open up the minds of the team to possible improvements.
Review Past Experiences to Face Challenges
History repeats itself until something breaks the cycle. Past strategies can serve not only as templates but also as springboards to newer and better plans. Japanese companies have this culture of Kaizen, or constant improvement, where the flow and the processes see improvements in a set time.
By reviewing past experiences, CRE brokers and agents can see what worked and what needs some tweaking. A quarterly review is a bare minimum. Reviewing past plans and strategies can help you or the team come up with a useful template.
Partner with Indirect Colleagues to Solve Any Obstacle
Sometimes, partnerships can turn obstacles into opportunities. It is easy to feel down when you’re not getting the anticipated results or meeting essential metrics.
A way to get hyped up about crushing sales is to help other related agencies. Partnering with residential brokers can lead to a possible list of prospects. Joining with the local chamber of commerce leads to more networking opportunities.
Partnerships increase your network and decrease your risks. Networking and marketing are necessary activities but do not forget to do prospecting as well. Partnerships can overcome obstacles, primarily if the sales bottlenecks relate more to the sales and revenue rather than work efficiency.
Walk Your Problems Away
No, we do not mean fleeing your problems by escaping your office space or headquarters. Sometimes, a change of scenery can lead to creative breakthroughs.
Even a short walk during a break can do your brain, and your body, a lot of good. Walking gives your brain two critical things, exercise and rest. A short walk while talking to another agent or broker can literally give your brain more oxygen and faster blood circulation compared to just sitting and listening to others in a meeting room.
The next time you have difficulties finding an angle for a client or property, try walking while thinking about the issue. You may find surprising insights even as you walk down the stairs.
Learn While on the Job
The concept of continuous improvement will do wonders for any kind of business. CRE agencies can get useful concepts from manufacturing companies, mainly about making a lean work process. To lessen training costs, companies make training as part of the workplace tasks, rather than a separate activity.
The best example is attending seminars and conferences. By registering or subscribing to activities that give you knowledge and expertise, obstacles can become less challenging.
Just Do It
Sometimes, you just have to power through obstacles. A business study for Nordic companies has seen resilience as increasingly important, as risks have become more complicated. Basically, accounting for each and every risk will paralyze business operations. In the highly-competitive business world of today, company or agent resilience will play a large part in successful operations.
Good execution is better than best-laid plans. As long as the prospecting template, remote worker workflow, and other processes are reasonable, logical, and efficient, tackling the problem head-on should follow. Be confident with your system, just remember to review and tweak your processes for improvements.
No one ever drifted to the success they wanted – they created a plan and set goals. Get the step-by-step proven methodology and workbook to make 2019 your best CRE year yet.
