Real Estate Teams
How many times have you seen a hungry prospect come through your door but leave without purchasing a property? Too many to count, huh?
…OUCH.
If you want to increase your agency’s closing percentage, it’s time to build a team with a blend of human behavioral skills so they can use their natural talents to feed those hungry prospects exactly what they need to make a positive buying decision.
How To Build a Top Producing Real Estate Team
[All benchmarked positions are found below]
A real estate team’s success depends heavily on connecting with clients, guiding transactions, and closing deals. The natural behavioral tendencies represented in the DISC model can reveal the most essential qualities for these varied real estate professionals to excel. Though all DISC styles offer strengths, finding key players who exhibit the traits inside the DISC model in the right measures increases the odds you’ll get your clients to the close.
The right people with the right mix of these 4 primary DISC qualities, your team can work with any buyer:
* Decisive: demanding, driving, forceful
* Interactive: gregarious, persuasive, inspiring
* Stabilizing: patient, predictable, passive
* Cautious: careful, perfectionistic, systematic
What are the roles you need on your team and what’s the behavioral types that operate successfully in those roles? Here’s a breakdown of the most common we see in successful real estate teams and their corresponding DISC profiles.
The Ideal Listing Agent’s DISC Profile
Listing Agents who have to find their own leads could be seen as Hunter/Gatherer type salespeople. They do not want to wait for prospects to come to them. They prefer to be out there actively seeking prospects. The key word here is ACTIVE. They don’t believe in sitting around waiting for something to happen; they prefer to MAKE things happen. The more sales opportunities that come their way the better they like it. And who has time to build a prospect list? In the time it takes to make a list they could have made the first call already! Before they’ve officially closed the sale, they’re thinking about the next sale and asking for referrals.
A salesperson who succeeds in this type of environment usually benefits from a higher D and a higher I. A good mix of assertiveness and persuasive ability helps them be comfortable with a high activity level and provides them the resilience and persistence needed to hear 50 ‘No’s’ before they get to a ‘Yes’.
You don’t need to see much S or C on the DISC for a high-performing Listing Agent. They may feel that patience and detail-orientation slow things down and don’t help them get the results they seek or feed their competitive spirit.
Here’s an example DISC report for a top-notch Listing Agent:
When looking at this and the following DISC examples, the info we need is in the colored bars. Also focus less on the height of the columns and more on the pattern that the bars make. In this case, the D and I should both be high with the S and C a bunch of points lower.
The Ideal Buyer’s Agent DISC Assessment
A great Buyer’s Agent usually takes a more consultative approach to sales. This gives them a slightly different DISC. Yes, they’ll still benefit from having a higher D but they tend to ask more questions rather than come into the sales interaction with all of the answers. With their mid-range S, they exhibit a bit more patience since the sales cycle is typically a bit longer when working directly with buyers. While they’re still not afraid to drive for the close, they’re all about making a friend and building a long-term relationship. This keeps clients and motivates them to provide referrals.
In order to succeed as a Buyer’s Agent a slight drop in the D is indicated, along with a raise in the S. This brings the patience needed to work with buyers along with an improved listening ability. This creates a more harmonious sales process in their eyes and harmony is something they strive for in their interactions.
Here’s a snapshot of someone with the behavioral potential to be a top-notch Buyer’s Agent:
The pattern you’re seeking here should be a relatively high D and I, along with a significant presence of S.
Your Showing Agent’s Ideal DISC Report
How can a Showing Agent help you? Imagine how much more productive and happy your Buyer’s Agents would be if you can find a way to keep them closing deals rather than having buyers try their patience when they ask to see the 34th house. Here is where a Showing Agent shines. They still possess enough of the Interactive style to be engaging and friendly, but the increase in S is what makes them shine brightest. Here is the patience factor that your typical Buyer Agents may be lacking. A great showing agent also loves structure and details so they’re quite adept at bringing MLS listings to life.
Here’s the profile of an ideal Showing Agent:
Note the higher S and C, with the mid-range I. This provides more patience through a longer sales cycle.
Ideal DISC Profile for an Inside Salesperson
An Inside Salesperson is comfortable working a lead list that’s been handed to them. Patience definitely comes into play for someone in Inside Sales since some of the lead lists can be lengthy and warming up a prospect can take time, but this plays to their strengths. They attack that list with consistency, methodically moving from one lead to the next. While they’re not so focused on winning the deal, they do get a kick out of seeing progress, making it to the bottom of the list, and making friends along the way.
You’ll notice the D drops while the S increases. Yet the I should remain fairly high since they will need to be comfortable with lots of people contact. They’re in it for the long haul whether it means getting to the bottom of their lead list or keeping someone on that list for a long time until they’re ready to be passed off to ‘the closer’ (higher D). An Inside Salesperson’s job is to warm the prospect up until they’re ready to be sold.
This is an example of a DISC for a successful Inside Salesperson:
An Inside Salesperson’s pattern should have the I and S be on the higher side with the D a bit lower but still in the mid-range.
The Importance Of Sales Specialization In Real Estate
We realize it might not be the right time for you to build this rockstar real estate sales engine, but agency owners need to face the facts… you’re wearing too many hats that you’re not qualified for. You’re trying to be everything to everyone and this is a recipe for stress for you and frustrated clients walking out your door.
Sales specialization is the key!
Build out your team with sales professionals who not only have the specialized skills needed to succeed in these roles, they also have the natural behavioral talents to make more sales, feed your hungry prospects, and close more deals.
*Note: The above terminology used to describe the D, I, S, and C was interpreted by Innermetrix. You may have seen or heard different words used to describe the categories like Dominant, Influencing, Submissive, and Compliant or Dominance, influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. All of these variations highlight the same types of behavior based on the science first studied by Dr. William Marston. Innermetrix has chosen positive terms more appropriate to the current times.
