Historically speaking, real estate teams and brokerages have seen the majority of their growth through the addition of more agents. This way of thinking has led to a singular focus of doubling down on recruitment and acquisition efforts.
The Elle Group has decided to operate a bit differently. Instead of focusing on acquiring more agents, our focus lies squarely on making our agents more productive and more effective via digital marketing practices and various automated technologies (some of which – we’ve custom built).
Up until this past year, The Elle Group has operated with just a single licensed agent. We’ve taken our time to test, retest, and eventually rebuild everything from the ground up. The results of which allowed our singular agent to produce what an average of six agents in Massachusetts typically would. That’s our winning recipe at work.
While some of our internal practices and marketing capabilities are quite flashy and exciting, the core of The Elle Group’s foundation revolves around what we call ‘The Basics’. Something we believe to be quite important, and universally applicable.
For example, in our careers we all have daily tasks and responsibilities that are basic in nature but vital in importance. Depending on your profession, this can range from updating your boss on a project, responding to emails in a timely manner, or even just getting into the office on time. Again – basic in nature, but important, nonetheless.
Prior to joining the corporate world, my dad gave me some of the best and most simplistic advice I’ve ever received, “If you do the basics, you’re already an all-star.”. Every day that passes only proves this to be more and more true.
But alas, from most companies, ‘The Basics’ get no love. They’re not flashy, they’re not something to stamp on your letterhead, or showcase under the ‘features’ column. In fact, they rarely ever even get noticed, until they’ve gone missing.
For instance, have you ever dealt with the frustration of a plumber or electrician not picking up the phone? Not calling you back? Not showing up on time? If you have – I bet this wasn’t initially a trait you thought to look for when making a hiring decision, however, I bet it will be the reason why you won’t be hiring them again in the future.
‘But these are just basic, common sense practices,’ you say. But of course they are. Yet the issues still remain prevalent across the business world. Not because someone legitimately believes best practices to be showing up twenty-seven minutes late, returning your call eight days later, or failing to communicate the job effectively. These mishaps are due to a lack of planning, and more importantly, a lack of systems.
Realtors, like plumbers and electricians, are constantly on the go and juggling one-too-many things at all times. They likely handle their own finances, billing, customer service and so on. To be fair, it can be a lot to handle!
However, this is exactly the reason why having a concrete set of systems (and a team to operate them) is so incredibly important. A lack of ‘The Basics’ can sour a client’s experience quickly. Very quickly.
At The Elle Group, ‘The Basics’ and the systems that coincide with them are at the very foundation in which we’ve been built. Through well thought out SOPs (standard operating procedures), clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and most importantly, fully automated systems – we’ve built a scalable, repeatable, and customer centric business.
