Respect your Administration Team

This is a biggie, Respect your Administration Team! 

Depending on the brokerage you work for you may have little help from your administration team or you could hit the jackpot and be trained by the Broker of Record, remember respect your administration team.

Think about this, who has more exposure to all the changes in the Real Estate world but the administration team.  Nope we don’t go out and get the no’s and the yes’s that are so very important. But we are part of why you are successful if you let us.

Respect our knowledge and don’t look at us as liabilities to the brokerage but rather as another piece to your success.  An Asset to your career.

Who has typed up so many offers that not much of what you think is new really is.  For a busy brokerage, the admins, may type as many offers as 200 to only she/he knows the amount per year. 

Imagine the knowledge that person has to help you. They know what conditions belong, what you might be missing in your offer. 

Respect your administration team, they are instrumental to your success! 

Give them time to help you and understand that although you may need something right away, it does not mean that they have been waiting breathlessly for you to show up with the need to have an offer, other paperwork like waivers, notice of fulfillment’s, amendments, mutual releases typed up.

Have enough respect for the Administration around you to give them time to do what needs to be done.  You may not be the only person that needs something done. If you don’t give yourself, your team, enough time to get these documents that have to be correct and are legal, typed, mistakes can and will happen.  

Do you want to look like your not professional, by making your people wait because of lack of planning on your part.

A smart man I worked with at a different industry years ago, had a sign on the wall behind his desk that read as follows: Lack of planning on your side, does not constitute an emergency on mine! Love that quote.  

It applies to everything you do as a Realtor.  Here are things I have seen over the years where the administration has helped.

Not returning calls in a timely manner

Guess who gets the first call about your lack of etiquette in that department.  Yep, you’ve guessed it! Administration at first and eventually if you keep it up your Broker.  They try to smooth things over for you to alleviate the negative feelings your Client may be feeling about your not returning their calls.  Sure, some of them can be pains…but why not try to not let it become a regular pattern.  

Making appointments to meet your Clients and you are perpetually late and don’t contact them

Who has to entertain them while you are late, again, administration.  Learn to plan you time and don’t act like a doctor’s office that has too many sick people in flu season and make everyone wait for you.  Did you forget that you are working for the Client and not the other way around? And making a few different sets of Clients wait for you, not too professional…you owe them your full attention when you are taking care of them.  Remember how many other Realtors are out there trying to make a living who may do a much better job than you, why risk it?

Paperwork is missing things, not fully filled out

Yes you pass all those audits because we, the administration have your back.  Yet we often see a lot of disrespect towards us admins, while some Realtors run around doing the blame thing…they didn’t catch your mistake typing the Offer due to and not limited to their rotten handwriting, they keep changing their minds on what is needed in the documents, they call in information and are unclear about things and then a mistake happens because they didn’t read it after you typed it. Well Realtors, you should read everything you have someone type for you before you present it, you should also read what you type.  Make sure it’s alright, because after all you are the one with the license not the Administration except for the Broker of Record.

Mistakes in your transaction reports

As a bookkeeper, I can’t tell you how many times things are missed on the transaction report, which is by the way, your bill to the company so fill it out properly.  

Are you discounting the commission? Did you agree to pay a referral to another Realtor? Are you giving your Seller/Buyer a rebate? Did you get the right Brokerage on the other side, the right Realtor on your deal? Are they part of a team? Did you write the correct spelling of your Client(s)’ name? The correct contact information? What side are you on, the listing, the buying side?  

It’s an important document.  By the way, saying that you will provide the lawyer/solicitor later on the transaction report is redundant.  Of course you will give us the information, it’s part of ta the process and the property cannot change hands without a lawyer.

Respect our need for all information as quickly as you can provide it.  It helps to make the processing of your sales a lot easier when the information is all there.

Think you can do it all by yourself

If you have the luxury of having administration on your side to help along with a knowledgeable Broker of Record, embrace it.  Count yourself lucky to have such back-up to your career.

Respect your administration team, our knowledge, our patience with you until there is none because it’s eroded, treat us right!  It pays to have an administration team that respects you back in return.

We are human beings, not machines!  See us for the Asset that we are to your success!

Remember, if you have the use of an administration team which includes an interactive Broker of Record or Managing Broker, be grateful for what they do for you!  They are not your enemy because they ride you to get things done, they are your protection against all the legal entities that govern the Real Estate world.

Furthermore, conduct yourself with the respect that you will expect from your peers, your brokerage and your clients.  

When you are that successful Realtor, don’t take all the credit, you weren’t alone for the most part!  

If you enjoyed this article, you should read my article on Always Putting your Clients First!

Are you on Instagram? I just created an account and would love for you to give me a follow.