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Agent Simulator
Gregory and Riley provide just one example of how new salespeople are being paired up with veterans right out of the starting block. Realizing that throwing new salespeople to the wolves to fend for themselves was no way to keep the office roster full and productive, brokers and managers are now going beyond basic training to create mentoring opportunities for them.
According to Lois Zachary, author of The Mentor's Guide (Jossey-Bass, 2000) and president of Phoenix-based Leadership Development Services, the real estate business is the perfect environment for such mentoring programs.
With new, independent salespeople able to pick and choose where they want to work, but unaware of what it takes to run a business, mentoring can provide a solid foundation for growth and productivity.
"Mentor's are a great way to cultivate and orient new salespeople, and engage them early on," says Zachary, adding that mentoring also creates powerful retention value � a big plus for the real estate office, where overall productivity depends on individual-salesperson performance." Mentoring can also develop a cohesive unit, reduce stress on new salespeople and truly nurture a commitment from them.
Two-Way Street
The length and structure of mentoring programs are highly individualized. Companies like Wimbish Riteway, for example, use a one-year contract that can be altered as the new salesperson progresses. Other offices offer programs that help salespeople through their first transaction, while still others leave it up to the individual salespeople to work out a system.
Commissions are typically split 50-50 between the two salespeople, and relationships work on an "�as-needed basis." For example, new salespeople often ask their mentors to come along on the first few listing appointments to provide support and guidance.
Often, the mentoring turns into a two-way street, with the salespeople learning from one another despite age or experience gaps. The 20-something salesperson coming out of school, for example, may be able to teach the veteran a bit about technology, such as the case with Bridget Tanchak, 27, and Rose Jenkins, 45, of Watson Realty in Jacksonville.
Tanchak paired with Jenkins, a real estate salesperson since 1998 and a real estate appraiser since 1991, soon after joining the company in January 2001. They initiated the relationship on their own and quickly found that Tanchak's technical expertise complemented Jenkins knowledge of real estate.
"We started asking each other for information and before we knew it, we found ourselves in a mutual mentoring relationship," Jenkins recalls. "Bridget is so technically sound when it comes to computers, and I'm not. But she needed help with setting up her business, and that's an area where I could definitely help."
The pair's mentoring program is loosely structured and typically finds them meeting once a week over lunch or in their home offices. Tanchak says the only challenge so far has been a lack of meeting space at their main office. Since pairing up, Tanchak and Jenkins have closed several deals together and plan to continue the relationship indefinitely.
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