The ability to delegate is an important skill set for anyone building a real estate business. In a study of some of America’s top CEOs, Gallup found that the CEOs with great delegation skills generated 33% more revenue. That's probably because they were able to hand off all of those tedious, time-consuming administrative tasks—and put 100% of their focus into what they do best.
Delegating is important. But it's easier said than done.
In the same study, Gallup also discovered that 75% of the CEOs weren't all that great at delegating.
If you're among the many business leaders who could use a little help in the delegation department, check out these tips shared by Harvard Business School Online.
1) Know what (and what not) to delegate.
There are some tasks that simply can’t be delegated: listing presentations, closing appointments, prospecting calls to catch up with past clients, contract negotiations, etc. Anything in the realm of relationship-building, negotiating, and one-on-one conversations with clients should NOT be delegated.
But there’s so much supporting work that CAN be delegated: updating your contact database, preparing materials for the listing presentation, ensuring that all documentation for a transaction has been submitted, uploading listing photos, answering the phone, scheduling appointments, and so much more.
2) Leverage your employee’s special skills.
For many of those “delegation-worthy” tasks, there is probably someone on your team with just the right special skill set. Your listing manager might be a whiz at Canva and social media—if so, delegate all graphic design and social media tasks to them! That will free up more time for you to do what you’re best at—building relationships and guiding clients through the transaction.
3) Explain the "why."
Before you start telling them "how" to do the work, let them know "why" it matters. When someone understands the impact their work will have on your real estate business—when they have that sense of purpose—they'll do better work.
Give your employee a little background info about the project and how it supports your organization goals: “Our database is full of cold leads with whom we’d like to rekindle a relationship. You will be going through our database to tag every cold lead, make sure their contact information is correct, and start them on a email drip campaign.”
Once you've explained the "why," you'll also need to provide them with detailed instructions, a clear timeline, and the method by which you'll be measuring their success.
4) Provide the necessary resources.
Sometimes, a team member will need training before being able to take on a delegated task. You might need to schedule in time for your new administrative assistant to attend an online QuickBooks training, for instance.
Other times, your employee might need to know which web tools they should be using. For example, if you want your assistant to start pulling weekly market statistics for you, you need to let them know which website they should reference and which application they should use to create the report.
Give them the resources they need to be successful, then let them do their thing (and resist the urge to micromanage).
5) Be patient.
It might take a few weeks for your assistant to get comfortable with the delegated task and be able to complete it at the optimal efficiency. Remember that the time you’re putting in now to train them will save you a ton of time in the future—especially once they’ve become an expert and taken even more work off your plate.
6) Use an automation platform.
An automation platform like Firepoint makes it easier to delegate work. You can put all of your real estate processes into automated workflows that will walk your assistant through every step they need to take. For every step, you can include detailed instructions for your assistant to follow. An automation platform is a great way to hold your employees accountable and maintain some quality control over delegated tasks.
Another benefit of using an automation platform is that you can create and use email templates. These templates can be written by you, in your unique voice; and they can include data fields that will automatically populate with the correct information (client name, property address, etc.). This allows your assistant (or anyone else on your team) to easily send emails that look and feel like they came from you.
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To continue to grow your real estate business, you need to hone your delegation skills. All of those tedious, menial tasks like updating your database, answering phone calls, and bookkeeping? Give them to your assistant. You need to be spending your time getting face-to-face with prospects and clients, building those relationships, and providing top-level service throughout every transaction.
