Retention is how you can unlock a sustainable, long-term income stream. To achieve retention you must first build a loyal, skilled team and then, using that team, build a loyal customer base.
Blogger: Jo-Anne Oliveri, founder and managing director of ireviloution
What follows are six proven strategies that guarantee team retention and take you closer to your ultimate end goal – financial freedom.
Recruitment: hire for attitude, train for skill
When you recruit new team members always remember: hire for attitude, train for skill. Why? Because experience is a liability, not an asset. I know many disagree, but let me explain. When applicants have the right attitude and are teachable, they are far better choices than applicants who are set in their ways and not moldable to align with your agency’s culture and brand.
Role definition: define, refine, assign
You need to define, refine and assign every role within your business. This means creating clear descriptions of what each team member does, your expectations and the standards that must be achieved. Role definition includes describing how each position interacts with other team members’ positions and what and how tasks are shared.
Standards: make your business unique
Your business standards make your agency unique. Without standards you are just like your competitors; you give prospective employees and clients no reason to choose you over another agency. As a result, writing your standards for every area of your business is essential. Some business areas which must have written standards include dress and personal presentation, service delivery, communication presentation, report presentation, vehicle presentation, task completion (including timeframes) and customer relations.
Policies: give your business direction
Policies are what provide you and your team direction. As the business owner, you must write your business’ policies so you are in control of the who, what, when, where, why and how of your agency and its operations. Your written policies should encapsulate legislation, business culture, service and standards, processes and codes of conduct (as required by various bodies).
Team induction: induct, induct, induct!
Your team needs to be inducted and induction must never stop, it should only reduce in frequency. So, you must have a program to ensure new recruits are inducted into every area of your business and continue to receive training once their probation period ends. Induction must be ongoing.
Training: planned, consistent, ongoing
After induction comes training. Research shows that employees receiving planned, consistent and ongoing training from their employer are more committed to remaining in their current employment than if they are receiving no training and support. So, my advice- train your team members, and don’t stop training them!
Use these six proven strategies to help you achieve team retention so you can then work towards the next step, achieving client retention. Unlocking a sustainable, long-term income which leads you to financial freedom is now only a few more strategies away!
For more information on these six proven strategies and other strategies to retain your team and clients download our free eBook ‘26 proven strategies to help you retain your team and clients’ at http://retainmoreclientsnow.com
Jo-Anne Oliveri (CIPS, TRC) ireviloution intelligence managing directorAs a former member of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland Property Management Chapter and Property Chapter Committee for the Leading Agents of Australia, Jo-Anne Oliveri (CIPS, TRC) is often called ‘the property management guru’. After nearly 20 years' real estate experience, Jo-Anne established ireviloution intelligence to lead positive change in this industry. ireviloution provides property management systems (training and resources), consulting, mentoring, workshops, due diligence and prognosis services to principals and their property management teams. This innovative service offers a world-first – online training that measures competency, monitors progress and teaches systems which streamline, systemise and simplify all property management processes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
![Jo-Anne Oliveri](/images/jo-anne_oliveri.jpg)
Jo-Anne Oliveri
As a former member of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland Property Management Chapter and Property Chapter Committee for the Leading Agents of Australia, Jo-Anne Oliveri (CIPS, TRC) is often called ‘the property management guru’. After nearly 20 years' real estate experience, Jo-Anne established ireviloution intelligence to lead positive change in this industry. ireviloution provides property management systems (training and resources), consulting, mentoring, workshops, due diligence and prognosis services to principals and their property management teams. This innovative service offers a world-first – online training that measures competency, monitors progress and teaches systems which streamline, systemise and simplify all property management processes.