The holiday season was dominated by articles on 'how to make 2018 the best year it can be'. Whether it was the five top marketing tools for the year or 10 tips to grow your business, everyone looks at year-end as an opportunity for a fresh start. Many of these articles were aggressive on getting people to sign up before year-end so they have a clean slate in 2018. I’m all for New Year’s resolutions, but change doesn’t have to happen at year-end and the urgency I’ve seen in some of these articles may be setting brokerages up for failure.
In my opinion, having a well-planned training and onboarding program is 100x more important than a specific launch date. Implementation requires planning for your staff, brokers, and agents to learn how to use your new tool(s). Without a planned onboarding process, you won’t get the adoption you’re hoping for. Without adoption, your investment may never be realized or may only give you a partial return.
Technology and the data it generates can be your brokerage’s biggest asset, but if only 50% of your agents or offices utilize your solutions, then your data will only show half the picture. Your brokerage is only as strong as its weakest link so your training must accommodate agents of all ages and styles. If you’re going to spend the money on new technology, have a plan for your team to be using it as quickly as possible.
We’re in an industry that’s rapidly changing and we need to evolve with those changes. To stay ahead of the curve, or at least at pace, we often need to make these adjustments in real time. Despite the urgency, you may feel, make sure you’re investing the time and resources into planning for a successful rollout. You could have the best software out there, but if it’s not being used, it’s not going to do any good for you, your team, or your brokerage. Whether you’re thinking about a new accounting platform, website, transaction management system, or anything in between, there is absolutely no need to wait as long as you have an onboarding and training plan ready to go. With proper planning, your clean slate is 100% on your timetable.
Click here to learn more about the best practices to maximize agent adoption.
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Warren’s Corner is an editorial where I share my thoughts on things going on in the real estate industry. As the Director of Industry Relations for Lone Wolf, I have the pleasure and opportunity to attend many industry events and meet with some of the best and brightest in the industry. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on new technologies, events, industry and market trends, and everything in between. I invite readers to reach out to me with their feedback and ideas for future posts. The views I post are my own and are not necessarily the views of Lone Wolf.
