Re-ignite The Fire in Your Business Partnerships
Business partnerships are like any other relationship with it’s ups and downs, it takes effort and a lot of TLC to stay healthy and engaging.
As time marches on, the joy for what we do and who we partner with can start to fade. Sometimes it might feel like we aren’t as home in our brokerage as we used to be, and we start to wonder, “Am I in the right place?” It’s not that you aren’t still fine with your brokerage, but the excitement and luster has faded, and you aren’t sure why. This drab feeling leads us to asking questions like, “Are there better opportunities somewhere else?” We can’t help but wonder if the grass is greener somewhere else.
TIP: Check out this great article by Realty NA, “The Importance of the Broker-Agent Relationship”
The Two Types of Agents and Why They Change Brokers
There are two types of agents that would make a move to another real estate brokerage. First, there is the agent that needs to feel a particular way about the company they work at. The second is the agent that doesn’t care about feelings, they just want to produce, regardless of whether they like their broker or not. They tend to be harder, emotionally, and much less likely to be swayed by emotions, it’s just a business decision so they will likely succeed no matter where they are.
The Heart-Led Agent
Back to the first type of agent, who is very much like me. I’m an emotional guy, and I had to feel passionate about the company that I worked for. When I was a real estate agent, and face to face with a customer, there was always passion and conviction in my words because I really believed in the place where I worked. Right now, I love my team at Power Headquarters, and I feel like I’m at home with my company — it’s like a second family! When I leave my home in the morning, I just go to another place I call home, and that makes me more productive.
That’s not to say that there won’t be moments in those relationships where you don’t see eye to eye. You love the people you are working with, but you aren’t always going to agree because everyone sees situations though the lens of their own experience. Regardless of expectations and how well people click, no relationship will ever be all rainbows and butterflies.
Ask yourself this: Do you feel strong about your company? If the answer is no, then you should go find a company that you feel empowered to work for.
TIP: Check out this related article, “Creating Successful Real Estate Partnerships.”
The Head-Led Agent
To the second type of agent, the brokerage is just a place of business, and you may have no particular feelings either way about the company. It can be easier, because you know that your success or failure has nothing to do with the company, because you are responsible for your own success. You would consider leaving your broker only if you see there is a better company out there that gives you the tools to be more effective at going on the listing appointments, and getting those listings and the sales.
A Scenario
I spoke recently with a Power Agent® who was a heart-led type of agent. He shared with me that he loved feeling passionate and excited about the broker he was working with, and when he started there, he was filled with excitement. Over time, though, that joy began to fade, and he began thinking about checking out other brokerages in the hopes he could fill the empty void with a renewed excitement for real estate that he once enjoyed.
The Nature of Relationships
Let’s say you’re married. You know it’s extremely rare where two people are always madly in love 100% of the time. We all know that there are going to be times in a relationship where you question the other person or have doubts about the relationship because it’s not like it was when you were dating. That’s just the nature of relationships. That gushy “dating love” matures over time to a rock-solid “married love”, but it takes both of you to create that unwavering love.
Most of us go into a marriage knowing we can’t just walk down the aisle, say “I do” and think, “This marriage is going to work out and maintain itself for the next 80 years” and yet, for many, that is the expectation. You need to commit and recommit over and over to that relationship, and sit down with your partner to decide how you want your relationship to be.
Relationships are NOT 50/50
Everyone is guilty of believing that relationships should be 50% from one person, and 50% from the other, and you meet in the middle and contribute equally. Of course, we know what happens…when things aren’t working out, it’s the other person’s 50% that’s the problem! Or, both people end up thinking they are contributing 80% and the other only puts in 20%. It builds resentment because our expectations are unrealistic.
Relationships need to be 100% to 0%. When you are giving your relationship 100%, you have the power to create it in the way you want it to be. You are taking 100% responsibility for the relationship and having no expectations of your partner.
Now, if you think “well, maybe there’s another person that’s more interesting and exciting” and you start looking around and end your current relationship to get married to this other person, you will realize in a few months that it’s the same situation because like all relationships, it moves out of the new and exciting time and into the routine. Before you know it, you’re looking around again for someone more interesting and exciting, and it becomes a cycle because you aren’t taking 100% responsibility for your relationship.
TIP: This article by New Love Times shares some insights on why some people hop from relationship to relationship.
The Resolution
I told this Power Agent® that he would be better off staying where he was at because what he was looking for wouldn’t be found outside of that brokerage, it was there within and he had to look internally to find what was motivating him, and to discover what his passion was.
Our conversation took an interesting turn then with a revelation. He shared with me that when he started at that company, he had an office supervisor that worked with him often, and she was really great. They clicked instantly, could bounce ideas off one another, and they could talk about the various issues he was facing as an agent. Then a year ago, he got a new supervisor, and their relationship wasn’t the same and he struggled to maintain the same joy he had while working with his first supervisor.
I suggested he take some time to invent a new relationship with this new supervisor and stop comparing the old supervisor to this new one. The relationship is doomed to fail once you start comparing “apples” to “oranges” because it’s not a fair place to start from. Engaging with this new supervisor without a thought to the old supervisor would help him to once again feel empowered, and it has the potential to become even better than his relationship with the first supervisor, as long as it was given the space to flourish.
TIP: Read this other article, “Everything I Needed To Know About Real Estate I Learned From Dance Lessons.”
What’s Next?
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Power Agents®, for some great ideas on how to foster great partnerships and make your clients SMILE, check out the amazing content in the Time and Money Management tab.
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