Brokers and team leaders can use these tips for delivering constructive feedback with tact and authority.
As a broker-owner or team leader, your agents look to you for
leadership and guidance. Offering sales associates constructive feedback
is an important way to share your vision and help them improve their
skillset.Here are five tips to help you provide advice that associate brokers,
agents, and team members can use to reach their sales goals. Chances
are these tips will lead to more trusting relationships among those in
your office and greater productivity for everyone.
feedback, be honest with yourself about your own biases. All of us have
different points of view, so make sure your viewpoints are not based in
sexism, racism or ableism. Masala Dukuly, director of learning and
development with LifeLabs Learning, says, “We are all biased…you
can be a well-meaning, good human being and still be biased.” Don’t
project your biases onto other people. Make feedback a dialogue. Create a conversation with your
agents that begins with asking them to “consent” or “opt in” to
receiving feedback. Approach them by saying something like, “I’d like us
to take some time together to talk about ways to work with new
prospects. Is that okay with you?” By asking for permission, you are
creating a situation that gives her or him room to respond, participant
in the feedback, and learn rather than become defensive or feel “on the
spot.”Make your feedback specific and objective. Offer one or two
examples in your conversation. Don’t generalize or use vague language.
Instead of saying, “You seem unengaged,” say, “It’s important to me that
all of our team members respond to client messages, regardless of
whether the messages are phone calls, emails or texts, within five
minutes of receiving them during our business hours.”Make your feedback central to the situation at hand. Let’s
say the team member was late to an important sales meeting. You might
say something like, “Because you were late to the team meeting
yesterday, the team lost momentum developing our strategy going forward
with a prospect we’ve been hoping to land as a client. I want to
encourage you to arrive on time and prepared.”Welcome the opportunity to receive feedback from your agents.
Even though it can feel hard or uncomfortable, when you approach
feedback as dialogue at your company, chances are that everyone
involved—including you—will be able to learn and improve from the
experience. We have no doubt that your agents will share feedback with
you that will help you improve your communications and leadership
skills. Perhaps their feedback will also help you become more clear,
specific, and effective in your constructive criticism.
National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission
