How To Hire A Successful Real Estate Team

I made a lot of hiring mistakes in my early days in real estate. I had no idea how to hire employees or what to look for and I had no clue about picking the right personalities for the job.

When I hired my first assistant, I hired someone just like me. She was fun and funny. She laughed at all my jokes. We got along so well!

The problem was she was good at all the same things I was good at. And she sucked at all of the things I sucked at. She wasn’t good at the details. I needed someone who was good at the details. I realized quickly, that she wasn’t going to work out.

Around this time I picked up a book called StrengthsFinder 2.0 and took their personality assessment. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. The results of the assessment showed that I excel at generating business and I’m a phenomenal negotiator. Lead generation and negotiation are the two biggest pillars I bring to the table.

The second assistant I hired was nothing like me. She didn’t laugh at any of my jokes BUT she was incredibly good at the details and she was highly organized. She would have been terrible at prospecting, she didn’t want to get belly to belly with leads. We were a fantastic team because we could focus on the things we were good at (which were also, coincidentally, the things we enjoyed doing).

Know Your Strengths

The theory behind StrengthsFinders is that we need to focus on our strengths and not worry as much about our weaknesses. Anything that you don’t excel at, you need to delegate to someone who possesses the strengths that you don’t.

One of the best examples of this is a story about Shaquille O’Neal. He was terrible at free throws. In fact, he had one of the worst free throw records in the NBA. Shaq used to spend hours practicing his free throws. But despite his efforts, his shot never improved on the court. At some point, Shaq’s coach had him stop practicing his free throws. Instead, he focused on his ability to block and defend. While his free throw record never improved, Shaq increased his value because he focused on his strengths. He became one of the most well-known posts in the NBA (which completely overshadowed his terrible free throw record).

In business, it’s imperative that we focus on our strengths and not worry about our weaknesses. There is someone out there who loves the details and is naturally organized.

Hire for Your Weaknesses

For instance, if I’m hiring a buyer’s agent, I don’t want them to be like me. I don’t need them to be a lead generator or a great negotiator. As the business generator, I have a lot of referrals and leads coming in and I need someone that I can give those referrals to. I want a buyer’s agent who doesn’t want to go out and drum up business. I want someone who geeks out on the Ty’s 35, loves showing properties and thrives at building relationships.

If I hired “Tyler” to be my buyer’s agent, he would be awesome (obviously) but eventually he would go off and start his own business. I would have to find a new buyer’s agent. I had to find a buyer’s agent who was committed to the process and committed to the team. Someone who could deliver on helping clients purchase homes.

In addition to StrengthsFinders, which identifies your talents, you should also check out DiSC. DiSC measures your behavior and attitude preferences. Used in combination, not only can you get a better idea of the type of person you are but you can use the principals to help you evaluate others. I know it sounds a little judgy but being able to identify other people’s strengths and behaviors allow you to better understand why you work well with some people and not as well with others.

When you interview candidates, make sure their skills compliment yours. Ask them the hard questions. Find out what their strengths and weaknesses are and make sure they strengthen you and the rest of your team.

Check out the skills, strengths, and traits I was looking for when I was hiring my team: