Helping Agents Survive

As the lockdowns, quarantines, and business restrictions linger on, many agents are starting to wonder how they’re going to survive.

The leaders who have the answers to this question will earn the privilege of retaining their best agents and recruiting high performers from other companies.

How do you help someone survive?

There is much written on this topic. Start learning as much as you can from researchers who study survivors.

As you build your knowledge, a collective framework will emerge from various sources. Here are some of the commonalities I’ve noticed:

Develop a Plan. As we learned last week, people who are experiencing a high level of fear and stress often make poor decisions. Developing and adhering to a plan will help limit poor choices.

Have Flexible Expectations. Unmet expectations will crush motivation and a person’s will to survive. It’s helpful to outline multiple scenarios (ex. a plan for the crisis lasting one month, six months, or one year) so you can quickly pivot to a new plan when expectations are not met.

Ask for Help. Your chances of survival increase when you’re surrounded by others who are smart, talented, and resilient. If you don’t have trusted advisors to lean on, ask for help.

Never Give Up. In the boating accident referenced last week, the man who survived clung to the capsized boat many hours and never gave up. He stayed focused on his survival because he had a reason to live. During the struggle, he constantly repeated to himself: My mother will not attend my funeral.

Helping agents survive has suddenly become the number one job of every real estate leader, and there is much work to do.