Leaving is hard and compounded by
your
personal
feelings of loyalty and friendship. I interviewed
several agents who have recently made changes and
their thoughts and mine are below.
By the way,
I decided my loyalty was to my family and their well
being - over $30,000 more a year goes a long long
way!
Step 1. Assess your feelings thoroughly. Make
sure
you are leaving for sound business reasons and not
because you are upset with anyone or anything at
your office. The change will put a 'lurch' in your
earning curve if you don't land on your feet well
prepared. This is the time
to have a heart to heart conversation with your
Coach, if you have one and personal mentors if you
don't have a coach. Ask EXPERTS not just other
agents. I have a thank you list a mile long from the
eMentors I spoke with about this before I moved.
Step 2. Next make sure your Team and
Assistants are
willing to move with you. This is not the time to
rehire and train, this is the time for a well oiled
machine to shift into high gear and hit the nitro!
You need to
be 'strong' team wise, mentally and financially -
prepare well and expect the unexpected!
Step 3. Interview a few agents at the company
you
are thinking of joining. Ask questions that are
important to you both business wise and personally.
Check out the morale - how do they feel about
management? Make a list
of questions and ask them of several agents. This is
a time that changing can be going from the frying
pan into the fire. NEVER leave because you are
angry.
Step 4. Organize your move. I moved quickly
once I
made the decision because it was hard knowing I
was going and being at the former office. In my
opinion it is unfair
to the office you are with to speak with other agents
there about leaving while you are making your move.
You'll have plenty of time after you have left to tell
them why you made the change.
I did my best to pack at night and moved early on
Sunday morning. No one at the office knew I was
going and there are a few people have been offended
by my not sharing that I was leaving.
Make sure any mail you have coming to your
office is rerouted.
If you are using company email for your main
email you may be in trouble! Change your email well
in advance of moving. I have used
toby@tobydavis.com for many years and only had to
change the logo and main line numbers to reset my
website.
Step 5. Organize how to let everyone know
quickly.
Thankfully I have my entire sphere with KBS
Marketing's postcards and one call to Beth and Linda,
a quick proof of the card and the day after I moved
my license it was launched!!! (see a copy of both
sides of my postcard via the link below. This opens
in Adobe).I also had Top
Producer 7i emails under categories and for the first
time did a mass email and within seconds everyone
knew! Are you remembering to collect those emails?
Step 6. Business cards need to be ready to go!
Keller Williams Charleston has an overnight
service
that
once I said I was coming, the cards were there the
Tuesday after I changed my license on Monday. BE
ready, you'll need to move fast to keep your business
on it's feet.
Step 7. Don't let your team slip. I was advised to
keep the team tight and the synergy
that was moving us forward going strong throughout
the move. I brought in my husband and a
friend
and we 'unpacked' the marked boxes and tried to
make the new location feel like home for the first day
my incredible Office Administrator and Buyer's Agent
arrived. We are still unpacking a few things, but our
work centers were ready to roll immediately.
Step 8. GET READY TO LIST! Most
companies have
a policy that all listings belong to the company and
not the agent. Keller Williams believes listings are
part of the agent's business and releases them, but
not all agencies feel this way. SO, I prepared listing
folders, reworked my listing presentation, and hit the
street strong using my 'basic training'
SWEATHOGS training. Floyd's material getting back
to the basics is dynamite! The Sweathogs trainers
used to say they
could drop you out of an airplane with a parachute
anywhere and hand you a phone and you
could list.
I'm a believer! I have listing #7 and #8 lining up and
I have been with Keller Williams for two weeks now!
Whether you change companies or not, now is the
time to go back to basics to build your fall/winter
business.
Step 9. THE HORROR STORY This was not
my personal happening but because of it I moved
completely out before I spoke with my former
broker. Your broker is going to do their best to keep
you, especially if you are a "rainmaker" a/k/a as
Coach Patti puts it ~ A Money Making Machine! One
agent
told me he moved everything out except his
briefcase which was on his desk upstairs. When he
took the transfer to his broker he was told to "get
out of the office
or he was going to be arrested" and the broker
picked up the phone to call the police. I think this is
extreme, but you
never know how someone will react and this man
risked arrest to get his briefcase.
PACK OUT
AND
GO and then go to speak with your broker. IF
your broker changes your mind, well, you've cleaned
your office space. Remember, Brokers may be the
head of our offices but they are really employees
accountable to upper management and their job is to
negotiate you into staying.
Step 10. Play fair and keep your professionalism.
It
is
never a level playing field, especially if you have a
world class
Coach, awesome Mentors and great trainers like
Floyd Wickman. All of our eMentors have these
resources available to them at any time. These great
people are here to support us in our Greatness and I
personally thank them from the bottom of my heart
for all they do for ALL of us.
When
asked why I left by my current customers I tell
them "I make more money," which is
the truth - in my case.
Even though they ask, I promise you that your
customers never want to
hear negatives. So, if you leave for unhappy
reasons, call a trusted friend and complain away, but
when you are in front of 'BOB' (your book of
business) keep your professionalism.
Last of all eMentors, keep your sense of
humor.
Technology will throw you a few wrenches, some
people just won't understand and you are in for a
couple of weeks of heavy duty 'back to basics' to
get yourself
launched. I've driven to my old office twice already
and was ready to pull into the parking lot when I
remember where I was going. Isn't that the point of
changing - Remembering Where you are Going with
your Future?
