Why Relocation Directors need Branch Managers in their Camp

I know I can speak with confidence when I say that virtually every Relocation Director has received the dreaded call from a branch manager with a hysterical real estate agent in their office. I had it happen so many times, that I actually created a strategy as to how to deal with it.

A key to dealing with this is to understand the position of the manager and of the agent who believes they have been wronged in some fashion. Can you imagine what is it like to spend every day attempting to ensure your agents are happy and feel appreciated in a world where they are many distractions in the form of bonuses and promises from the enemy? Their job has evolved over the years from helping solve problems with transactions to being a cheerleader who makes sure the agent has no need to stray. They have to make sure every day there is never any reason for the agent to want to leave or be unhappy.

Get in front of the issue

When an issue arises, inevitably the agent will get to the manager before you do. The sad story is only told from the agent’s perspective which typically paints everyone else as the evildoer who is out to steal their business or take their client or ruin their transaction. Or a team member may be complaining that they don’t get enough referrals. Those in charge of Referrals or Relocation often don’t know there is an issue until the call comes in, so there is no way to head it off.

Here’s what we did to help diffuse these situations:

·  If any of my staff had any reason to believe something was going sideways, I, or one of my RD’s, was immediately informed (unless they felt they could resolve it themselves and some were very skilled at doing that) and then I reached out to the manager to give them our version first if possible and to start strategizing with them to resolve it. We were dealing with over 7000 highly productive sales associates and 75+ branch managers, so as you might expect the potential for issues was huge.

·  I used a meeting format to inform our senior leadership on all of the many nightmare scenarios that might occur by using real-life examples. I told them what happened and how we might have avoided it or how we resolved it. The last thing senior leadership wants is to get dragged into a referral problem spiraling out of control, so by explaining to them what had happened they had context to draw on when the situation arose again. Even if they couldn’t recall exactly how we should deal with it, they would tell everyone to remain calm and get me involved assuring them we could resolve it.

·  Once our senior leadership was on board, I spoke at the branch manager meetings with the President of the region standing next to me reinforcing what I was saying. The message included explaining why certain things had to be done in a certain way on relocation deals. Even if they didn’t grasp or remember what I had told them when it was actually going down, when a situation arose instead of allowing the hysterical agent to get them equally whipped up, they would say “I have heard about these situations, if we call Teresa and get her involved, we can all work through this together.”

·  All I needed was for there to be a chance for everyone to hear each side of the story without the ‘them against us’ scenario playing out from the start.

·  It became clear to the managers that we were a team and that we didn’t create the situation. Even though sometimes there was only so much we could do the alleviate the pain points, they would see that we did everything we could to stand up for the agent and the company.

This all goes back to helping the leaders in your company understand the bigger picture of global mobility and how it affects the economy and why companies have to meet hiring goals and stay compliant to avoid tax issues and skyrocketing expenses.

Change your perspective

When it comes down to it, it is all about perspective. We have to step in all parties’ shoes to gain their viewpoint. Once we have perspective, we can craft the dialog to create the best outcome. Nothing bugs me more than when Director’s rule with an iron fist and stick to the ‘that’s the way it is’ method. That may be the way it is, but there is always room for discussion and negotiation based on each unique scenario. Everyone needs to understand the why behind each parties reasoning. Did every issue get resolved with a beautiful bow tied on it?  They did not. But we had leadership’s support and much less drama around every issue. Have a solid escalation plan that everyone understands and complies with.

By constantly reminding the managers that we are on their team, they begin to see the value of having others help work through challenging scenarios. You may have the occasional manager who doesn’t care about the specifics or the why behind the situation, they just want it fixed. My response to that is, too bad. Managers are paid to manage what goes on in their branch. It is their obligation to attempt to understand and assist with the resolution of the issue. They aren’t in a position to say, ‘not my problem’. So be prepared to be a burr under their saddle until they will engage in being a part of the solution.

By working with the managers to understand the bigger picture of why issues occur, they can look like a hero to their agents by calmly being a part of the solution.

“Problems are nothing but wake-up calls for creativity” – Gerhard Gschwandtner, founder and CEO of Selling Power