Proving our Value as a Relocation Professional
When I speak with Relocation Directors, sometimes they tell me they don’t feel appreciated by their broker and agents. We may think that just because we are ‘giving’ referrals to our agents, that they should be overwhelmed with appreciation. It’s not always the case.
There are ways to not only garner appreciation for your department, but for you personally. Now more than ever, becoming a valued partner helps us with our dealings in our company, and it makes challenging situations much easier if everyone feels we are all on the same team working towards the same goals.
Be forgiving. When a problem arises on a relocation transaction, work it out in the best interest of everyone. The real estate market is going to be challenged for the unforeseen future. Ruling with a heavy hand just makes for bad blood. Being flexible helps the company and the agents through this trying time.
Partner with your branch managers. They can be a great advocate for your department. Their input on the day to day activity of their agents is vital information. Act as a team and they will have our back when we need it.
Offer up staff to volunteer in company events. There will likely be company meetings later in the year when we are able to gather again. Offer some of your staff to man the check in desk or act as ushers or host an online event.
Ensure your place in manager’s meetings. If you aren’t already on the agenda, make sure you get an audience in your manager meetings by offering to do a ‘state of the relocation industry’ address. Use your notes from WERC, Mobility Magazine and webinars to help them understand the changes going on in the relocation industry. They get bored just hearing you harp on outgoing referrals. Spice it up with an educational forum that they can take back to their agents and clients.
Set up a food drive in your branches. Once we are on the road to recovery and are able to get back into our offices, partner with a local moving company to drop off of boxes at your branches and to pick up and deliver to local food banks. Food bank’s resources will be depleted for a significant amount of time and families will need help until jobs are restored. Designate someone in each branch to discuss the drive and promote it in weekly meetings. During and after the drive, ask your marketing people to send out some press on the event mentioning the relocation department as the organizer. The media will often cover these events to gain community support.
Do a contest for the managers. If you can get some budget, do some sort of contest on conversion rate or something that you can measure the branches on. Give away a gift card or registration to your annual conference next year if you are a part of a group that has a national sales meeting that is typically not reimbursed for the managers. Or better yet, if they are reimbursed for those meetings, upgrade their room to a suite and throw in a spa package or a round of golf. You won’t need to expend the cost until next year.
Have solid reporting. Make sure your monthly reporting shows the value of your department to leadership. Ensure when you speak about relocation and other company generated business lines, that you can show what your department brings to the table what dollars you put in the agent’s pockets and into their branch.
Be flexible. When managers want to add agents to the relocation team, instead of flat out saying ‘no’, tell them you would be happy to add a qualified agent if they are willing to remove the same number of low producers from the team.
Give the Branch Managers talking points. If you can educate the managers on general points to discuss with non-relocation agents, it helps them address questions about why certain agents are on the team and generally how corporate relocation works.
Hand write notes. Did one of your managers or agents go above and beyond on a referral? Or did they receive some sort of award from the company? Congratulate them with a personal note. Ask your staff to do it as well.
Offer to help recruit. When one of your managers is trying to land an agent that is a known relocation specialist with another company, offer to meet with that agent via video chat to talk about your program.
Act as an adviser to your leadership. When challenging times hit, be the voice of reason. Help them see the value of focusing on company generated business even in the face of an uncertain market. Be a part of the solution.
Be a leader. Running a Relocation Department is hard. It is a lot of moving parts and things can go sideways in a hurry. Make sure your leadership understands our business well enough to know the challenges we deal with on a day-to-day basis. Act the part of a leader and you will be treated as one.
