Windermere Real Estate, a Seattle-based independent brokerage, has announced the launch of Windermere Leadership Academy.
The program teaches owners how to effectively operate and grow their businesses while building the next generation of managers.
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“We have an in-depth understanding of both the rewards and the challenges of running a real estate brokerage, so we decided to package those best practices into a system that focuses on coaching, recruiting and time management skills,” said OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate, in a statement.
Eric Thompson, president of Windermere Services in Colorado, was charged with developing the program, and he has a personal connection to the mission of the Leadership Academy.
“What makes the difference in a profitable, productive, thriving office is the manager and the leadership in the office,” Thompson said. “And what I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten along in my career is the chance for managers to develop those skills is very limited, and there just are not great options for the manager to build up their skills to become better coaches, to become better operators.”
Kits, live training and coaching
The Windermere Leadership Academy launched in November 2015 with a two-part webinar series followed by two live workshops.
Over the past few months, the academy’s offerings have expanded to include training kits, two-day training events in places such as Denver and Seattle, and the recently added one-on-one coaching services.
The program offers two training kits: “The Leading Edge” and “Dream Business Builder.”
“The Leading Edge” helps managers lead an effective monthly sales meeting through a plug-and-play format. For $77 per month, managers will receive a PowerPoint presentation that touches on a specific sales issue, such as how to handle a client who asks you to reduce your commission fee.
Managers can walk their teams through the presentation, or simply play the accompanying audio recording of Thompson going through each slide.
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“What I noticed is that some managers find it to be challenging to come up with a monthly sales meeting. They have a hard time coming up with really good content, and sometimes they just don’t have the time or energy to pour into a sales meeting,” he says.
“Dream Business Builder” is a 12-step video series that helps agents craft their ideal business by helping them define and clarify their goals, design a business plan and hone the day-to-day skills needed to keep a business thriving.
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Individual Realtors can purchase the kit for $797, or managers can buy the kit for their office for $297 per month plus $20 per workbook.
Managers who purchase the kit get the added bonus of one-on-one training from Thompson. He provides techniques on how to launch the program within their office, and he provides additional training tips as the program goes along.
Targeting major pain points
According to Thompson, the kits have been a “huge hit” with 35 companies and 100 agents joining in over the past two months.
In addition to the kits, the Leadership Academy hosts two-day workshops ($997) specifically for managers and aspiring managers. Thompson says the workshops address common challenges and concerns of real estate managers.
“No. 1, they want to get their people more productive. The second thing they want to do is recruit, and the third thing that comes up is time,” he says. “They have a lot to do, so they need some help on how to manage their time and have control of their day.”
Thompson notes that Windermere Leadership Academy is open to all owners, managers and agents, whether they are part of Windermere or not.
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“We did it [opened the program to all agents] just out of goodwill,” he says. “It’s a good way to broaden our perception of the industry, learn from people outside the company and build a network.”
