Recently, my brother and I were interviewed about our independent brokerage, William Raveis Real Estate. We received some interesting feedback about our culture of care and specifically how coaching is such an integral part of that culture. As a former collegiate athlete myself, sports serve as a great metaphor for business, and here’s what that means to me.
For us, coaching isn’t a program. It’s a passion.
Many people who followed up with us after our article used the words coaching, training, and mentorship interchangeably. But that’s not quite how we see it. Here’s how we define these elements:
Training: When you are trained at something, you learn new skills, such as how to use technology effectively. You are taught systems and learn the nuts and bolts of a platform or of a business. For athletes, this is like conditioning. You work on cardio, strength, and muscle memory.
Mentoring: This is about a relationship. A mentor is a person you can bounce ideas off of. This is someone who will give you sound advice when you seek it, and act as a role model you can trust implicitly with questions about your own growth and business. And rookie athletes learn from veterans in every sport there is.
Coaching: A coach is a champion of your success. The coach’s job is to unlock your own motivation to grow, asking the right questions and bringing out the best in you. Coaches don’t just hand over checklists and have monthly calls. They dig deep and tap into your potential to be successful. This is where that X-factor, as I call it, comes into play. The right coach can help you do amazing things.
This is why every member of our senior management team goes through a certified training program to become a coach – to learn that X-factor. But that is dozens of people every year. So to achieve that, we knew there had to be a focal point and it had to be scalable.
In recent years, we have collaborated with two top coaches that we trust in helping us grow and succeed: Mike Staver and Tom Ferry.
Mike Staver is an incredible leadership coach and developed our six-month intensive program that all our senior managers, sales managers, and division heads undertake. They learn the techniques and skills to be a certified mentor and coach for agents and employees on their team.
Tom Ferry is easily the top real estate coach in the United States, which made him an ideal choice for us. He and I share much in common, including working with our fathers, scaling and refining the businesses that they started many years ago.
Today, Tom plays a key role in our company to help continue to drive us forward, working together with our management team and me with an integrated approach on all levels. Getting to know him personally, sharing common passions, and developing a meaningful relationship have been truly rewarding.
At the end of the day, the right coach can make a fundamental difference, even for someone who is at the top of their game already. I’m inspired by professional athletes. Not one of them operates without a coach, or multiple coaches, by their side.
A goal that I strive to achieve in our company is to provide that X factor-like experience for all of our agents and employees. Great people, great leadership, and great coaching along the way will always help us gain the edge we need to win… I have always felt if we can think and act like an elite athlete, then we will win like one.
Too audacious? I don’t believe so.
When it comes to recruiting top talent, it isn’t a numbers game for us. We are selective and discerning about the agents who join our company, and often they are already true believers in the value of coaching.
These are high-producing agents who have likely plateaued at their previous company and realized they need to make a change to achieve the next level in growing their business. When agents are ready to lean into their careers and really go big, they come to us. We have proven we have the culture of coaching, cutting-edge technology, and the spirit of entrepreneurship that will take them further than ever before.
If this sounds like you, then I invite you to reach out and learn more about William Raveis Real Estate and be part of an amazing team.