We all know when one of ‘those’ agents walk into the office. They have an air of invincibility, a swagger in their walk, and a waft that is telling everyone to ‘get out of the way’ because the best has arrived.
Now these agents (or gorillas as has been the common referral) are wonderfully happy while things are going their way, they’re bringing in lots of money for the office in gross commission.
But cross their path and deny them what they believe is their right, and we’re dealing with an angry King Kong.
But the question is, are they worth keeping in the business?
Now, of course, we need to pay attention to the inherent and immediate financial benefit of having them in the team, but when they kick off and cause disruption in the business, several consequences that we didn’t even remotely think about could start to permeate through the ranks and beyond.
And yet we hear it in offices and around the industry that when we allow a ‘big personality’ to fire off, it is purely because the revenue generated somehow earns them a divine right to be an arse & not be concerned for others.
One very public ‘moment’ that illustrates what can happen was in a recent T20 cricket match (don’t worry, you don’t need to like cricket for this to be relevant!).
Sydney cricketers Steve Smith and Babar Azam are regarded as two of the best cricketers in the world.
They were batting together and needed to smash out a few runs for their team to get a sniff of taking the win, and while batting together, a moment came in which they needed to decide who was going to bat next.
Smith took control & shortly after smashed out a crazy amount of runs, pulling the team across the line.
But Azam was not a happy boy that he didn’t get a chance to do the same.
Throwing his toys out of the pram, Azam refused to shake hands with anyone, smacked the boundary rope, and kicked off with almost anyone.
Now, whether you feel that Azam was being selfish in his actions or not, the repercussions of his negative actions went way beyond a small spat.
After the incident:
- the team’s progress was put under a lot of pressure, and consequently fell at the last hurdle
- Internally the team became disjointed
- The team’s brand took a hit around the world
- Azam was shipped back to Pakistan
- His reputation was scrutinised significantly, to the point that teams will now think twice before signing him in the future for another season.
- The league (as a product) took a hit in its general appeal (not a good look for kids, young families)
One reaction, massive consequences, and ramifications for all concerned that will last a lot longer than a post-match interview & a one-off disciplinary meeting.
Now translate that into Real Estate land, and although the short term benefits of having a listing monster are obvious, you don’t have to look too far before seeing the potential concerns.
For the business – if you’re relying on a single operator to generate the majority of your gross income, then you’re setting up a huge weakness in your business and the potential to lose control over what goes on in your operation.
Gorillas know if they are relied upon, and it has been shown time and time again that if they experience the slightest bit of friction, then eyes start to wander and/or they take the lead that a lot are doing right now & setting up their own show!
When you’re a business owner and have someone like this in your team, then you need to run through the unnerving exercise of simulating what the business would look like should the gorilla decide to run off!
Setting a contingency plan is absolutely critical, and visualising potential outcomes is so far from being defeatist, in fact it could be argued that you’ve got a much greater chance of succeeding due to the increased sense of control because you’ve felt & experienced how it feels.
For the management of the team – The biggest issue that gets picked up quite easily by the team is the ‘Animal Farm’ style of management (irrespective as to whether that was the intention or not), in that ‘all animals are equal…but some are more equal than others!’
The level of discontent that grows within the team, as a result of the big fish ‘getting away with more’ would lead to more staff departures, a big loss of respect, a disrupted workflow, missed opportunities through poor attitude, and a decrease in how much they trust their leader.
For the brand –Â Arrogance tells people all they need to know about the agent, but it also reflects on the brand, which can cause much greater long-term issues.
You know the Maya Angelou saying, right?! ‘People will always remember how they are made to feel’, and long after the gorilla drifted off, your past clients, neighbours and buyers will be left with a very sour taste in their mouths and will see anyone in the same brand with a level of discontent.
For the surrounding team members – it can push you back into your shell when someone like this is giving it the big one!
Now I am a firm believer in the need for competition in a sales team (dishing out participation awards is not a good idea), however these big gorillas can serve to intimidate, especially for any new talent that are still finding their feet.
The ultimate gauge of a business’s success is its P&L account, and despite the all-mighty chatter that noble leaders tend to emanate, that cannot be denied or ignored.
For business owners right now, it is insanely hard to remove any amount of income from the coffers, and new talent is becoming increasingly thin on the ground.
But this is when we need to ponder over that rather significant phrase:
‘Hard decisions now, easy life later. Easy decisions now, hard life later.’
Because those gorillas that are bashing their way through the office may be helping to pay for the next holiday, and they may leave a few scraps for your remaining team members to fight over like seagulls over a chip.
But you know that you can hear the damage and chaos that they’re leaving behind them, even if you choose not look at it directly.
When you get back from that holiday though, it’s not guaranteed that the gorilla’s going to still be there because ‘why do they need YOU?!’, the other team members aren’t likely to be there to greet you anymore because they’ll have left already, and your community will be able to see the damage from across the road & decide that it’s best to head elsewhere with their business as a result.
And there’ll be one person left, albeit tanned from their holiday, with the prospect of having to rebuild their business from way further back than what they would have needed to should they have controlled the removal of the beast before it got out of hand.
Best call the zoo, there’s an animal that needs taking away ASAP.
