Looking back over the past couple years, most will see it as the best real estate market you experienced in your lifetime. There were incoming call that's seemed to be never-ending, walk-ins were a regular occurrence in an office that had a half way decent location, and overpricing a property was nearly impossible because of price escalations. The best yet, real estate investors were actually purchasing properties by fax that they had never seen; a great example of "lead consumption."

On the other side of the coin, look at the dynamics of the population of the real estate industry. The number of total agent population that came into the industry in the past few years is staggering. Recruiting was like shooting fish in a barrel; the real estate schools were packed and everyone wanted a piece of the pie.

But what goes up must come down.

It's no mystery, times are a changing. Remember just a few months ago when Las Vegas was the boom market and flooded with investors? How about a market that is now flooded with housing inventory? The July 5th edition of the USA Today delivers a compelling headline, "Las Vegas a Buyers Market: With home inventories on the rise, the housing market's a gamble in Las Vegas."

Las Vegas is a microcosm of what is taking place throughout the country in many of the other boom markets. Can your agents now survive on "lead consumption"? What percentage of your agents actually know how to generate leads and are willing to change their daily activities to include a high level of prospecting and lead follow-up?

Here's what it comes down to: They better be willing to change their habits and you better be willing to lead this charge. Great companies grow in down or faltering markets. How are you going to maintain the growth of your organization in the next couple years as the market normalizes? There's only one answer. Re-train your agents and start doing it now.

Reactionary activities aren't going to get it done as the market shifts, but the "go and get it" discipline, will. Do your agents have the skill-sets and mindset to "go and get it"? More important, how are you going to shift the mindset of your agents and build the skill-sets to thrive in a changing market?

Let's take a look at our focus; it's back to basics. Here are 3 areas to focus your training and coaching focus with your agents.

1. Listing inventories are doubling: More homes on the market and less buyers mean that more listing agreements are going to expire. Expired listings have been nearly nonexistent in recent times, but today is a different story. What kind of expired listing training do you have in place and how are you going to lead that charge?

2. Days on market are doubling. You became accustomed to minutes, and in worst case scenarios, hours on the market. Sellers are starting to call in and complain that their home isn't selling. Do your agents know how to "service a listing"? The earlier mentioned expired listing is a product of 2 things, a poor listing presentation and an agent that doesn't service the listing. Is it time to re-inspect your agent's listing presentation? How about some training that is focused on "servicing your listing"?

3. A sign in the yard and MLS listing will no longer get it done: The amount of buyers has reduced and the amount of listings has increased. How are your agents capturing those buyers? The seller still has expectations -- get their home sold. What specific, measurable, and actionable strategy are your agents verbalizing to their sellers? The days of a fee based listing presentation are gone, it's about the value in the listing and marketing relationship.

   Quite frankly, it's always been value based, but that's a whole different article. So, do your agents have a compelling value proposition that is inclusive of a marketing strategy that will generate the largest pool of buyers for their listings? I think it's pretty clear that the third piece of training you must implement is a value based listing presentation with marketing strategies and tactics. Don't just deliver the training, skill-practice and inspect your agent's work.

A changing market can be what you make of it. Your leadership skills will truly be measured by your ability to continue to grow your office or company. Sure, numbers have been great and you've experienced incredible profits in the past couple years, but can your leadership be measured while your agents have been "lead consumers," or will it be measured by their "lead generation" over the next 12 months?

Published: September 25, 2006

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Jon Cheplak, ABR,GRI,CRS,CRB,CLHMS is the Founder of The Real Estate Recruiters, The Management and Recruiting Solutions Experts. Jon consults, coaches, and hosts retreats for brokers, owners, and managers internationally, supporting leaders in their growth and profitability strategies and tactics. He can be reached at 775-846-5748 or email him at recruit@therealestaterecruiters.com. Visit his website at www.therealestaterecruiters.com.