Friday, 25 August 2017

A Real Estate Policies And Procedures Manual And Management Guides Are Good Business Communication Tools

By Sarah King


Companies that want to succeed set rules and regulations that let employees know what is expected and what the company philosophy is. Newly hired workers receive copies of the manuals and are encouraged to read them. The realty business has special rules salespeople and staff must follow. If you are a Broker without a real estate policies and procedures manual and management guides, there are online companies with detailed generic manuals you can purchase.

These packages have been vetted by professionals in order to make sure everything is covered. You certainly can, and should, personalize the contents to meet your needs and business situation however. This is especially true when you are in the realty business and have a combination of paid employees and independent contractors who are commissioned salespeople.

Comprehensive and efficient manuals are usually divided into sections and subsections in loose leaf binders. This makes it easy for management to move topics around and insert additional pages as necessary. The use of numbered lists and bullets allows busy employees to scan the topics quickly. Some of the sections will be specific to real estate and others will pertain to general office policy.

One of the most critical topics regarding the realty business has to do with antitrust law. All employees and salespeople must clearly understand that telling a client the company commission structure is set by local standards is against the law. Realtors are not allowed to set commission rates among themselves. If this misinformation is conveyed to a client who complains to the state board, fines, penalties, and license revocation can result.

Since commissions are the manner in which most salespeople make their money, a realty business needs to explicitly set down how commissions are handled. You may have a policy that a certain percentage of the sale price will be charged for residential property and another for commercial. Your policy might be that commissions can be reduced when the purchase price goes over a particular dollar amount.

If you choose to enforce a dress code for your office and for your salespeople when they are out in the community, you need to put it in writing. Young employees may not have enough experience to know what constitutes appropriate office apparel, and your independent contractor salespeople may think the rules do not apply to them. All of your employees represent your company, and their appearance is part of that.

Service calls to current clients and cold calls to potential ones, are important in the realty business. Many agents are reluctant to spend time on the phone communicating with these people though. Having a written policy regarding service calls makes it easier to enforce a calling schedule.

Employees are more productive and satisfied when they clearly understand what management expects. Putting it in writing and making the policies available to everyone will leave no room for doubt. When changes and amendments are made to company policy, everyone should be aware of it and given written copies.




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