Episode 53: Who Should You Hire First?

In Episode 53 of the Toe-2-Toe Podcast, hosts Jenn Murtland and Monica Weakley drop the gloves over who should be your first hire when you no longer have enough time to run your business by yourself. Crazy enough, Monica and Jenn are in agreement that agents should take on a contracted Transaction Coordinator instead of hiring someone in sales or a part-time admin.

Episode Highlights: 

• Jenn hired an assistant to do all the paperwork because she knew she did not want to do that part.
• Monica discourages agents from bringing on an expense so quickly.
• Both Monica and Jenn agree that bringing on a Transaction Coordinator is the way to go.
• You will have control issues if you do not hire a Transaction Coordinator first.
• Calculate the opportunity cost of hiring someone compared to contracting a Transaction Coordinator.
• Don’t trade your incredibly expensive time for much less expensive time.
• Hiring a Transaction Coordinator will actually help you learn how to coordinate those transactions.
• Having more salespeople brings on more admin problems.
• You really don’t need all these people on your team.
• Everyone involved in the process does not have to represent your team.
• Some brokerages, like eXp, allow agents to build teams without including themselves in said team.
• Offering experience to newer agents will get the people you need in the process without adding someone to your team.
• Recognize the tasks that you don’t need to have on your plate and contract that stuff out.
• The Transaction Coordinator will be an extension of your team, so spend time with them to establish what you are looking for.
• Jenn meets with her Transaction Coordinator once a week so both sides can provide their side of the update.
• You are paying $300/hr for your admin work if you are doing it yourself.
• Alan Whisman, Jenn’s business partner at Team Synergi, thinks admin should be hired before sales.
• When you’re just starting out, hiring someone per-contract will free up your time without being too expensive.
• It’s not necessary to spend a lot of money by bringing someone onto your payroll.

3 Key Points:

1. Bringing on a contracted Transaction Coordinator is the way to go, as compared to hiring someone to do part-time work.
2. There lies a learning opportunity when hiring a Transaction Coordinator. Watching them do their job can teach you how to coordinate these transactions.
3. Who is involved in the process and who represents your team aren’t necessarily the same people. You can leverage people from outside of your team to save your time.

Resources Mentioned:

• Jenn Murtland (website, LinkedIn, Facebook)
• Monica Weakley (website, LinkedIn, Facebook)
• Toe 2 Toe Podcast Facebook Page
• Alan Whisman (LinkedIn, Facebook)