CR Magazine - Winter 2016

network and unlimited access to her partner, Allie Payne, and her
expertise. Being their mentee has taught me invaluable lessons. In
them, I have mentors who are continually helping me set and meet
my goals.
It wasn’t an easy road — Mary has a very high level of service
standards. I had to learn how to take a step back and admit that I
didn’t know how to do something and look to her to help me learn.
A perfect example of that would be handling open houses.
While I had sat open houses when I was an assistant, I wasn’t trying to
pick up business at the time. Mary had me shadow her two Sundays
in a row, doing two open houses each day. She not only showed me
her methods and gave me pointers, but she gave me the opportunity
to take the lead and I was able to immediately put into practice what
she taught me. I can’t say I picked up even one buyer those two days,
but I learned how to approach prospective clients and, most
importantly, how to follow up. Eventually, when I picked up my
first buyer from an open house, taking them from showings to
closing, it was a direct result of that training.
deal for our clients, all while I learned to navigate the tricky waters
of multiple offers.
Having been with the MSGroup for over three years now, I really
feel this was the best decision I could have made for my career.
I've learned the skills necessary to be successful in the industry,
I've honed my strengths and worked on my weaknesses. I have two
excellent cheerleaders in Mary and Allie, who have shown me that
being in real estate can have its scary times, but if you work at it, it
can be one of the most rewarding careers out there. Investing time
and energy into finding a mentor who can train you, encourage
you, push you to build your business and can hold you accountable
to your goals is so important for any agent. This can be a hard,
discouraging and lonely business at times, but having someone
there to cheer you on, ask questions and be an example to follow,
is all it may take to get you to the next level of success.
Rachel Frangos
MSGroup Chicago
Dreamtown
It’s so important as a mentee to take advantage of your
mentor’s knowledge, experience and good will. It’s always
been hard for me to ask for help and to rely on other
people. With Mary, however, I learned that it’s always
better to ask before making a mistake, especially in this
business. When we had my first multiple offer situation
on one of our listings, rather than totally take it over,
Mary had me handle it. She had me call her after each
conversation, after each counter, and after each update
with our seller. Together, we were able to find the best
team allows me to take time off, focus less on the
minutia, and has given me a clearer path to an eventual
retirement (or semi-retirement). If you decide to go the team route,
I recommend giving yourself two to five years to build and train
your team. This gives them the time to absorb and learn how you
run your business, and gives you the chance to start slowing down
as much, or as little, as you want.
One major key to being a mentor is give your mentee the
opportunity to have hands-on learning. For example, I have a large
referral network from all my years in the business. I learned early
on that to be the best mentor and team leader, I had to incorporate
both Allie and Rachel into the business I do with my referrals and
past clients. I would have them double with me on showings so
they could see how I work with these specific clients and they
could understand my standard of service. This led to my being able
to not go on as many showings, as Rachel and Allie could handle
them. The really important part is to make sure all your clients and
referrals know you trust your mentee with your business; if you
show your trust, your clients will be comfortable working with them.
Another thing to look for when you’re mentoring are your mentee’s
strengths and weaknesses — your job is to help build up those
weaknesses, turning them into strengths. When Rachel first joined
my team, she had never done a listing presentation, or even sat in on
one. I knew she would be great at it, as she had the knowledge and
the personality, but she
didn’t have the confidence that comes
with experience. The first few listing presentations, I took the lead.
This allowed her to really see the process and to be a part of it. After
each presentation, we would go over what I said, what the client said
and how we would follow up. The third presentation we did together,
I gave Rachel the lead. She was still nervous, often looking to me to
fill in, but we got the listing. It’s so important to remember that you
have to let your mentee try, and be prepared for either failure or
success. As the mentor, it’s your job to support them either way.
If you don’t feel a team is the right path for you, mentoring is still
something you should consider. Try to remember when you were
starting out and how helpful it was to have a seasoned agent to
shadow, ask questions and host open houses. Mentoring a newer
agent without forming a team can be just as rewarding. You’re able
to pass down your vast expertise, marketing ideas, mistakes and
triumphs. It also gives you a backup who you can trust, who knows
how you work and what is expected. It’s a wonderful thing to see
people succeed and being able to them help along their way is a
great feeling.
Mary Summerville
MSGroup Chicago
Dreamtown
www.ChicagoREALTOR.com 31