One of the lovely hallmarks of the Ops Boss™ Community is the open, willing to share hearts of our members. The personal and professional sharing is beyond amazing. This year we had to cut off ticket sales to Ops Boss™ Leader Retreat thanks to Covid. We chose to err on the side of caution and kept attendance well below what the guidelines allowed. That meant that everyone who wanted to come, couldn’t. So we asked a handful of Ops Bosses™ to share their notes.
Thank You to our Note Takers:
- Sharon Casey
- Tali Schwiethale
- Buffy Kirkman
- Autumn Bergendahl
(Note: The weekend is a mixture of networking/social, masterminds, panels, speakers, business and personal growth. So there were parts of the weekend meant to be “experienced” and notes may not have been taken by participants fully “in the moment”.)
Thank You to our Speakers/Facilitators/Panelists/Musicians:
- Ryan Butler
- Stephanie Brackett
- Ellenmarie Foga
- Hannah Perkey
- Jen Wade
- Sash Hoptiak
- Hailey Roisum
- Melissa Jacoby
- Elizabeth Gilbert
- Amanda Churchwell
- Jessica Hubbard
- Cece Mikell
- Jerrica Kontos
- Jodee Thayer
- Matteo Lambert
- Scott Butler
- Tim Wynne
Notes From Sharon Casey:
Ops Boss Retreat Notes – 10/10/20
Intro – Christy
★What is an Ops Boss?Bosses are masters of their craft and of their mindset, humble, confident, have a little (or a lot!) of spunk or sass.
★Her vision to start and own the company was 5 years, but achieved in 6 months with the encouragement of her close friend. At age 55 she became a first time entrepreneur.
★ This weekend is an opportunity for a pattern interrupt! Seek the opportunity to reconnect with your “why”
★ Gratitude is the highest form of energy
★ Opportunity to grow in flexibility
★ 3 Charities will be supported this weekend: Barker Foundation, NAMI, and Off the Charts Club – each attendee was given $100 to either keep, or donate to one of the three.
★ Roundtable masterminds: share to Slido – miles traveled, number of clients, what do you hope to get out of this weekend.
Reynolds Team
★ Sasha – Director of Growth, Jen – Chief Operating Officer
★ Current team is 100 people (20 success team, 19 ISA, 15 VA, 45 agents)
★ Growth challenges – 5 years ago they realized that the leadership needed alignment.
★ EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) implementation
★ Sarah cast a big vision in 2018 to be in 10 metropolitan cities. Scared some team members, open conversations, get the team alongside her to move it forward.
★ Sarah Reynolds leveraged heavily in 2018 (Sarah – Lead Generation, Sasha -recruiting/retention; Jen- accountability, Client Care – new team).
★ Entire team does a daily 9:15 huddle (all 100!) and review core values every time.
★ They are accountable to each client, do not do 1:1 with team members.
★ “No lead left behind”.
★ Jen was an outside sales person first, ISA for 6 months, therefore has insight and compassion to the agent role.
★ How can they simplify the life of the agent
★ Culture – they have a genuine love for the people on their team
★ Client Care (newer team, still refining) Resolve issues, agent leadership, price reductions, voice of the team beyond the agent
★ 200 applicants – will be onboarding 16 agents next month
★ They have a master growth plan through 2023
★ Expansion challenges – Atlanta they merged with a team, Richmond they started with an individual agent. Learned a ton!
★ Expansion – find the right people and add “Operations Gasoline” to set it on fire!
★ Rapid Growth Workshop – October 27th – online
BREAKOUT – Touch, Don’t Touch (Jessica Hubbard)
★ Pumpkin giveaway – from a live event to giving a gift certificate for client to use. First 100 people who filled out the google form, received.
★ Consistency is the key. If you’re know for an event, how can you “virtualize” it?
★ Agents to contact for the invitation, follow up after!
★ Drive through Pie Day (pumpkin pies or pizzas)
★ What is the goal? If it’s to have personal connection and conversations then a Movie Night is not the best option
★ VIP Groups? Who does them, how do you manage them? Facebook private group? Raving fans page?
★ Pop by’s. Yes! People are still doing them to some extent. Mums for fall.
★ Outdoor movie (social distanced)
★ How can you add value, pour into the client?
★ Using social media to stay relevant to the clients. Meet the team videos, FB live – meet your neighbor. Keep it interactive and personal.
★ Videos to share about lender, title, builder, agent.
★ Virtual storytime
★ Scavenger hunt – Goose Chase App: https://www.goosechase.com/
★ Interview the children of agents (what does your parent do for a living?”
★ Ryan Butler – still doing live events. DJ party. Large events and also
micro-neighborhood events. All hands on deck – entire team participates.
★ Virtual brainstorming group – Jessica farms based on vocation (teacher group, farmers, past client, businesses). Husband dresses as Johnny Appleseed 🙂
★ Care calls – not about real estate. Be kind.
ZoeyBysal.com – Storyboard and Visual Development
★ Talented 22 year old neighbor of Christy’s who designed our unicorn wings!
Marketing Like a Boss – Hailey Roisum
★ Facebook page. Be the expert, share your knowledge, be actively engaged, ask questions (people have opinions). Hack the algorithm.
★ Content: be authentic, be fun, be appropriate, be neutral (do not choose a polarizing viewpoint)
★ Invite your friends to like your page (invite, friends, select all). Send invites
★ Invite engagers who like your page and aren’t followers
★ Algorithm (hoot suite – manages social media) Post daily – be consistent
★ Set goals for posting each day – do a 7 day challenge, a social experiment?
★ People like people they know, like and trust!
★ Context: 1x day, crazy situations, new listings, things selling over listing.
★ Live is most engaging > pre-recorded videos > photos > text + questions > text
★ Engagement posts 1x month. Respond when people react!
★ Sharing to groups about real estate. If there isn’t one, start one! FB marketplace
★ Administrative mastermind, business mastermind, etc.
★ FB Ads – Don’t push boost post! Use engaging phrases “Did you see the light fixture in that bathroom?” Respond to questions in messenger, don’t give away the information for free.
★ Facebook lead generation exists!
★ Special ad settings – allows you to choose custom audiences, import a customer list, similar to a 33 touch option.
★ Events – “Look alike audience”
Instagram:
★ More difficult. Have to work on it.
★ Timeblock, be actively engaged.
★ Find pages that have a similar target audience and follow them.
★ Interact appropriately
★ Search in your geographic area – connect
★ Hashtag the crap out of everything!
★ Besthashtags.com
★ Post 1x day
★ Make sure your feed features at least 4 things that look nice or people will not follow.
★ Stories – more popular – stay engaged “I’m not here today but wanted to pop in and say hi!”
★ Target audience – what problem do you want to solve?
★ Admin tips/tricks/hacks/time blocking expertise
FB Live – Challenge – attendees can get in a drawing for a book if they post a FB live before
tomorrow noon.
Bringing Books to Life – Panel
★ Why do you read? Jodi – to unwind, be a better leader
★ Jessica Hubbard: Quiet, Chase the Lion – go after it, use the brain God gave me to be
unapologetically me.
★ Self Coaching 101 by Brooke Castillo
★ Traction
★ Giftology
★ Leadership & Self Deception. Jessica – give people permission to call me out on crap. Create an environment around you to allow for that to happen.
★ Reading multiple books at a time
★ Sometimes you start a book and park it because it’s not doing anything for you.
★ List of books given to Christy who will share with all of us!
Power of One – Matteo/Christy Conversation
★ Ran a 5K for school. Liked to run and was good at it
★ He’s 10!
★ Focus on finishing and not getting hurt
★ “Not about awards, it’s about helping others!”
★ “Run for a purpose because I was running anyway”
★ Hope Cam charity – kids with cancer who missed their friends
★ Fletcher – film project “Heroes around you”
★ One goal – Have fun and help people
★ “Off the charts” – sending care packages with letter, cape, book, etc.
★ Wyatt – brain tumor, could barely lift his head and was so encouraged it gave him strength.
★ Luca – passed away
★ Naomi – Matteo had run for her and then she ran for someone else!
★ Do it anyway. Blisters on his feet so bad he could barely get his shoes on.
★ “You can do whatever you love and give away 10%”
BREAKOUT – Retention and Culture (Hannah Perkey)
★ How to maintain culture while growing quickly?
★ How to maintain culture while virtual?
★ Hannah and Megan – rely on the “oldies” to make the culture sticky. Create wins for
people who have been on the team 3+ years by having them mentor, train, etc.
★ Shout outs! Tie to core value
★ Zach W – their culture it highly collaborative and audacious (extreme)
★ Trivia contest – Wodify Rise )app for participating in lifestyle challenges and tracking
progress)
★ 30-60-90 – engagement with new team members – take them each out to lunch.
★ Book club
★ Netflix culture
★ Zappos!
★ Reinterview consistently. Motivation interview? How are they doing?
★ Expectations conversation annually.
★ Quarterly temp check
★ Virtual connections? Hand written postcards from leadership.
★ Thank yous!
★ Slack channels – shout outs, random, meme, good vibes
★ Know the love languages of your people
★ Text a video of you thanking someone versus just a text.
★ Do you have clear mission, vision, values
★ Screen for culture first
★ Group interview is all about culture
★ Does the candidates future goals align with where you’re headed?
★ Retention: team ALC, abundance mindset, employee benefits, add value each year.
Ask Me Anything – Panel (Ellenmarie, Hannah, Stephanie, Ryan)
★ Ellenmarie: How do you and your Rainmaker stay in Sync? Faithfully go over their 411’s every Monday. How can she help with incomplete items? Does that overwhelm you when you have your priorities and then take on your rainmakers? Yes, but now I have a better understanding of how to re-triage.
★ Steph: What do you do when agents don’t follow systems? Help them understand what’s in it for them. What can this do for you? Had to reach a certain size to have less fear about agents leaving when you try to enforce. Over time they acted in fear but finally they just ended the exceptions. Must follow the system. Value proposition to follow the system. Scary decision, but set future expectations.
★ Hannah: Compensation and Benefits on 7th Level team. “I have to tell them what my compensation will be”. Rainmakers don’t know how to employ a CEO or COO. Structure appropriately as the business grows. Salary + Bonus. Not a lot of benefits in real estate. Add something in each year (ie. phone allowance, insurance, 401K, etc.) DOO can investigate to provide options to Rainmaker. Paid on growth since when DOO started. % vs net because difficult intertangled with personal expenses.
★ Ellenmarie: culture as team grows. Do fun things. find time to laugh, how can we align with our values. Go Kart racing. Retention and touch programs for employees! Relationship goals in the 30-60-90. All about you info. Purposeful conversations. Every two weeks touch program in CRM. Automate to keep a pulse on your team.
★ Steph: systems to prevent issues vs. react. Never brainstorm a system alone. Systematically review your systems. Don’t set and forget. Find the fire not the smoke.
★ Ryan: Luxury vs. Leverage. Rainmakers can’t wait to get something off their plate. Doesn’t mean they still don’t have to do the thing! Removing something = growth goal, lead gen, building relationship, etc. Direct without ego. Be fierce. Need to speak freely – everyone is putting in the energy equally.
★ Hannah – what do you do when the rainmaker isn’t following procedures. Embrace who they are and know how difficult it is to follow procedures. Give them grace and address behind closed doors. Have them be the model for this. When they don’t like call nights, but expect agents to do so. Help them look good in front of others.
★ How are you balancing working from home with kids? Juggling all the things. Prioritize. Everything will get done. What can you do at nap time and bedtime? What goals could be moved to another month. Proactive – reached out to a teacher from her daycare when it shut down and had them come to her house. Hannah: be hyper intentional to focus on family when it’s time, and work when it’s time.
★ “Be where your feet are.”
★ Give yourself grace.
★ What are your five year goal? Steph – retire from Anderson/Hicks. Continuing coaching. Hannah – create another stream of income. Ellenmarie – focus on 2021 goals and where she wants to be on the team. Ryan – live my truth. Be the best version of myself. Priorities: provide opportunities for people and be an inspiration.
★ Difference between EA and Ops:
○ EA: great at assisting the executive, picking up all the pieces to get things done.
○ DOO : Growth person. Building systems, hiring and training people, building an operations manual, watching P & L
○ Working for time or results?
○ EA thrown into DOO without guidance. Ask great questions? What does that look like? What does that look like when it’s done? What would be a win?
○ What’s happening that you don’t want to happen anymore.
★ Ryan: Rainmakers are always on the offense, operations are the defense. Know how important and valuable your operations role is.
★ Finances – know your numbers and know your goals. How can you contribute? Admin expenses as a % of sales. Keep your finger on the pulse. Staffing gaps or forecasted gaps….bring facts. Here are my ideas on how to get there.
★ How to get in the head of the rainmaker? They were used to being the focal point and now they have to relinquish that control. How are you sharing wins with your rainmaker? How are we crushing goals!
★ Rainmakers get paid for results, not time. Learn to speak their language.
★ Most difficult challenge you are currently facing: Expansion – not setting clear expectations with the expansion partner.
★ What marketing pieces or client events are getting the best ROI:
○ Pie event. Drive thru food truck style.
○ Ryan: Christmas and business anniversary. Add touch program before and
after. Before – invite, After – thank you or we miss you. Asking for referrals
constantly.
○ “We missed you, do you still want to be on our VIP list?”
○ Specialized cookies. Tons of shout outs on social media.
Ops Boss Retreat Notes – 10/11/20
Let’s Stretch – Jerrica
★ Be present – show up, be yourself. What increases or decreases your energy.
★ Be impressed – take time to notice the things around you. Who am I leaving a mark on?
★ Be consistent – morning rerouting, habit stacking
★ Be well rounded
★ Be soft – is to be powerful
★ Be fun – don’t take yourself too seriously.
★ Why am I worth knowing.
Let’s Reflect – Special Music – CeCe Mikell
★ Holy Mystery – Pepper Joplin
★ Thankful – Mark Hayes
○ What am I thankful for
○ What am I hopeful for
○ What is my truth?
○ Pray for what we know can be
★ So much to be thankful for!
★ Be authentic
★ Be you!
Let’s Grow – Melissa Grossman Jacoby
★ Audrey Hepburn’s Memoir
★ Gardens offer sanctuary and food
★ “Sometimes you need to start from scratch to grow stronger”
★ “Sometimes life is hit by a storm – could lead to new growth and new opportunities”
★ 6 months of disciplined behavior
★ What do I want to cultivate this year? What takes more effort? What needs planting?
Let’s Dream – Christy Belt Grossman
★ Create the life you want in 5 years.
★ She had a 23 year career in real estate. One of the first teams to have 1Billion in sales.
★ Huge honor and blessing to help people
★ Lost track of her why – team did not continue to grow at the same pace. Bored and
frustrated.
★ “In the absence of clearly defined goals we become strangely loyal to performing daily
trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it” – Robert Heinlein
★ Awakened by Paris! What is your happy place?
★ Vision board exercise – had a picture of Paris on it. Was an exchange student there.
Attended college there. She and Bill went there on their 20th anniversary. Always
planned to go again.
★ Looked at it every day. What could she actually do to make this happen? Started to get
purposeful. Had a friend in Paris…was brave to ask for what she really wanted. 3
weeks felt unattainable. Went five years ago and have gone since. It ended up being
the most amazing experience she could have ever visualized.
★ Vision board became a tangible piece of accountability. Connected head and heart
★ Compelled her to take action.
★ Was still lost – didn’t have a big vision.
★ Ikigai – a reason for being, getting up each day. Intersection of Passion, Mission,
Vocation, Profession.
★ Started getting clarity on what was important. Founded her company, started
teaching, and lived her passion while still leading her team.
★ Knew there was a huge void for those supporting realtors and teams.
★ Hired 2 people to replace herself and went full time with Ops Boss.
★ Does what she loves, works less, have more time with family, travels to Paris, health is
better, making more money.
★ Process took 5 years, but transition took 6 months.
★ Journey to the heart – Visions are different from dreams. A vision is a picture that
comes from the soul and comes out through the heart…
★ What do you want, what would feel right? What do you see yourself doing?
★ Learn to trust the visions in your heart. Learn to be comfortable.
★ Don’t expect a clear and well defined vision overnight.
★ Visioning questions – Christy’s List! Choose a timeframe – what will it look like, be as
specific and detailed as possible. How does it look, taste, feel?
○ People Plan
○ Growth Plan
○ Mind Plan
○ Business Plan
○ Money Plan
NOTES FROM TALI SCHWIETHALE:
Ops Boss Retreat
- Bosses are masters of their craft and of their mindset, humble, confident, have a little (or a lot!) of spunk or sass.
GTD ToDoist Breakout
- Getting things done – based on a book by David Allen
- Required book in their welcome box when they join the team and to read it is in the onboarding process
- 5 Step process to get the most out of yourself
- Capture
- Clarify
- Organize
- Review
- Execute
- Inbox to zero multiple times a day
- Is it actionable?
- Am I the right person to do this?
- Can I do it in two minutes or less – yes, do it
- No – add to todoist or a list to do later
- If it’s not actionable it’s either
- Trash
- Reference
- Gmail keyboard shortcuts
- Enable gmail shortcuts
- Time-blocking
- Inbox to zero
- To-doist time block (to do list time block)
- “I don’t want to see crap unless I can actually do it right then”
- Capturing
- Capture failures – when you forget to write down what you were supposed to go
- Capture everything that come into your world that needs your attention
- Our brain is good at thinking of problems, but not about the problems and how to resolve it
- Capture the tiniest domino for your next action
- Mind is good at processing information but not as well at retaining it
- “When do you remember you need batteries for the flashlight”
- “Everything has to be in a system you trust that you will use”
- Force yourself to make the habit of looking at that system everyday
- Clarify
- What is it?
- Is it actionable?
- Am I the best person to do it?
- Can I do it in two minutes or less?
- Calendar = appointments that have to happen at that time (time blocks are appointments for ourselves)
- Add a verb to it and make sure it’s actionable
- Clarity on each role to know who does it
- In a meeting – always clarify who owns an action before leaving – there cannot be two people who “own” it or it will not be done
- Files in To-Doist (folders but TDist calls it a “project”
- Places to eat out of town
- Single action
- Waiting for
- Reference
- @{person}
- Projects folders
- Everything lives in To-Doist
- @Errands
- Recurring
- Organize
- How do you organize everything you need to do?
- The book has a list of triggers for mind dumps
- Review
- I need to look at this list every single day
- How to force yourself to look at the list every single day
- Launch it every time you open your browser
- Automatic reminders on Google Calendar
- Accountability partner
- Execute
- Do the crap that’s on your list
- “What’s my very next action”
- If you can’t get to your very next action you need to go back to clarify
- Weekly review
- Calendar, this week’s task list
- Next week’s task list
- Quarterly review
- Total blackout day
- ALL categories: Personal, spiritual, physical, professional, etc.
- Is it actionable?
Marketing
- Facebook
- Personal Page
- Add strangers that don’t look dangerous and match
- You want to know what people do outside of their business and inside of their business
- One professional post to five personal posts
- Engage in posts
- Be funny, be authentic, be you, be NEUTRAL – no polarizing topics
- Invite your friends to like your page and often!
- 40-50% will
- Invite engagers to like your page
- If it says invite, click that
- Reasonable and Reachable but Stretch yourself
- Business page
- Once per day
- New listings
- Crazy situations
- Post the things that are interesting to your audience
- Live videos > pre-recorded videos > photos > just text
- Interactions go higher up so either or stuff goes up
- Engagement posts once a month?
- Don’t do too much or Facebook will lower you in the algorithm
- Share your content to Facebook Groups
- Make your own Facebook Group that’s buy/sell houses in {area}
- Customer list email advanced facebook ads – custom audience
- Look a like audience
- Use engaging phrases “did you see ____?” – not a picture of that thing
- “What’s the price?” – “I sent you a message.” “Hi ____, are you interested in seeing this house?” Link to website – don’t giveaway information for free.
- Instagram – you have to work at it and it takes time
- Actively engaged
- Find pages that you think your target audience follows
- Like and comment on those things
- Search your area – most recent – interact those people
- Hashtag the shit out of your posts
- Best-hasthags.com
- Hashtag location
- Once a day
- Keep your feed aesthetically pleasing
- Stories for lives
- Who is your target audience – buyers/sellers/referral agents
- What problem are you solving?
- Personal Page
The Power of One
- offthechartsclub.org
- Focus on finishing – don’t get hurt
- It’s not about the awards, it’s about helping other people
- Run for a purpose if you’re going to run anyway
- You can do whatever you love to help others in any way or form
- You can try to help anyone in any shape or form
- “I’m going to keep running for kids with cancer no matter what”
Day 2
Jerrica Demers – Let’s Stretch
- Be present – show up for YOU
- Be impressed – by everything around you
- Be consistent – everything you want is on the other side of consistency
- Be well rounded
- Be soft – “to be soft is to be powerful”
Christy Belt Grossman – Let’s Dream
- You change the world by being yourself
- You can be anywhere in 5 years
- People overestimate what they can do in 1 year and underestimate what they can do in 10 – Bill Gates
- In the absence of clearly defined roles, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it – Robert Heinlein
- People Plan
- Growth Plan
- Action focused
- Mind Plan
- Business Plan
- Written Plan
- Money Plan
- Risk more, fail more, learn how to succeed through others
NOTES FROM BUFFY KIRKMAN
Reynolds Team Panel:
- Over 100 team members now (45 agents, 19 ISA, 15 VA) 14 million GCI in 2020
- In 2015– 254 transactions, 7 agents, 1-2 ISA, 2 Ops people–EXPLOSIVE GROWTH
- Where could we be in 5 years???
- Challenges to explosive growth: leadership team on the same page, disconnect between all the departments
- Fixed with EOS Agenda (Traction book)
- Accountability in the system: no lead left behind, ask questions for problem solving: What’s the time frame?
- Learn the differing roles of the business–shadow their job, walk in their shoes (both ways)
- Create mock clients for new agents
- How do we protect culture as we grow? ALL the leaders agree and cast the vision often. Always go over a core value each day in the huddles
- Set 1 hour block each day for Todo tasks. Set 3-4 times to clear inbox to zero.
- How to clear out email: (4x a day to zero inbox):
- First step: is it actionable, reference or trash?
- If yes–action for me or someone else?
- If for me, Can I do it in less than 2 minutes? If not, send to To-doist and do during that time block.
- Set filters for junk in email–can also set filters for transactions to go to certain folders
- Use keyboard shortcuts (enable for tmail)
- Use Email templates in gmail
- When taking notes, write down action items with a checkbox next to them
- ask for email only for paper trail
- Put it on the calendar
- jotform to task list
- Data dump for adding to things, then block time once a year to work on
- If someone else needs to do it, CC: Waiting for, then inspect what you expect
- Done at specific time–on calendar
- Done any time, general–do during To-do block
- Change email subject to Action items, send according to following project list:
- PROJECTS
- Single Action
- Waiting For
- Reference
- @team member (1 for each)
- Recurring
- (Can also use @labels for quick sorting)
- List of triggers for Mind dump
- Filter–personal, work ,projects, priorities
- Routine–start up, shut down
- Dates
- People
- Templates (for expansion or onboarding)
- Hot, warm, cold list
- Look at to do list EVERY day
- Block 1 hour of Friday to review calendar, list, reorganize if needed
- Block 1 day a quarter to review everything
- Launch browser to auto open to do list
- Make it a habit
- Accountability
- Put it on your calendar!
- Do the list!
- Then- decide what’s the next action step?
- Facebook–Personal page, friends are important, add people you don’t know, but follow internet safety guidelines
- Goal: 12 referrals from each admin
- Post 5 to 1: 5 personal, 1 business
- Be actively engaged–ask questions, get opinions. Don’t just push information.
- Respond to ALL comments
- Be authentic, be yourself, be fun, be funny, be neutral, be appropriate
- Invite ALL friends to like your business page every 2 weeks
- Social experiments: Day __ of 7 posts about _______
- Like or Heart to Vote what you pick (only 1x a month)
- Business posts that people care about:
- Coming soon/just listed (buyers) Crazy offers (Sellers)
- Order of what people watch the most:
- Live videos
- uploaded videos
- photos
- text
- Share to Groups!
- Houses for sale in ____ County/City (if there’s not one, make one!)
- Do NOT boost!
- Use Ads–Traffic–Custom Audiences
- *Can upload .csv/excel list
- *look alike audience
- Engaging phrases–You HAVE to see this fireplace! Did you see the light fixture??
- Don’t give answers/info for free-
- Instagram is much harder than facebook.
- Must Time block for it
- Find pages you think your target audience will follow and comment regularly
- Search your area, go by recent
- Search #, and # all your posts
- (Can look for best.hashtags.com for real estate)
- Use pretty pictures and stories!
