Are you looking to hire a TC on your team? Or having problems with the one you just brought on? We’ve all been there.
The harsh reality is that as a professional plate-spinning agent, team leader, or broker, the temptation to hire someone (anyone!) to help free up your bandwidth is real.
So real, in fact, that the idea of actually training that person so they can execute effectively usually comes as an afterthought — and we know what you’re thinking.
How in the world am I going to find the time to train someone, when I can barely find a minute to breathe as it is?
Listen, no matter which way you cut it, taking your new TC through a clear, step-by-step training and onboarding process saves you time in the long term. But probably the biggest benefit to creating an airtight TC training and onboarding system, is that it helps immerse your TCs into your brand and team culture.
Armed with a deep understanding of who you are and what your business is about, a well-trained TC can deliver a flawless client experience for your entire team.
But you’ve gotta be intentional about it.
Ready? Let’s dive into the foolproof process for training your TCs, starting with where you are today.
Ready to streamline communication between your clients, agents and TCs? With Preclose GO!, your entire team can communicate via chat, text, and email with buyers, sellers, or any other parties involved in the transaction. Check it out for free!
Training your TCs:
The Four Stages of TC Training Readiness
How to Get Clear on Your Expectations
The Do's and Don'ts of Training a Transaction Coordinator
The Four Stages of TC Training Readiness
At Preclose, we've developed an entire platform with the goal of 10X’ing TC empowerment and unlocking superior CX for your team — and we’ve worked with a lot of teams of various shapes and sizes in the process.
When it comes to training your new TC, we've observed that a broker or team leader will likely fall within four core stages of TC training readiness
Here’s what we’ve found.
Stage #1 — The Beginner/No Process Stage
If you’re here, you've probably never had a TC on the team, and that’s ok.
Maybe you only just started closing a higher volume of deals and for the first time, you’re finding yourself deep in the transaction weeds with zero time for prospecting.
You absolutely need help. The only problem is, you haven’t had time to develop the resources, tools, and systems your TC needs in order to work efficiently.
Before bringing in a new TC, the first step is to think through how you want to run your transactions so you can create a basic process for your TC to get started with — including all your existing templates and checklists
"I've worked really hard to create checklists that are easy to understand as well as comprehensive. All emails have a template assigned to them, and every task has a date rule assigned to it to help the TCs know when to do what." — Catherine Evans, Director of Transaction Management, The Rawls Group - Keller Williams
At this stage, you don't need to have it all figured out, but you do need to make sure you have a basic system your TC can dive into and start using right away.
If you’re a Preclose user like Catherine, you can upload your existing checklists straight into the system and automatically match specific email templates to pre-calculated dates, making it easy for new TCs to see what’s ahead.
Stage #2 — The Still Setting Up Stage
At this stage, you may or may not already have a TC on board.
You have some templates and processes in place, but you're lacking a streamlined transaction coordination system. Things are running, but most processes are ad hoc, and there are definitely silos between agents and TCs.
This stage is all about setting up tools, training your team members on how to use them, and creating clear workflows and guidelines.
If you’re in the setting up stage, you’ll want to:
Create training resources to help TCs get familiar with your tools and workflows.
Develop a clear outline of the guidelines that define brand representation and client interaction.
Consider integrating your transaction management tool with your existing systems.
Did you know that with the Preclose Dotloop and Skyslope integrations, you can give agents, TCs, and clients 24/7 access into transaction progress? See for yourself with a free trial. 😉
Stage #3 —The Ready to Hire Stage
Alright, now we’re talkin’! At this stage, you’ve got a solid TC system in place.
The only thing left to do is find the right person with the right experience and attitude to join your team.
At this stage, you'd want to create a limited time training plan. For example, Tammi Deinlein of Real Pro Leverage uses a 10 day training plan that covers everything a TC needs to learn right away. She also creates a list of skills she expects her TC to be proficient in after their first month.
Need more help? Don’t miss our complete guide to hiring a TC to find the perfect fit!
Stage #4 — The CX Optimization Stage
This is TC done right.
In this scenario, your TC already understands your brand and knows how to use your processes and systems to execute their job effectively. The only missing piece is to empower them to go the next step to really elevate your systems and deliver an amazing client experience.
Because in the new game of real estate, satisfying your clients is the single most important factor in the growth of your business.
This is the stage where:
You identify what sets your brand apart and infuse that message into your team culture and systems.
Your TC doesn't just follow your processes but also consistently uses your brand voice and tone when interacting with clients.
Your TC works with other members of your team to identify and optimize opportunities to deliver an amazing client experience.
Once you've worked out the stage you're currently in, decide how you’re going to get to the CX Optimization Stage. While there’s no such thing as a single static “perfect” system, Stage #4 is about as close as you can get.
Regardless of which stage you’re in, there are some fundamental aspects of TC training everyone should know.
Training Your Transaction Coordinator? First, Get Clear on Your Expectations.
Tammi Deinlein is a TC queen with a track record of peak performance. For her, the killer combination of clarity and well-organized systems is the key to consistently closing over 30 files per month.
And when it comes to hiring and onboarding a TC for your team, Tammi’s got some frank advice for agents:
“I've had a lot of agents that will come to me and say, ‘Okay, I want to hire an assistant. So I want somebody who can do marketing, somebody who can be an ISA, I want somebody who's gonna be good at my transactions, I want somebody who's gonna be doing my marketing, I want somebody to go pick up my laundry...’ I say, ‘Great, so you're hiring five people, right?’ And they’re like, ‘What do you mean?”
This quick reality check is crucial.
Because before you can even think about effectively training your new TC, you need to be clear about exactly what you need and expect from them.
Psst! Ready to attract better talent with modern tech? Preclose GO! is the home buying and selling experience platform your existing — and future — agents have been looking for to get out of the weeds and fully digitize the real estate process. Try it for free.
Define the role
A real estate VA is one thing, an ISA is another thing, and a real estate transaction coordinator is a whole other thing altogether.
Today, many teams have ditched the jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none approach in favor of a highly specialized client care coordinator role. A client care coordinator is an empowered brand leader who goes beyond the standard transaction coordination duties to make the entire closing process as seamless and referral-worthy as possible for your agents and clients.
Whether it’s taking client FAQs and transforming them into videos, making sure the brand’s voice is heard in each and every message and email, or simply presenting a truly meaningful closing gift — a high-performance transaction coordinator or client care coordinator in a well-defined role can be a catalyst for your business.
So, do you need a different person for each role? Or can one hire play both roles?
The answer is: it depends.
Transaction coordinators sometimes perform the duties of client coordinators and vice versa. For example if you have a manageable number of files closing each month, one person could likely perform both duties — handling the paperwork, deadlines, and documentation, while also making sure the clients stay happy.
However, if your closing pipeline is full and your brand is the type that focuses heavily on client experience, you may want to have someone that exclusively caters to clients, and another person dedicated to closing transactions faster.
Once you’re clear on what you really need, it’ll make it that much easier to spell out what your TC will be in charge of, and keep any grey area out of the job description.
Confirm culture fit
The next thing you’ll want to be crystal clear about when training your TC is culture.
Your team culture is make-or-break for the success of your real estate business. Don’t believe us? Just ask Steven Rovithis.
Before the Broker/Owner at Rovithis Realty, LLC created an Inc.5000 Fastest Growing Company with 113 rockstar agents, he made just about every hiring mistake in the book.
“If you’re not a good culture fit, how many recruits did it prevent us from bringing over? How many agents at another brokerage thought, ‘I don’t want to work there, because that person works there?’ If I really stepped back and looked at a three-year or five-year view on what it was doing to the bottom line, the impact of a bad culture fit was probably hurting it.”
A big lightbulb moment for Steven, was realizing that finding the right culture fit in his TCs, was just as important as finding the right culture fit with his agents.
“They are just as integral to the process as our agents. Now, our transaction coordinators are there so they can get their voice heard and share what would help them make the transaction process easier.”
If you feel like you overlooked culture fit during the interview process, don’t worry. It isn't too late to integrate these elements into your training process to ensure your TC embodies your brand values to a ‘t’.
Introduce training questions, value statements and scenarios like:
You just got an email from an unhappy client. Which scenario best reflects the way you should approach it?
Here are the steps we take before we ask an agent for information on a file.
Here are some examples of scenarios where we would text or message instead of call or email.
Here’s how we celebrate new hires at ABC Realty. Let us know what client appreciation ideas you have, too!
Over-communicate
Effective communication is crucial when your TC is just getting to know your brand.
That’s why client experience powerhouses like Catherine Evans of Keller Williams say that for their first five contracts, it’s important to check in with your TC every day to walk through what needs to be done.
If it sounds like extra work, well, that’s because it is. But remember, this is just the beginning. The time and energy you put into training your TC today, will come back to you tenfold tomorrow when you have an ace TC who always knows just what to do in any given scenario.
The Do's and Don'ts of Training a Transaction Coordinator
Do's
Provide your TC with the resources and materials they need.
Set expectations on the duties you expect your TC to carry out.
Be clear on the KPIs you expect them to deliver.
Be clear on working hours and response time.
Give them a healthy amount of time to train and get used to your processes.
Don'ts
Don't make assumptions on what they know. Ask questions to find out where they're lagging or what they need help with.
Don't assume they have enough experience to adopt your specific software without training.
Don't forget to communicate your rules and expectations clearly.
Don't overcomplicate your systems.
Give Your TCs the Tools they Need to Excel
The best tool for transaction coordinators is one that cuts across all communication channels and allows for seamless collaboration with both agents and clients.
PrecloseGO! allows you to connect all transaction parties in one central platform. We also provide ready-to-use, fully customizable templates and Smart Views that let your TCs replicate the exact workflow system they already use and love, minus the internal silos.
If you're ready to create a bragworthy client experience that earns you more referrals, sign up for a free trial and find out how PrecloseGO! can empower your TCs to take control of the transaction process today.
Try Preclose with a free trial today!