Step On It: Are You Getting Good Help?

I don't know about you, but my first relationship lasted much longer then it should have. In fact if we would have been honest with each other we wo'uld have realized much earlier that we simply were not right for one an other. But we tend to hold on and put unplaced or unearned loyalties in new relationships. As real estate investors, we must rely on a lot of relationship with many people. Our realtors, lawyer, accountant, joint venture partners, mentors, and so on.

Of course, we interviewed a few different realtors, lawyers, accountant, etc. or we were suppose to. Once we select one, a lot of us will feel obligated to be loyal to there services. If they are doing a good job, no problem. Carry on as usual. The problem arise when things start going wrong.

Now, I would like to think that if a major mistake is done by someone in our power team, we would all move our business elsewhere. The truth is a lot of us would not. They would provide an excuse and we will accept it. Giving second chance, maybe a third. The key is, when someone on our power team starts showing incompetence, we should take action and avoid having their lack of know how cost us any more money in the long run.

So how can we find out if our power team is competent. Well let's start by making a list of all the skills each employed individual should have and then rate them. For example, a realtor should be quick, mostly when requesting numbers and sending in offers. How are they doing? If by doing this exercise you realize that someone on your power team is not quite to par, you have three options. Replace that person with someone better. Teach and train that person to fit your needs. Or change nothing, the problem with this option is that things may just get worst as time pass and it should not be an option as all.

In the event of your mentor, make sure that the person mentoring you is actively doing what you seek to learn from them and that they are successful at it. They will have done mistakes along the way but if they do not learn from them, they will not be able to teach you how to avoid them as well.

Loyalty is a great thing, but it should not come to the expense of our success.