6,000 Tasks. Nobody Noticed. 😳

Here's a question I've been thinking about...

I've been putting together a six-week series called FOUNDATIONS for our brokers (and others, if you're interested!). It isn't another “OMG, you guys, let's get back to basics!” program. We're taking a hard look at what the foundation of a sustainable real estate career actually is: where you're going, who belongs in your sphere, the systems supporting it and whether those systems are actually doing what you think they're doing. The premise is simple: if the foundation is solid, you can remodel the house over and over without rebuilding it every time the market shifts. I am VERY excited about it. It has been several months in the making and includes a proper syllabus, workbook and accountability meetings. Okay, that sounded suspiciously like a commercial. How'd I do? 😆

But that's actually not what I wanted to talk about this week.

I recently made some changes to the management of my brokerage. Some were financial, some strategic and some were part of succession planning. But primarily, I had started seeing some aging features in my business that needed remodeling. Like I said above, if the foundation is solid, remodeling can be fun. It can also be a little horrifying when you start opening the walls. Let me explain.

I've used a CRM since 1999, when Top Producer was basically witchcraft. In 2020, I upgraded to a much more robust system with auto emails, text messages, birthday cards and more. I was in heaven. With more than 1,000 homes sold over my career, I had a lot of past clients to touch 8–10 times a year. If I could automate some of that, imagine the time I could save. So we built the system. I believed it was great. I trusted my team to beta test it and make sure everything was working. Notice I said I trusted my team to do it. I didn't do it myself.

Over the next six years, my personal sales volume gradually declined. Before 2020, I consistently sold 80–100 homes a year. Because prices increased, the financial impact wasn't immediately obvious. I was also growing the brokerage, coaching agents, building a cabin in the woods and apparently becoming a man who enjoys bird watching and gardening. (Late 40s are wild. That's another email.) Then, during this recent management transition, I sat down with the person now overseeing my CRM. And we found it. Many of the starting tasks in my past-client auto plans had been assigned to a “Transaction Coordinator” instead of me. Makes sense, right? Take the administrative burden off Nicholas. Except there was one small problem: Past clients didn't have a Transaction Coordinator assigned to them. So those tasks didn't go anywhere. They just sat there. Year. After. Year. More than 6,000 tasks. Nobody noticed. Nobody audited it. And eventually, silence befell the CRM.

About six weeks ago, I sent a mass mailing to my past clients. It was a heartfelt letter to my past clients about the power of salt, and how they are the spice of my life, blah blah blah. About 50 came back “Return to Sender.” Not terribly surprising; almost 1,000 had gone out. Not to worry, this happens every time, and my staff was supposed to audit and correct if necessary. But since I am riding solo right now, I decided to do it myself. As I started to pull these addresses to see what went wrong, it wasn't the post office that screwed up. It was us. Home after home had sold or transferred ownership. My name wasn't on the listing. Some were multimillion-dollar homes and condos. These were clients I thought loved me, respected me and would certainly use me again. Some had been guests in my home. I was devastated.

So I picked up the phone. I wasn't calling to chastise anybody for selling without me. I genuinely wanted to reconnect. And more than once I heard: “Oh, Nicholas, it's so good to hear from you. Gosh, it has been years!” Years. Yep. I had failed.

Some of these clients hadn't heard from me since the day I sold them their home. For somebody who coaches agents nonstop about systems and processes, discovering a flaw in my own system that may have cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions was humbling. Embarrassment wasn't even the worst part. I had neglected relationships I actually cared about.

The irony isn't lost on me that all of this happened while I was designing a training program called FOUNDATIONS. (Those who can't, teach? 😆) Actually, I think the timing made the program better. It forced me to look at the syllabus differently, build in safeguards and ask a question I hadn't emphasized enough: Who is inspecting the system? Do not rest on your laurels, your reputation or, for fuck's sake, your team to protect the foundation of your career.

Your team can help build it. Technology can help automate it. AI can help improve it. But you, my friend, are still the foreman.

This week, inspect your own foundation. Are your systems actually working as designed? Do you even know how to check? Are you communicating with your database often enough? With the right message? When was the last time you personally called the people you assume would call you?

And yes, perhaps this email really did become a commercial for FOUNDATIONS. I swear it didn't start that way. But if you're reading this and feeling slightly uncomfortable about your own business, I'd love to have you join us. We're holding a syllabus overview Lunch & Learn on October 1 at my office, and the six-week program begins October 5th. Six weeks. Six building blocks. Real accountability. New agent or seasoned veteran, I firmly believe there is something here for you. Trust me. Apparently seasoned veterans occasionally need someone inspecting their foundation too. 🙄

So the answer to the question I have been thinking about… Accountability starts with me. And sometimes the most important inspection is the one you really don't want to do.

Nicholas Yale

Designated Broker/Owner | Brokers Hub Realty