Recruiting the right BDM

Blogger: Tara Milzewski, founder and mentor, BDM Academy

The Advertising Process:

Choosing the right BDM is essential for any real estate office that wants to achieve fast and consistent growth.

Before you even advertise for the vacant position, it is important you understand and develop a proper job description. From my experience, principals often overlook the job description and then wonder why the department is going backwards and not growing.

Remember, the energy you put out into the universe for a new BDM is what you will get back in the way of a potential applicant. If you put no effort into the job title and description, how can you expect to attract a quality staff member? The role of the property manager and BDM are both very different, and I often see advertising for a BDM position with a property manager’s description.

You need to open and close your BDM advertisement by catching the eye of the best potential candidate with the most suited personality and skill level for the role.

The Interview Process:

Do you understand the role of the BDM and have questions in place to ask during the interview process?

Don’t be afraid to ask another staff member to get involved in the interview process and ask questions. They may see something you don’t, and it gives you a second opinion rather than having to make a decision on your own. It is important that the new BDM works well with the current team environment. It only takes one sour grape to destroy a happy and successful established team.

Make sure the applicant is doing all the talking during the interview process and ask open ended questions. So many times I have seen principals do all the talking during the interview and thinking ‘Gee that went well’. Then they hire the applicant and realise they are not suitable but they never gave them a chance to speak.

Remember, all the interview questions should be based on the job requirements. The interview process should give the applicants a detailed description of what the job actually involves otherwise they are likely to leave soon after starting. This is why it is important to have a detailed job description which is clearly explained and acknowledged during the interview process.

Selection Process:

Keep in mind that many people will come across as excellent and have the skills you are looking for but, are they willing to go the extra mile?

Will they achieve the requirements expected of them and do they have the salesperson skills needed for the BDM position? 

Understand that the person best suited for the position may not bring in high numbers straight away. It takes at least three to six months to build solid relationships with referral networks, and sometimes longer, when they already have an established relationship in place with another agency/BDM.

Finally don’t be afraid to start your new BDM on a probation period, as this gives you the chance to further test the commitment and skills expressed during the interview process. Probation periods can vary in time but are usually around three months.

You should also note, a BDM should be out of the office 80 per cent of the time networking, building relationships, meeting with new landlords, promoting the office by doing presentations, completing rental appraisal and presenting management agreements. The other 20 per cent should be spent handling paperwork, adding new contacts to the database and following up prospective landlords.

About Tara Milzewski
Tara commenced work as a trainee property manager following High School and after gaining valuable knowledge and experience became the business development manager at Wide Bay Prestige Properties.

Tara is dynamic, highly motivated and has a strong passion for business development. She has a very strong understanding and appreciates the importance of growth in the property management department.

Tara’s major accomplishments include successfully securing 268 listings in one financial year and signing 30 new rental listings in one month.
In 2012 Tara won an all-expenses paid trip to Hamilton, New Zealand and spoke on a BDM panel at the REINZ National Conference.

Tara has previously spoken at the 2011 PPM National Conference about building your property management department and has written articles for the Property Management Journal and Real Estate Jobs Search, providing helpful tips for BDM’s.

In 2013 Tara started the BDM Academy and has been contracted to consult for a variety companies throughout Australia and New Zealand. Tara’s vast wealth of knowledge in property management growth is sure to interest real estate principals who are looking to grow their most valuable asset and income stream, their rental roll.