Fourth generation Texan Angie Hanna serves as the director of operations for Papasan Properties Group – a team of 18 hubbed in Austin, Texas, and expansion locations in Houston and Minneapolis. While she specializes in operations, she has a penchant for details and systems and uses them to great effect to ensure every one of PPG’s clients has an exceptional experience. And, based on the numbers, it’s working: The team sold more than $475 million in volume and closed 1,250 contracts to date while living out their values of being bold, leading others, building wealth, giving back, and having fun.
At this year’s digital Family Reunion, set to take place on Feb. 15-18, 2021, Hanna is taking the stage alongside fellow panelists to discuss how using proven models and systems can help your big business run smoothly and achieve consistent results. In advance of the big virtual event, Hanna offers three areas of focus to get you started.
3 Focus Areas For A Smooth, Scalable Operation
Set Your Leverage Up for Success
The Papasan Properties Group thrives on their carefully crafted systems and processes (which Hanna will give a wider glimpse into during the panel), but these systems are really put to the test when it comes down to the wire. For them, Hanna shares, embracing leverage – and making sure their instructions are clear-cut – is a must.
The team really got to test the strength of their own processes when their brand-new transaction coordinator hopped on board … right on the first day their state went into lockdown for COVID.
With everyone working from home and Hanna not close by to show the new hire the ropes or immediately field questions, the situation could have been challenging. “We were all just trying to figure out our new reality, but because we had done such a great job with systems and documenting them, she had a robust step-by-step guide to refer to about how to run a transaction,” Hanna says. “She jumped right in and handled 200 transactions by December 2020.”
Beyond a put-together onboarding system, the team has gotten creative with the resources already available to them. For example, Hanna’s team revamped the way they use Slack to cater to their work-from-home needs. “We’ve created a channel for every transaction, so the people involved in the transaction are in the channel and we have a record. So everyone who needs to can go back and refer to the information.” In addition to business talk, the team uses Slack to encourage team connection, through channel topics like gratitude, team wins, and funny anecdotes.
Build and Document Systems
Hanna guides her team to use the GPS and 4-1-1 models (which are designed to cut through the noise, narrow down focus, and assign accountability) and attributes much of their success to these free resources. “During our weekly leadership meeting, we start with our GPS for the year, and discuss where we are on those strategies and what’s happening as we implement them.”
Everybody also shares their 4-1-1 each week, so they are able to make connections between the business’s wider goals and each person’s individual goals for the year. At each meeting, Hanna shares the team’s general goals, then divides the work accordingly for accountability purposes. “As things come up, we’re able to shift as priorities for the month emerge,” she says.
Related reading:
Explore the GPS
Explore the 4-1-1 Model
Focus on Profit
When it comes to gauging your business’s success, Hanna believes that it’s important to focus on profit. In their own experience, the PPG team saw a small decrease in gross commission income (GCI) in 2020 – but that statistic did not define the team’s success for the year. “Profit in terms of dollars and percent were up. So we actually made more profit in 2020 on less GCI than we did in 2019,” she says.
To ensure the team is on track, Hanna meets with the rainmaker regularly to go through the team’s profit and loss statement, as well as bank and credit card statements, transaction by transaction, in order to really look at what they’re spending money on. “We’re also looking for efficiencies, such as tools that we could combine to maximize our efforts. Some of it is just going in and auditing what’s in our email database account to make sure we’re not paying for more contacts than we actually are using in our current email lists,” she says. Readily equipped with that up-to-the-hour financial knowledge, Hanna can respond promptly when any division of the team needs to spend money, such as for a lead generation campaign.
As they build and monitor their budget, the team sticks to the Budget Model highlighted in The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. “We customize it for our particular team. And we have a big line item for charitable giving that’s important to us, so we allocate for that,” Hanna says.
A Rapid-Fire Round With Angie Hanna
As she prepares to take the stage, Hanna sat down with the Outfront team to share some of the things that help keep her motivated and spirited.
Favorite Book: The ONE Thing, by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
Favorite Podcast: “Empire Building,” with Wendy Papasan, Seychelle Van Poole, Vija Williams, and Sarah Reynolds
Favorite Mantra: “Let’s look at it this way.” (“At some point, we had some turnover, and I told my team ‘let’s look at it this way.’ We’re going to find out what’s broken, and we’ll have a chance to fix it,” she says.)
Best Career Advice: “Nothing lasts forever – not the good, not the bad. Even during the times that you are ready to pull your hair out, it will pass.”
Most Powerful Moment: Looking at the company’s bank balances. “When we first went into quarantine, nobody really knew what to expect. It was really comforting to be able to tell my team that we were OK and we didn’t have to make any big decisions right away,” she says.
Big Why: “To learn and explore and share in a way that makes the world a better place.”
Missed this year’s event or just feeling like you need a refresh? Check out Outfront’s Family Reunion 2021 archives.
Dive Into FR 2021