Alex started his career as a realtor in 2004 at a local big box brokerage. As was the norm back then, you worked as an individual without a mentor. You could pay a couple thousand dollars a year to hire a coach or wing it on your own. Perhaps strangest of all, you were expected to compete against everyone in your office and your brokerage for leads. This led to a reluctance to help others, share knowledge or collaborate in any way. Not to mention, there was no incentive for more experienced agents to mentor others. Despite all of these hurtles, there are a lot of incredibly talented realtors that have managed to rise to the top by sheer determination and a willingness to outwork everyone around them. While we applaud their success, this path inevitably leads to burn-out since you have no time for anything or anyone in your life except for your clients.
The emergence of real estate teams over the years has solved some of these challenges. Although not everyone is cut out to be on a team, the incontrovertible truth is that teams now dominate the real estate landscape. Individual agents may be successful in their own right, but if they want to expand their horizons and increase their market share, at some point, they will need to either join a team or build one themselves.
The most effective path forward for many new agents is to join a team at the beginning of their career. It is not just for newbies, however; for seasoned solo agents looking to grow, the best way to ascertain best practices for building a team of your own is to join a successful team and learn the ropes from the inside out.
Here are our top 12 reasons for being on a real estate team:
Visibility. Successful teams have a visible footprint that generates ongoing success for the members of the team. Brand recognition is important in generating current sales and is helpful in building in the future. As a brand becomes more recognizable, it becomes easier to convert leads based on reputation alone. While solo agents can, in and of themselves, build a reasonable market share, it’s impossible to develop the level of visibility afforded by a successful team.
Training. To ensure that everyone on a team produces at a top-level, most teams provide access to training designed to enhance their team member’s capabilities. While individual agents can secure training either from their brokerage or through third-party companies, such as Brian Buffini or Tom Ferry, costs can be prohibitive. High functioning teams provide hands on training, mentoring and shadowing.
Costs. Real estate requires a good deal of capital to be successful. While some people become Realtors because they want to be their own boss, many quickly realize that the price tag that accompanies a high level of success is quite steep. Most teams cover the massive overhead so that individual team members do not have to worry about it. In return, commission splits are lower. Many agents balk when considering joining a team because of the lower commissions. Conditioned to think only in terms of splits, and, in many cases, having no idea how much it actually costs to run an effective business, they do not realize they can be far more productive and earn substantially more when the overhead is removed and leads are provided.
Fun. It can be a lot of fun being on a team. While solo agents are left to develop relationships on their own and, in many cases, choose not to for fear of potential competition, effective teams depend on relationships. In fact, the better they work and celebrate together, the more cohesive and effective they become.
Balance. Being a team allows you to take time off or a vacation and know that your clients are in capable hands while you are gone. Effective teams have systems that can respond to leads when you are tied up, process transactions while you are away and facilitate key business components even when you are missing in action. Solo agents are at the beck and call of their clients and potential leads 24/7.
Support. When difficult issues arise, solo agents are left to fend for themselves or get their broker involved. If the solo agent is also their own broker, getting effective support can be costly. Teams have extensive support mechanisms built in so that team members with issues have a place to turn for the support that is required.
Focus. By stripping away the need to handle all the tasks facing solo agents and allowing team members to turn their focus on the core, fundamental tasks that will actually build their business, team members can become exceedingly more effective. Rather than designing brochures, handling a bulk mailing, or coordinating an email campaign they can focus on the fundamentals that will result in lead generation and conversion.
Systems. All teams have systems that include technology and templates. Solo agents are on their own when locating and/or developing systems — teams have already done the hard work of building or purchasing the systems they need for every aspect of their business. It's plug and play for team members.
White Glove Service. It’s hard to provide effective service to your clients when you are out on inspections, showing clients property or handling all of the time-consuming tasks. Teams have administrative assistants and transaction coordinators who can oversee the many tasks required to provide the utmost level of care to clients. These team members provide a level of service simply impossible for solo agents.
Knowledge. Where do you go when you have questions? Our team has the combined resources of over 38 years of experience drafting and negotiating contracts and working on real estate deals. As the leader of a team within our brokerage, I have direct access to a pool of other team leaders across the country who are eager to help as necessary.
Agent Growth. When a team member decides to grow and move up or there is agreement from the team leadership that a specific team member’s skills and accomplishments should be rewarded, teams usually have the opportunities inside the organization. Rather than lose skilled team members to outside opportunities, teams can mentor experienced agents as they build their own team.
Leads. The primary job in real estate sales is the generation of leads. Lead gen can be very expensive. The level of marketing required to generate a significant flow of leads is often beyond the financial capabilities of a solo agent. Teams have the deep pockets required to generate leads over a wide spectrum of sources. Those leads are, in turn, handed to members of the team to convert. In most cases, the more leads a team member converts, the more they get.
But wait, there's more. Joining a team in our brokerage unlocks passive income opportunities for agents. You can buy the brokerage's publicly traded stock at a discount and earn revenue share from any agents you recruit to join the team or the brokerage. If you'd like to learn more about joining a team, our team or our brokerage, give us a call. We would love to connect and share information with you so that you can avoid the mistakes we made.