Building a successful real estate team requires four basic steps: building a solid foundation; understanding your value proposition; choosing the right team structure; and finally, deciding on compensation. In this article, Part 1 of a two-part series, we’ll discuss building a solid foundation and understanding value proposition.
Are you working too many hours? Have you reached a plateau because of time limitations? Have you allowed the quality of service to slip because you’re juggling too much? Worse, you might feel like you don’t own a business, you have a job.
Many solo agents who reach an enviable level of success are left wondering why they’re not leading the fulfilling lifestyle they had imagined. Sound familiar?
Step One: Begin with a solid foundation
Instead of cutting back, go all-in by building a team with a solid foundation. Even before hiring your first agent, lay that foundation carefully and thoughtfully. Step back and evaluate your systems and processes. Will they work for a team? Can you use your current systems to manage your team, transfer leads, and so on?
Have you written down your processes so new agents have something to look back on as you’re training them? If not, it’s time to spend two or three long weekends writing out your processes.
Don’t discount the importance of scripts
The same goes for scripts. You may know exactly what to say and when to say it, but how about your agents? Even if you don’t believe in scripts, you may be surprised to know that you use them every day and just don’t realize it. One of the best things I did for my team was implementing scripts and role-playing.
Part of your foundation also includes incorporating assistants. It’s important to hire a transaction coordinator and a marketing assistant. Hand over the tasks that don’t make you money so you can focus on those that do. These two positions can potentially help you double your closings each year before you need to hire your first agent.
Step Two: Understanding Your Value Proposition
The second crucial step in building a successful team is to create and understand your value proposition. This can’t be stressed enough. By creating a solid foundation first, you’ll have a fair value exchange to justify a 50-50 split.
Essentially, you’re saying to the agent: “If you join my team, we will handle the training, support, expenses, branding, marketing, and lead generation so you can focus on working with clients and closing sales. “Then, when you get a contract, the team will handle the contract to closing so you can focus on the next client.”
In other words, potential team members may be giving up 50 percent of their commissions, but you’ll be handling 70 percent of the work.
Learn more about teams at Fathom Realty.