At Home Along the Alabama Coast

 Print Article

William Tom Stanton, EXIT Realty Gulf Shores
William ?Tom? Stanton

Broker/owner

EXIT Realty Gulf Shores

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Offices in: Gulf Shores, Daphne and Orange Beach, Alabama, as well as Pensacola, Florida. The Gulf Shores office opened in November 2002 with seven agents. Several more offices are expected to be open within five years.

Total number of agents: 132, with 58 of them in Gulf Shores 2004 Sales Volume: About $200 million

Years in real estate: 17

Quote: ?You?ve got to be proactive in your business to make your business work for you.?

EXIT Realty Gulf Shores is located in a coastal region in Alabama where many buyers are looking to enter after exiting from another location.

?It?s a great market,? says William ?Tom? Stanton, who is the broker-owner of the EXIT coastline brokerage.

The real estate market there is fast growing. It?s located on a picturesque coast, has many companies relocating there, is popular among retirees, has a relatively low cost of living and a comfortable climate. Many properties are held by absentee owners, Stanton says, with both single-family houses and condos popular with consumers.

Stanton?s success is in large part due to EXIT?s unique approach among real estate companies. ?I?m sold on the EXIT formula,? Stanton says. ?EXIT believes your agents are your assets. Agents recruit other agents. We?ve been very successful at getting new agents into the business.?

Most real estate companies do not give extensive training anymore. But EXIT has thorough training that all agents go through. ?The EXIT approach is train them to do it right and they?ll stay,? Stanton says. ?It?s worked really well for us.?

EXIT Realty Gulf Shores trains agents on farming programs.

Agents learn how to contact and remain close to consumers.

EXIT?s program of sponsorships allows agents a source of income as they sponsor other agents into the business. ?If one person is successful, everyone is successful,? Stanton explains. For each new agent a current agent brings in, he or she can earn up to $10,000 a year. ?EXIT is the only company doing that,? Stanton says. ?This is a straight line to the agent. It?s not a trickle down (approach). No one else offers (something) like that.?

?You?ve got to be proactive in your business to make your business work for you,? Stanton says. ?We have a philosophy in the office: ?I don?t care to be the biggest company. I care to be the best.? This is a company of integrity. We want to make a living by helping people.?

This article appears in the May issue of National Relocation & Real Estate magazine

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to:
editorial@rismedia.com