In building our Blueprint for 100 Deals, the Team is undoubtedly the most critical architecture to put into place. Each team member will play their role as a vital cog in the machinery of your real estate business. The administrational members of your team will act as the backbone, and the sales agents will be the life blood, which – when working together as a strong cohesive unit – will take you and your ‘Dream Team’ to the top.
Advantages of Being on a Team
For the lone wolves who once prowled the industry alone, the benefits of joining a team will be already apparent, or the differences will become clear quickly. Yet, for those who are new to real estate, the team advantage might not be so obvious.
In the beginning, you may have entered into real estate because you wanted independence and may prefer not to work with others. In fact, in some ways, a team may seem a cumbersome approach, with accountability and many people to coordinate with, and a drain on your earnings. This is, of course, short-sighted and the following benefits are actually part and parcel of being on a (good) team:
• Play to your strengths – You can focus on what you’re good at, or you enjoy doing, while delegating admin tasks, enabling you to close more deals.
• Share the burdens/successes – Celebrating as part of a team is better than celebrating on your own; the same can be said of failures which can also be commiserated together. Thus, a team environment makes these highs and lows seem smoother and less impactful on the overall big picture of your business.
• Share the costs/overheads – Rather than shelling out money to start up or maintain your real estate business, there may be a team in your area which would benefit from your abilities and value the skills you bring to the table.
• Balanced life – By adding more staff members to the equation, the result should also be a healthier, more balanced life, with extra time for your family and yourself, instead of burning out trying to accomplish enough deals as a solo agent practitioner.
• You can actually achieve 100 deals – Without the team backing you up, quite frankly it’s near impossible to make it to our goal of 100 deals, and certainly impossible to sustain it (without jeopardizing your own health and that delicate work-life balance).
• You get the benefits of marketing and staff without the upfront cash out of your pocket. When the team has a bad month and low income, typically the team leader is the one who has to pull cash out of pocket to pay for the overhead. While the team member gets to keep the profit from all of their personal transactions contributed to the team.
Whatever level of the business interests you, because the industry has changed, it’s a perfect time for a brand new person to now get involved in real estate. But, you need to think about the role that you will play on a team.
In the words of Tom Ferry, renowned real estate coach and speaker: “Either be the team leader… or join a team… it’s the future of our industry.”
What Team Member Are You?
There are numerous players on a team. Whether you are planning who you might need onboard, or you’re assessing what part you will play on an existing team, here are descriptions of the key personnel that are essential for a successful real estate business.
President/CEO
This person is the head of the group. He/she needs to be passionate about building the business and the team. A good president and CEO is somebody who is 100% committed to the cause. They’re willing to take on the liability and hopefully receive the reward of the risk-taking as well.
This player is also usually the best sales person on the team. That’s where a big chunk of teams fail today; the CEO needs to have been, at one point or time, an excellent REALTOR®. The CEO needs to understand and be excellent at almost every facet of the business, every negotiation aspect of the business, and be willing to train the team in the appropriate skill sets necessary for their position.
For the president, running a team can be like running a doctor’s office – you’re the head person with several specialist partners and staff.
VP/Manager
The second in command, the VP or team manager needs to be fantastic at managing an administrative team. This requires them to be very diligent, very organized and very efficient. We find this position is probably the key element to continuity of the team, consistency of the sales agents, and staff efficiency. This person should be fantastic at what the CEO is not… which typically is staff and people management. Most team leaders don’t have the tolerance and or patience for their team’s dramatic periods. Yet dealing with those situations and team conflicts in a patient and respectful manner, is absolutely critical and necessary.
Moreover, a manager should be good at blending the sales and the administration sides of the business, and the people side of the business.
There is plenty of juggling involved; imagine you’ve got your admin staff (3 or 4 people) and each one has their own unique drama and problems. The team manager listens and calms them down, which is key to keeping long-term staff members who are happy, productive and valuable.
Essentially, a team manager understands how people work, and realizes that sales people are different animals – they need to be kept accountable to the business and yet still have a feeling of independence.
That’s why running these teams isn’t an easy line to walk, as you will be constantly challenged by both sides – the admin and the sales staff.
Of course, everyone sets out to have a successful team; whether there’s 20 people on a team, or just 2 people, there will occasionally be someone upset or having issues. This needs to be managed and maintained to get the best out of the team as a whole. Hence the importance of these leaders at the top, and why we need to trust what they’re doing.
Also in this chapter: Rounding out the other essential key members of a team and their roles; the psychology of a team and Alan’s recipe for 100+ deals success.
To learn more about or purchase “Blueprint for 100 Deals or More Than $1 Million Per Year in Income,” visit: http://www.blueprintfor100deals.com/.
Rick Bengson is the CEO and Co-Founder of ShowingSuite, Inc. a leading real estate productivity software company, and Co-Creator of HomeFeedback.com. Alan Shafran is the owner of The Alan Shafran Group, selling up to 175 homes per year. To learn more about “Blueprint for 100 Deals or More Than $1 Million Per Year in Income,” visit: http://www.blueprintfor100deals.com/.
Editor’s Note: “Blueprint for 100 Deals or More Than $1 Million Per Year in Income: The exact systems and technology to sell 100+ homes, every year—no matter the market,” is a new book by leading real estate industry executives Alan Shafran and Rick Bengson that outlines how to build your business as well as make more money, please more customers and improve your overall quality of life, whether you are a novice or climbing the ladder in the real estate business. For the next several weeks, RISMedia will be running portions of each chapter every Wednesday or Thursday, highlighting the in-depth information and invaluable resources the authors have compiled in this exciting, new publication.