Tales of a New Expansion – Part 2
If you missed Part 1, it may be worth going back to read it to get caught up to speed first. If you choose not to, hopefully you can still follow along.
Once we decided as a family that this business expansion was worth pursuing, we put the wheels in motion—quickly. I was super excited to tell my team that they were about to be a part of something big and exciting…something fairly unheard of within the RE/MAX brand. I created flyers with local Charlotte, N.C., statistics on the RE/MAX brokerage in the area, home price and sale statistics, demographics, and more. I prepared a gift of Southern barbecue sauce for each team member with a special tagline to announce the big news.
When the day came, you couldn’t hide the huge smile on my face. I proudly went through a quick snapshot of what was to come and the huge opportunity this would bring for all of us during our team meeting.
What I received in return was a lot of jaws wide open and tears. Yes…a few were in tears full of worry and what-ifs. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit heartbroken over the response. However, I made sure to take the time to reach out to each and every team member over the course of the next few days to thoroughly listen to their concerns and be transparent about whatever I could be with them at that time.
It took a solid few weeks before I felt the team was starting to think big and embrace the expansion team idea. I promised them a full set of systems and processes to explain each and every detail soon, to ensure all i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed.
Then, it was time to tell my broker. She cried, too—although it was with joy and excitement. She stated how proud she was to have the brokerage’s first expansion team and began immediately forming a beautifully written announcement to send to our entire brokerage. She even threw our team a wonderful congratulatory party!
As you can imagine, running a team in one location can be difficult, so I knew running two teams in two different locations would mean I certainly have my work cut out for me. In the weeks that followed, I busily began preparing by purchasing websites, ensuring our branding was on point for both areas, duplicating our awesome Workman Success Systems tracking and processes, and more. I also was studying to take the North Carolina real estate broker exam. My mind, as an OCD person, was running a million miles a minute. I had checklists on top of checklists.
As my husband and I discussed this big change in my business, we knew just how much I worked and put into my very first year in this business. I sold 30 houses my first year and ran around like crazy. That was without a team. Through our conversations, it quickly became apparent that I needed to be there physically with “boots on the ground” to get this team up and running to have the best chance for success. So, we listed our forever home and we knew we had to move our family of four, plus Max, our Pug, to Charlotte.
Wow! How life had changed in a short period of time. It was now the beginning of July. It had been a mere 30 days since Charlotte had become a part of our everyday vocabulary.
I can’t wait to tell you more—the whirlwind that is still mounting and the excitement thus far. Please follow my journey in Tales of an Expansion – Part 3 in an upcoming story. I promised you the good, the bad and the ugly. That’s what you’re going to get!
Follow Brooke on her journey at www.ExpansionTeamMom.com.
Brooke A. Sines is a Workman Success Systems coach and full-time REALTOR® with RE/MAX in West Michigan and Charlotte, N.C., who has been in the business of working with people all her life. She is a mom, wife, real estate coach, team leader and broker. Contact her at Brooke@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com. For more information, please visit www.WorkmanSuccessSystems.com.
