Andrew Linn
Broker/Owner
ERA Davis & Linn
Jacksonville, Florida
www.joineradavislinn.com
Region served: Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia
Years in real estate: 16.5
Number of offices: 3
Number of agents: 100
Talk about what it means to be part of the ERA brand.Â
We have been with ERA since the ’80s. It is a brand that allows for collaboration, and like family, we share everything. Whatever works for us is shared with our agents, who then share that same information with one another as well as their buyers and sellers.
Why is it so important to build a true team business with your support staff as well as your agents?Â
I played baseball in college, and sometimes I look at real estate through that sports/teamwork lens. We look for people—whether it is the agents we bring on or our support staff—who have that same working together/team mentality. No one is above anybody else. And just as in baseball, we can’t all start the game, but as long as we are all going in the same direction and doing what we do best, we will win. It is important for us to help our agents and staff find what they do best and then fill in the areas where they may not do as well.
What is your No. 1 piece of advice for hiring and retaining the best agents?Â
While we have someone looking for talent all the time, one of the best places to find great team members is from our agents. In fact, we get a lot of referrals from our agents. As for agent retention, prior to the pandemic, we hosted monthly outings for our agents that consisted of social gatherings and golfing. We even rented a movie theater and provided hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone. It’s been more challenging this past year with the pandemic, but we still try to get together—even if it’s virtually—to hang out and thank them for their hard work.
Where do you stand on training and education?Â
We have weekly and monthly training both online and in person. The online/virtual training is very important, because with our system, an agent can select the training and sit back and watch it online at 11:00 p.m. We can even track what the agents are having issues with, and if we see a trend of requests, we can tailor our classes to what’s needed.
What is the one thing you hope your agents say about you?Â
While I hope our agents look at us as fair partners who are outrageously dependable, I also want them to understand that we are always looking for a way to say “yes” to support them.
How has the coronavirus impacted the way you do business?Â
COVID changed the way we do business and ripped the Band-Aid off the industry. Things were becoming a lot more digital prior to the pandemic, but the pandemic forced the industry to fast track virtual and online by three to five years.
For more information, please visit www.era.com.
Lesley Grand is a contributing editor to RISMedia.
