Vitals: The Group, Inc.
Years in Business: 42
Size: 6 offices, 198 agents
Region Served: Northern Colorado
2017 Sales Volume: $1,878,751,329
2017 Transactions: 4,740 sides
www.thegroupinc.com
It was 42 years ago when 12 innovative REALTORS® joined forces and started The Group, Inc., a real estate firm with a dozen equal owners that focused on work groups, employee empowerment and leadership in real estate. The idea worked, and the company has regularly been a market leader in Northern Colorado, ranking No. 112 in sales volume in RISMedia’s 2018 Power Broker Report.
Brandon Wells serves as the current president of The Group, Inc., following his position as the company’s first chief technology officer. Before that, he was a REALTOR® in Albuquerque, N.M., where he managed an office of 110 people.
“I’ve been president since the beginning of the year, and the first few months have been really good,” says Wells. “There’s been a lot of discovery in terms of what it means to run a brokerage, especially one with such legacy and history in the industry. I’m really enjoying it because I like the daily progression of trying to be better than I was the day before.”
In his new position, Wells’ responsibility is to help those who work within the brokerage be excellent in their daily lives—both personally and professionally—as well as do everything he can to keep the firm intact while growing the internal culture of the organization.
“Success has to be with not being isolated and being on this journey with some 300 other people in our organization,” says Wells.
According to Wells, Northern Colorado has been one of the country’s anointed real estate markets thanks to incredible growth in population, housing and desirability of people wanting to live in the area.
“The economy has been robust for many years now, which has led to some challenges because we’ve been dealing with an extreme scarcity of supply and an overabundance of demand with those wanting to live, work and relocate to our area,” says Wells.
The Group, Inc., relies on the Ninja Selling system, which first began at the company and has since scaled to more than 60,000 agents nationwide.
“It’s our system of how we approach the business and how we approach day-to-day relationships with our customers,” says Wells. “And it’s very counterintuitive to the path a lot of the industry takes in terms of chasing leads and cold relationships. We’re a relationship business and company, and this can be seen in both our internal practices and the service we provide our customers.”
When looking for new agents to join the firm, Wells looks for people who are striving to be better than they were the day before, as well as those who are looking for a career, not an easy opportunity in a good market.
“We believe strongly in personal development and realize that this is a long-term life development in an environment where brokerages are trying to compete with the next shiny object,” says Wells. “We seek people who are looking for this as a career, who are passionate about it and developing relationships with people in a world that’s increasingly more impersonal.”
Comfortable with the organization’s current agent and office count, Wells notes that the future isn’t focused on big growth and the addition of more offices. Instead, it’s more about the development of those who work within the firm and those who will soon join.
While many have been with the firm for more than 20 years, 86 percent of those who begin their career with the firm stay for the long haul.
Training is critical to the success of The Group, Inc., and Wells feels that the firm has a huge advantage in that it’s home to the Ninja Selling system.
“We’ve seen a lot of companies suffer with training when they try to grow too quickly, so we try to be very hands-on in giving people guidance on developing their business or how to improve upon a business they may have already started somewhere else,” says Wells, who goes on to explain that real estate professionals are attracted to The Group, Inc., because of its place in the community and its commitment of care.
“I think a lot of brokerages offer value models, but a lot of those are challenged to survive in all types of markets,” says Wells. “The value we want to provide is in creating an environment where we care about the community. We’re incredibly philanthropic because we realize it’s not just about us.”
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