Starting a Real Estate Team? Here are a Few Things to Consider
Imagine a trip to a doctor’s office. You approach the front counter, and there she is, ready to check you in for your appointment. Then, she is, again, prepared to accompany you from the waiting room to the exam room. She performs your exam and is at the desk out front to take your check for your insurance co-pay and schedule your next appointment.
Aside from seeing patients at various times during the day, this doctor will clean exam rooms after each patient leaves, call-in prescriptions to pharmacies, order and interpret diagnostic tests, work on bookkeeping, schedule appointments for other patients, follow up on telephone messages, meet with pharmaceutical company representatives and clean the office.
If this were your doctor, we’d bet you would think she’s either crazy or arrogant. After all, she’s most likely not a trained bookkeeper, administrative assistant, or skilled in sanitation practices in physicians’ offices.
When any professional works in a practice with many moving parts, it’s simply foolish to presume to wear all the hats.
Many agents across the country figured this out long ago. “We aren’t professional photographers or stagers. Nor are we phone specialists or transaction coordinators. And, we don’t want to be any of those,” says a friend and agent in Los Angeles, California.
This is why this agent built a team, offering professional specialists to each client. In her estimation, this team’s approach to real estate has made her so successful.
When you reach a specific volume, taking your business to the next level requires assistance. Most agents start with admin help.
However, the next level is to build a real estate team.
Structuring your team
Before you jump into the hiring process, consider how you’ll structure your team. This helps you learn who you need to hire and which skills to be on the lookout for. Check out Chris Linsell’s brilliant but simple Real Estate Organizational Chart at theclose.com.
To give you an idea of how to staff your team, take a look at our California friends:
- 3 listing coordinators
- 3 staging strategists
- An architectural photographer
- Marketing Coordinator
- 6 phone specialists to attract and reach out to potential buyers
- 17 buyers’ agents
Naturally, you won’t need this many team members when you start but consider adding as your business increases.
Each cog in the aforementioned well-oiled wheel works in tandem with the others. For instance, the phone team recently received a call from a homebuyer interested in one of the team’s listings.
“The call came in at 10:30 on a Saturday morning,” according to our friend. “Our phone specialist returned the call two minutes later, at 10:32, and alerted one of the showing agents on the team. This agent met with the buyers to show them the home at 1 p.m. An hour later, they wrote an offer. This team approach had our listing sold in four hours.”
Impressive, right?
Check back soon for more ideas on forming a real estate team.
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