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Real world advice from successful team leaders across the network

Kirby Cox | Kirby Cox & Associates | 5 members | Calgary, AB | kirbycox.com

Stacey Falkwin | Falkwin Group | 7 members | Halifax, NS | falkwingroup.ca

Cailey Heaps Estrin | Heaps Estrin Real Estate Team | 32 members | Toronto, ON | heapsestrin.com

Rob Ohs | Ohs Marketing | 9 members | Qualicum Beach, BC | ohsmarketing.ca

David and Maxime Tardif | Équipe Tardif | 15 members | Montreal, QC | equipetardif.com

We asked top team leaders coast to coast to share their unique insights on building, growing and leading successful real estate teams. Here, they reveal some of the valuable experiences, strategies and philosophies that have helped to shape their stellar results.

At what point in your career did you start a real estate team and why?

Stacey: After almost 9 years as a successful individual agent with an assistant, I started the team so we could keep up with demand.

Cailey: I started the team after I had been in the business with my mother for about seven years. Our impetus for creating a team structure was to maintain a high level of client service. It was evident even back then that service and delivering results are the most important elements of what we do as REALTORS®.

What advice would you give to an agent thinking of starting a team?

Kirby: You will know you need a team when you start to see too many crumbs fall off the table.

Rob: Be very honest with yourself. First, are you doing enough business on your own to warrant starting a team and leading other agents? Do you have a system in place to support any agents who do join your team?

Cailey: Create and nurture a strong company culture, and hire a team that fits well within that culture.

What role did you first hire for your team and how did that change your business?

Rob: I hired an assistant and it was vital to the beginning of my business because I was able to have that position handle all administrative duties, leaving me free to work and spend more time with clients in a sales position.

David & Maxime: Our first hire was a buyer agent. This individual was very good at servicing clients and very organized, so he could cover part of our administrative needs. We basically consolidated both roles without increasing our expenses too much. This person has now moved to our team manager position, and honestly, he is a pillar for our business. We would not be here without his dedication and true sense of organization.

Share a piece of business advice that you impart to every agent that joins your team.

Cailey: Our focus has always been, and will always be, client service. I try to demonstrate this through my own actions and stress the importance of the client experience on anyone who joins my team. It is essential to build meaningful relationships with clients who support our business, not just when we represent them on a transaction, but beyond that experience as well.

David & Maxime: Make sure you know where you are going, and revise your goals on a daily basis so you are not a victim of circumstance. We ask the team to write exactly how much they want to produce daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. Jim Rohn says: “It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go,” and we think this perspective produces impressive results.

What is your secret for team retention?

Kirby: Choosing the right agents to begin with and having the right tools to help them succeed.

David & Maxime: Fair commission split and work environment. We have a private bi-weekly team CrossFit session, we host a team-building retreat four times a year, and we make time to break bread together. It is really our second family.

What makes you and your team successful?

Kirby: Respect for each other in every situation that arises.

Cailey: When a client hires a Heaps Estrin agent, they are really getting a team of 32 individuals all working in unison to create the best possible outcome and experience for each and every client. Coupled with our traditional high-end service and our modern marketing strategies, this allows us to deliver the best possible results.

How has Royal LePage helped you in your growth as a business?

Rob: Royal LePage, being a large national Real Estate company, has an amazing family culture. From the top-down you are made to feel welcome and a part of something bigger.

David & Maxime: We have such a high level of service and support from Royal LePage that they are a key component of our success. The culture of collaboration among Royal LePage agents helps us to brainstorm on best practices and keep growing.

Kirby: Name (Royal LePage brand) recognition is always front and centre.

Share a piece of leadership advice that has the greatest influence on the way you lead your team.

Stacey: Team culture is everything. Knowing who you are, what you do and how you are going to do it, is the foundation of success. Ensuring everyone on your team wholeheartedly believes and demonstrates your core values will be well worth the effort in the long run.

Rob: We hold everyone on the team accountable for the activities that will help them reach their personal goals. I am able to do this by facilitating extensive goal setting with each team member. This defines their ‘why’ and we determine how they can achieve their goals by finding out which lead generating activities will work best.

If you had to start your team all over again, what would you do differently?

Stacey: I would have started it five years earlier!

David & Maxime: Hire a strong assistant quicker and systemize our business sooner.

Rob: I would only hire people that shared our vision for team culture, work ethic and systems.

Looking ahead, what do you think is the biggest change coming to the industry and how will you and your team address that change?

Cailey: We believe that technology and how people use technology to view, assess and purchase real estate will be the biggest disrupter to the industry. We embrace the changes that technology brings, from implementing digital marketing strategies to maintaining and leveraging a sophisticated CRM, but we also believe there will always be a need for a well-informed professional in the real estate transactional process.

Stacey: Competition from alternative brokerage models continues to face our industry. A continued emphasis on knowing your value proposition is key and teams that are well supported with a full suite of evolving services will ensure our continued success.