Real Estate Team Archives

I’ll be releasing future articles on eSigning, Transaction Management, Training Tools, Communication Tools, etc. Subscribe below and I’ll keep you posted. If you’re a devout fan of a specific CRM, this article probably won’t persuade you into switching platforms. This article will be less about feature comparison, and more of a… what to consider as you’re researching real estate brokerage and real estate team tools in the market. Functions & Features Running a real estate brokerage or team requires a balance between managing agents, overseeing transactions, ensuring client satisfaction, and on the less fun side of things – avoiding litigation. Whether you’re just launching or looking to improve your existing firm’s tech-stack, the real estate brokerage tools you choose to support your operations can make a significant difference on your administrative workload, the scalability of your operation, and if you’re so-inclined, the sell-ability of your brokerage. Keep in mind as you’re looking into software, that you’ll be talking to software salespeople. They will all make their programs sound like the Ark for your brokerage’s rainy day. So herein we’ll discuss the features, functionality and gotcha’s to look out for; so that hopefully you’ll find the best tool for your business. Our Experience with CRMs Over the years, through running our team and now multiple real estate brokerages, we’ve had the chance to work with: Through experimenting with these different CRMs at different stages in our growth, we came to learn which factors were make-or-break for our CRM requirements. Your requirements will be, and should be, different than ours. My intent is not to tell you the best CRM, but to help you find the best real estate CRM for you. CRM Goals Lead generation and capture, agent activity and productivity reporting, deal tracking, recruiting, client-facing real estate website, agent personalization. These are some of the things we had in mind when looking for a CRM. Lead Generation vs Collection Does the CRM you’re looking into help with generating leads, and if so, how? Pretty much all CRMs we’ve experimented with allow for some kind of web-based form that allows a customer (potential client) to enter their information and become a “lead” in your system. Some, such as CINC and Boomtown, have taken this all the way to be full-fledged customer-facing real estate search websites and the vendor will run your lead generation ads for you. All you do is hand them your credit card. With these you can simply dump advertising dollars into the vendors pocket, and they’ll generate the ads, driving traffic and leads into your system. These full-service vendors also tend to be more expense options. Others are more designed to collect leads than to generate them, such as Follow-Up Boss. Such systems may leave you looking to other programs to build a customer-facing real estate search site, and they prefer to sit in the background to collect the leads. Backend, collection-only systems tend to be a little cheaper than the aforementioned full-service vendors. Keep all this in mind when looking at different CRMs. In short, the full-service vendors will provide a more comprehensive solution, meaning you’ll need to buy into fewer real estate brokerage tools to build out your tech-stack. But you will also be married to their way of doing things, as they are less likely to integrate (or at least integrate well) with other systems. When speaking with sales reps, they will try to convince you that their system IS the end-all-be-all system. After having a thorough web-demo with a $1,200/month vendor followed by a $300/month vendor, you will begin to get a better view of how they stack up against each other in terms what all their system actually does, versus how well their system might integrate with 2 to 5 other systems in order to actually do-it-all (which also means 2 to 5 additional monthly bills, and integration points that can have issues). Lead Capture Closely related to Lead Generation & Collection, we learned recently how distinctly different Capture is than Generation or Collection. Allow me to walk you through three customer experience examples. Customer is moving to a new town, so they search that town name. A Google Ad appears stating “Homes in New Town under $500,000”. User clicks on the ad to be taken to a home search website. One of three scenarios occurs next. While 5/5 sounds a bit harsh, 1/5 sounds totally complacent. So here’s the part that may or may not surprise you. Expect to spend exponentially more on ads if you go with a 1/5 type lead capture website compared to something that is more of a 3/5 or higher. We’re talking $10/lead versus $200/lead difference. We know from EXPENSIVE experience. Are you paying for a website and ads out of the kindness of your heart, to make sure everyone can find available homes? Or are you trying to run a profitable business and turn leads into commissions? With the real estate industry averaging between 1% to 5% conversion of leads to closings, I’ll let you do the math. Yes, 100 leads statistically means 1 to 5 closings. I’m not here to dictate that one way is right and one way is wrong. But if you intend to be able to ramp-up leads for your team or brokerage with ad spend, be aware that your tech-stack will strongly influence how effective your money is utilized. Agent Activity & Productivity Reporting If reporting is a four-letter word to you, well… don’t skip this section yet, and here’s why. Say you have two agents on your team, you know them well, you know when they’re calling on leads, going on showings, at an inspection, etc. Who needs reporting? Fast-forward a few months and you have seven agents. Do you really think you will have as solid of a grasp on seven different individuals daily work schedule and productivity? Skip ahead a year, and you’ve grown to 16 agents as well as considering breaking off to launch your own

Real Estate Team

How to (and NOT to) Start a Successful Real Estate Team: A Semi-Comprehensive Guide

Terry Peterson, Founder / August 30, 2024

The real estate industry can be incredibly rewarding, which I’m sure is what enticed you to get into real estate in the first place. Once you did, you found it could also be incredibly challenging as well. If you’re an experienced real estate agent looking to expand your business, starting a real estate team might be the next logical step. A well-structured team can increase your productivity, service more clients, and create a thriving work environment for other agents. Maybe even pave the path to your own brokerage if that’s your interest. Here I hope to guide you through the essential steps of starting a real estate team, from assessing your brokerage’s support to planning your team’s structure, recruitment strategies, and future growth. 1. Assessing Brokerage Support for Real Estate Teams Before you dive into the logistics of building a team, the first step is to ensure that your current brokerage supports the formation and operation of real estate teams. Not all brokerages are equipped or willing to accommodate teams, and this can significantly impact your ability to grow or perhaps even start a team. Start by having an open conversation with your broker or office manager. Be sure to REVIEW YOUR BROKERAGE’S POLICY MANUAL for any specific policies about teams. If there are already teams at your brokerage, speak with those team leads to ask about their experiences in running a team and how the brokerage has supported (or not supported) them. Commitments from your brokerage in writing via policy manual are more meaningful than an over-coffee conversation. Just a few of the questions you need to know before you begin… While that is not an exhaustive list, if will certainly begin to help you wrap your head around whether or not your current brokerage is the right place to begin a team. 1.2 Tools and Guidance for Building Teams If your brokerage is supportive of teams, inquire about how brokerage’s tools, trainings and guidance factors into teams. Does your brokerage provide a CRM? Will they allow each of your team agents to have a seat (an account) in the CRM as well, or will you berequired to look into buying your own CRM. Are your team agents allowed to participate in brokerage trainings? If not, you’ll have to plan your own trainings. Are your team agents required to participate in brokerage trainings? This may deter you as you if you don’t want your team agents hearing other agents at the brokerage discuss how much better their commission splits are than yours. You will obviously have to ‘charge’ your team agents more than brokerage ‘charges’ you on commission splits, in order for your team to be profitable to you. The same questions apply regarding eSigning systems such as Skyslope, SignWell, Dotloop, etc? Between CRM and eSigning systems, we were spending $2,300/mth on software to run our team when we were under another brokerage since the brokerage systems didn’t support our team agents. 2. Navigating State and Brokerage Policies on Team Names and Logos 2.1 State Requirements When forming a real estate team, choosing a name and creating a logo are exciting steps, but they are also areas where legal considerations come into play. Different states have varying regulations regarding team names and branding, and it’s essential to be aware of these before you finalize your team’s identity. Many states require that the team name clearly indicates that it is associated with a real estate brokerage. For instance, you may need to include the word “team” or “group” in the name along with the brokerage’s name must also be included. Failing to comply with state regulations can result in fines or other legal complications. It’s advisable to consult with a real estate attorney or your state’s real estate commission to ensure that your team name and logo meet all legal requirements. 2.2 Brokerage Requirements In addition to state regulations, your brokerage likely has its own branding guidelines that your team must follow. These guidelines may dictate how the brokerage’s name and logo should be presented alongside your team’s branding. For example, your brokerage might require that its logo be prominently displayed on all team marketing materials, or that your team’s colors and fonts align with the brokerage’s overall branding. Understanding these guidelines will help you create a cohesive and compliant brand for your team. This is not an area to ask for forgiveness instead of permission, otherwise you could waste time and money on branding signs, logos, website, etc. that have be tossed and redone. 3. Developing a Recruitment Strategy for Your Team 3.1 Crafting a Unique Value Proposition Recruiting talented agents to join your team is one of the most critical aspects of building a successful real estate team. To attract top talent, you need to offer something unique—something that sets your team apart from others in the market. Consider what you can offer that other teams or brokerages might not. This could include: 3.2 Identifying Target Agents Once you’ve established your value proposition, the next step is to identify the types of agents you want to recruit. Consider the following: 3.3 Recruitment Channels There are various channels you can use to recruit agents for your team. Some effective methods include: 4. Defining Your Team’s Work Environment The work environment you create for your team will play a significant role in your team’s success and satisfaction. With the increasing prevalence of remote work, you have several options to consider: We developed DashLoops.com specifically to help in these areas. But I’ll limit the self-promotion within article. You can always grab a free account to see how it can will help with building your team’s “tech stack”. Regardless of the work environment you choose, effective communication is crucial for keeping your team aligned and productive. Establish clear protocols for how and when team members should communicate, whether it’s through daily check-ins, weekly meetings, or instant messaging platforms. As your team grows, so will the utility of these different channels. A