June 11, 2025 • 48 mins
Building a real estate team is often positioned as the golden ticket to success, but behind the glamour lies a complex reality few are willing to discuss. What happens when the team structure fails? How do compensation models actually affect team members? And why do so many team leaders find themselves working harder rather than achieving the promised passive income?
Drawing from decades of combined experience, we pull back the curtain on team building to reveal uncomfortable truths rarely addressed in industry training. We share our biggest mistakes – from ill-fated hiring decisions made out of sympathy to compensation structures that simply weren't sustainable. The traditional 50-50 split model leaves many team members struggling to make ends meet after brokerage splits and marketing costs, sometimes taking home as little as 10% of their hard-earned commissions.
The most successful teams aren't built on exploitation but on mutual benefit. They provide genuine value through administrative support, marketing assistance, leads, and technology tools while creating fair compensation models that allow everyone to thrive. Finding the right people (usually through trusted referrals) and setting them up for success with proper training and systems proves far more important than rapid growth. We explore how to delegate without abdicating responsibility, how to handle team departures gracefully, and why being in production keeps team leaders connected to market realities.
Ready to rethink how you build or join a team? This episode delivers actionable insights on creating team structures that foster growth rather than resentment. Remember, building a team is for impact, not ego – and with the right approach, you really can build something epic together.
💡 Lessons we’ve learned about balancing it all—sometimes successfully, sometimes… not.
If you’re out here trying to do EPIC SH*T, this one’s for YOU. Hit play, tag a friend, and let’s do this thing together! 👇
🎧 Listen now on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music & APPLE Podcasts!
🔗 Podcast: https://doepicshit.buzzsprout.com
🔗 All Links: https://linktr.ee/DoEpicShit.RealTalk
📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DoEpicShit.RealTalk
🎙️ Hosted by: Colleen Basinski & Kimberly Neill
Smash that follow button & get ready for more EPIC $H*T 💩💥
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
just because I felt bad for them and I tried to help
them and it's come back tothanks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
So here we go.
Boy, I feel like I haven't seenyou in ages here Right it's
been a while.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Well, welcome to Do.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Epic Shit.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm Colleen Baczynski , I'm Kim Neal, and we are here
to share with you today.
So today's topic is building ateam, what works and what
doesn't.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Let's get into it.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
So if you haven't been following us on Instagram,
facebook, tiktok, we're there.
Spotify, you can listen.
Iheartradio, amazon, applewe're everywhere, yeah, so
follow along.
We're having some goodconversations, fun conversations
.
I got my heart socks on today.
I got no socks.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
It's kind of cold outside, I know, what are we
going to talk?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
We're talking about building a team, what works and
what doesn't.
So why does this matter?
So, team building, yeah, teambuilding.
I have in my notes here a couplethings.
Well, you can't grow somethingepic alone.
Absolutely not, for sure.
There's a big difference.
High producing agent and beinga leader I would say it takes
both.
Well, don't you know somepeople that just do a lot of
deals but they are justmiserable to be around?
(01:08):
You bet yeah, Yep.
And then everyone glamorizesteam building, but no one talks
about what goes wrong.
We're going to give you the lowdown, dirty down truth.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
You'll get it yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Say, kim, you've built a team.
You've had a team.
You haven't you know you'vegone solo been on a team.
You've been on a team.
You were on an expansion teamlike a multinational team.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
You know what made you realize it was time to build
a team so I think the thebusier you get, you obviously
need leverage and you need somehelp.
So that's where I started.
It was just a little too muchfor me to handle, so I I thought
you know, let's dive in andstart building.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, I think where we came from too, at least at
some point, like not maybe whereI first started my first
brokerage, but the brokeragewhere we first met and worked
together building a team, waskind of shoved down your throat.
All the time it was like, oh,this is the only way to do it,
and I think at that point you'rejust getting into the business
and build.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
They're teaching you how to build a business, but
then it goes from building abusiness into a team and for me
it soured me.
Yeah, not that I don't thinkthey're beneficial.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Well, I think we have the benefit right now of
building it the way that we wantto, based on what we know
worked and what didn't work, andeven some of the gurus like the
models that worked, I thinkback then.
Some of the gurus like themodels that worked, I think,
back then.
Some of them are still solidfoundational models, but a lot
of them the world has changedand I don't think that they've
changed with it, I agree.
(02:33):
So I would agree that nobodycan succeed 100% alone, like
there's.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Everybody needs help at some point it's like anything
you have to grow that business.
Then you start to leveragepieces out.
I just feel like for me there'sa lot of moving parts to a team
.
You know, not just you come onmy team, you come on my team,
I'll take half your money, I'llspend more money and then I end
up by myself.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Well, I've got some good bullet points here.
I'm going to share some ofthese with you and I bet you're
going to get the wheels turningwhere we can share some good
stories and some things that soI have.
Don't build a team to stopworking.
I see so many people like, oh,I can sit back and just I'm
gonna get out of production.
There you go.
You build it to level up.
You build it to expand yourresources, to leverage resources
.
You build it to be aroundpeople that you like to be
(03:20):
around and that you can all growand win together, not to get
out of production.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
That was your trophy.
To be able to say so stupid.
So freaking stupid I'm out ofproduction.
That was like you're.
You wore that badge with honor,yeah, when you couldn't be so
far removed from it Well and Ithink you get out of touch with
what the consumer wants.
You do.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Like.
So I was out of production, butnot because I was building a
team.
Yeah, I will tell you.
It also caused me to be out oftouch with what the consumer
wants to some extent, and sinceI've been back in it, you know a
couple of years now, so it'sbeen almost two years back in
production.
So like I feel like I'mgrounded really well, I have all
the foundational principlesthat I had from the past, all my
(04:01):
experience from the past andnow, like what's working now and
what's not.
I will tell you that you get outof touch with what's going on
if you're out of productioncompletely.
I also have written down abullet point A team is not
passive income, it's leadership.
What do you think about that?
Yeah, I would say Well, I don'tknow.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
When it's done correctly.
I was going to say if it's donecorrectly, how many people do
you talk to, or how many peopleare doing it correctly.
I think that's where thethere's very few that do it
correctly.
And that's where it getsfrustrating for me, because I
see it, I watch it, I was thereand I would say, if you had 20
teams, three are running rightthe way that it should.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Well, and what's right too?
So like what's right for usmight not be what's right for
someone else Because the way wehave ours set up now, we've got
like a couple of tiers to it, sowe've got our network, we've
got our group, we've got ourteam and we have different
levels so that people can plugin at the level that's right for
them and their lifestyle.
Because, just as you go throughdifferent seasons of life,
(04:59):
you're going to have differentneeds and wants.
And I want to be around peoplethat I want to be around, that
we can build and grow togetherand that it's a mutually
beneficial relationship.
And I see too many teams thatit's about the team leader's ego
, about their pocketbook and howmuch they can make off of other
people, and that's a shitty wayto grow a business.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Well, that's, I feel like, that's why a lot of teams
fail, and I think that's thebeauty now is you've made so
many mistakes building theseteams and being involved yes, I
have.
Well, and then you know for thenext round what you want and
what you don't want, what'sappealing, what's not appealing.
And I just told you, I had aconversation with somebody I
(05:42):
used to work with about buildinga team.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Well, and when we think about the old model, so
we're kind of jumping all overtoday and that's okay.
I'll kind of recap so that wecan organize our thoughts and
talking points later.
But I think that's when Italked about like the old models
.
If you're hiring someone andyou just think about even
corporate in general and jobs ingeneral and companies in
general, the old way of hiringsomeone for as little as
(06:05):
possible and squeezing everyounce of work out of them just
doesn't work as a human beinganymore and not that I ever
wanted to be that person, butthere were companies that did
that, Plenty of companies, Sure.
And then if you think about likethe idea of hiring people now,
it's about making sure they havea good balance of life, that
they can earn a good living andhave a good time with their
family, and it's all thatbalance.
(06:25):
I think the old model I knowyou want to say something and I
just got to get this out Oldmodel of like I split with my
team members 50-50, and thenthey have to split with my
brokerage and before you know it, there's just a little fraction
of a portion that's left forthem.
That's just not a sustainablebusiness model and it just not a
sustainable business model andit's not a humane business model
(06:46):
.
Like we talk about work hard, bekind To me.
That's not kind.
I have some.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
How do you feed your family?
You don't.
How do you feed your family IfI'm splitting 50-50 with you and
then I got to give 30% ofanother 30%, 20, whatever.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
So 50-50 with my team , 30.
With my brokerage, I'm takinghome 20%.
Well, and what if there's areferral fee or a Zillow Flex
fee?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
You're getting like 7% and I watch these teams and
they're I'm killing it at $40million.
I'm killing it at $80 millionand I'm a Zillow Flex agent,
which is great because you doget the leads.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
You build.
Yeah, we're not the ones thatare going to dog the lead
aggregators Zillow.
Redfin, Realtorcom, Movoto.
They all have their place inthis industry and I feel like
they help you build yourbusiness.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I've used one of them for leads for many years and it
helps you build your business.
What I think is misleading forme and I can only speak for me
when I see other teams that aredoing 40, 50, 60, 70 million
dollars and then I see, you know, as you talk to them and you
say, hi, I'm a flex agent, I'm athis agent.
(07:58):
So here you go, you'resplitting half with you know,
you're the internet company.
You're splitting half with yourteam, then you're splitting
another portion with your bro.
By the time you're taking home,you're taking home 10%.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Well, you think about it of a pie.
If you split that pie in half,and then you took that half and
you split it in half, and thenyou took that half and gave 30%
of it away, and then you hadanother little fraction out of
that for your taxes and whatever.
What are you left with?
Like a little tiny sliver ofpie.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
How are you going to eat that whole pie could feed
you.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
But on the flip side there's costs.
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, I was just going to say that little sliver
of pie.
Now bring that home and splitit with your family of four or
five.
I don't know, is it sustainable?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
I'm tired.
I think there's a happy mediumout there, and I think there's a
lot of people that haven'tfound it yet, in my opinion.
So, anyway, that's that's mythoughts on that.
I will say, though, building ateam slow and steady, can make
sense, and having the rightleverage can make sense.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
You bet.
I think there's benefitsdefinitely to have a team.
I mean if you know you haveyour TC and your you know
buyer's agent and showing itLike they all bring value to the
team.
You know, that's how you cangrow.
There is a happy medium.
You have to find within that.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Well, and I think you said something like your TC and
so we have a marketingassistant, a transaction
coordinator, an operationsmanager, and then we have agents
on our team, and then we havemarketing group agents that
collectively network togetherand brand together and pool
resources.
So, there's different levels.
I think for us it works.
That might not work foreverybody else.
(09:35):
So you know there's risk andresponsibility and everything.
So you have to decide whichrisks you want to take and who
you want to hire.
And I think also we'll talk alittle bit about this is
outsourcing or offloading,because we just made a terrible
hire recently.
Wow so we have a couple of VAs,so we have two great VAs right
now.
Va stands for virtual assistant, got a marketing VA, marketing
(09:59):
assistant and we've got atransaction coordinator.
And then obviously Corey's onhand.
He's in-house, he's ouroperations manager, so I don't
have to personally hire oroversee the virtual assistants,
because he's handling that andresponsible for all that, which
is great.
Now I've been working withCorey and then even I had his
wife Ki.
He worked with me for many,many years.
So they've kind of I've trainedthem over the years and helped
(10:21):
lead them and develop them andgrow them.
So I have trust in him that he'sgoing to do what's needed to be
done.
But he still comes to me.
We still meet regularly, westill talk regularly on how to
do things.
But I was going to say we madea hire recently.
I was like we need anotherassistant.
So we've got this podcast thinggoing right and so we have all
of our support staff for theteam and the group and the
(10:43):
network together.
But we're doing you and I aredoing some side projects right
let's just call it is.
So we want to build ourindividual sales a little bit
more.
We're doing this podcast.
Obviously we're doing someother kind of growth strategies
in terms of passive income andinvestment and things, and so we
were looking for a second like,basically, personal assistant
for the both of us, since wethought about doing a virtual
assistant, so I still think itis a great idea.
(11:04):
We're going to.
I just think we're going to.
I'm going to personallyinterview the people instead of
offloading it, so we outsourcedto a third party company to do
that for us.
What a freaking disaster.
It's still a disaster.
Yeah, it's been over a month.
We don't have a person.
We had a person.
They worked for three days.
I spent three days.
So one of the things that I'velearned over the years is you're
(11:25):
going to get out of a hire whatyou put into them.
So I did know that I did dothat correctly.
You did and it was really goodit was good and you know we
talked about AI.
If you guys aren't using AI, youare missing the boat.
I know you hear everybodytalking about it's like all the
rage right now, but it literallyI think ai saves me hundreds of
hours, hundreds of hours foryou, for sure ai I.
(11:48):
I used it to help organize mythoughts and to put my training
materials together.
So I talk to it and then itbasically is like a secretary
transcribing my thoughts, andthen it organized them to bullet
points and then I can put itinto training material and it
helps research for me.
So, but you still need aphysical person to do a lot of
things, so I can't use AI foreverything.
So I spent all this timeputting the training together
and I knew I had to invest intothe training of the person.
(12:11):
Yes, but it wasn't the rightperson, because after three days
, what happened?
He got scared.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
No, yeah, Maybe he just well, yeah, but he just
like MIA.
Well, they said, you know theinternet went down, yeah, but
yeah, that was almost, that wastwo weeks ago today, two weeks
ago, it was two weeks ago and westill don't have somebody else.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
So I would just say, and this was a reputable company
that's out there.
So I think now the other twovirtual assistants we have I
actually found them on my ownwhich I like, and Corey and I
interviewed them and wentthrough and so Corey's gone
through an extensiveinterviewing process.
So I think interviewing peopleand doing a valid screening
there's a personal involvementthat has to be there.
(12:47):
You can't offload that to athird party company in my
opinion.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, I'm not a fan.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And I think the same thing goes for agents on your
team too, team members, becausethe wrong hire can cost your
culture and your credibility.
Like, think about people thatwe've had on our team, that
we've had to offload.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I never really paid much attention to that, until
you really pay attention, likeyou're like oh, this person
wants to work, they're so nice,bring them on your team, and it
really I mean, it's like what?
If you don't cut those tiesquick.
It's a cancer.
Yeah, that's what I said it's acancer.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I mean, I think, when you even had your team way back
, when you had a few folks likethat, that came and went I mean?
Mean you've had some reallygreat people like yeah,
kristen's come and gone from our.
She was on your team.
She was just at the brokerageand now she's in our team now
like she's a good team member,but also things ebbed and flowed
based on the structure of thebrokerage and the team
structures we had, and also youknow your personal journey in
(13:39):
your life unless I mean we, allyou know, can sever ties with,
and I feel like it's you as theteam leader, leader, how you
choose to end thoserelationships, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
so I mean with a team , you're with people and you
should know this.
I mean just with all agentscoming in and out, I mean some.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
you know that you're like hey ooh, and maybe I'm
giving myself too much creditand, coming from a place of like
, I'm so great.
But I think I have a lot ofexperience in this regard and I
will say that there are plentyof relationships where I thought
I tried to end them gracefully,in the correct way and,
depending on the person, theystill went sideways, that's true
.
But I think, as the leader, allyou can do is always do your
(14:20):
best to end it gracefully and tolet go and move on.
And I would say your team notonly consists of the agents you
hire and the support staff youhire, but also the vendors that
you're in business with, becausewe've ended relationships with
vendors that went horribly wrongand then we've had some that
went just fine, and sometimesI've done it right and sometimes
I've done it wrong.
(14:41):
What I've found iscommunication is probably the
best, and also don't always feellike you have to share your
side of the story or be right.
Sometimes it's best to just say, okay, yeah, you're right and
move on even though they're notright.
Right.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yes, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
I also have in my bullet notes here.
Sometimes giving the underdog achance pays off.
So I can think of a specificexample and I'm not afraid to
use her name.
I don't think she would care.
Um Goulai's been with us and Ifinally know how to pronounce
her name after nine years ofbeing in business.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
I can't believe she's been.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, we said her name wrong for so long and I'm
like she.
When she said it she was like.
I was like why didn't you evercorrect me?
She's so sweet.
She wouldn't correct me so sheis but when we first.
So I hired her as an agent intoour brokerage many years ago,
so that's why we've beentogether for so long right.
But she had interviewed with abunch of teams over the years at
that brokerage because shewanted to be a part of a team.
She's such a good team playerLike she just will help out and
(15:34):
that's why we send her business.
We send her referrals and leadsand stuff too, like it's a
two-way street right.
But I feel like she hadinterviewed with a bunch of
teams and they would not hireher because they thought she
wasn't assertive enough, theythought that the language
barrier was going to be a bigdeal.
And we gave her a chance on ourteam and I got kind of in
trouble for it because we tookher from another brokerage or
whatever.
I don't know if we did.
We followed all the protocoland steps that we're supposed to
(15:56):
do, but you know sometimes youdo everything right and people
still have sour grapes.
But we brought her on to ourteam and gave her a chance and
watching her blossom and grow asa leader and an agent in the
organization and then watchingher like when she closed her
first million dollar deal andhow hard she worked for her
clients and how she developedLike that's an example of like.
Sometimes I like to give peoplea chance when other people
(16:19):
won't, Although sometimes thatdoes come back to bite me in the
butt too, she does anything.
Yeah, she does great, she'sfantastic, I love her.
She does anything, yeah, shedoes great, she's fantastic, I
love her.
So she's done great.
But I think there's a lot ofpeople that just want the
perfect person and the perfectthis, and I don't know about you
, but I've never met anybodyperfect yet at anything.
God, yeah, no.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I was laughing.
There's been a lot of like whenyou're in the business for a
year.
I think it goes like anything.
You know you kind of follow.
You know when you're a kid,like you know, don't be the
follower, be the leader.
I feel like the culture we wereinvolved in was just like that
(17:00):
was be your own leader.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
But I think what I'm hearing you try to say and I
don't mean to interrupt you, I'msorry, no, was be your own
leader, but I think what I'mhearing you try to say and I
don't mean to interrupt you, I'msorry, no, not at all.
Is they almost made it feellike?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
you were less than if you weren't the leader of the
team.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Like that you were on a team or that you were a solo
agent, Like oh, what's wrongwith you that you're?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
not building a team.
Absolutely, you're not goodenough.
You said it perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Because I where you were going with that and I'm
like and I think that's soterribly awful and wrong,
because there's so much value inbeing on a team and being part
of a team and as a solo agent.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
It takes you three and four years just to get
acclimated and dealing withother agents and speaking to
other agents and learning thebusiness.
I feel like it was stressful.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
What I hear you saying is that you need to know
how to walk the walk and talkthe talk before you're bringing
other people on too.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, and then you end up hurting people's feelings
because you don't know you'restill learning Because you don't
have a freaking clue whatyou're doing and you're trying
to teach other people how to doit and you think you know what
you're doing you because ittakes a long time to learn this
business it's yes.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
I'm 25 years in and I'm still learning shit every
day me too, there's plenty oftimes I'm like uh-oh.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
And then you know, building a team, you know, like
you said, you get the wrongperson on there, you and you're
not showing them or you're notteaching them.
You know that it's like cancer.
I was on that team and thatthey did this.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
They said that and they only paid me this and I
have kids, so I hear a couple ofthings that you're saying there
.
I just want to organize thoseinto points.
Like one you got to pay peopleand treat people fairly.
Yes, you got to know whatyou're doing and walk the walk
before you start growing into ateam, like being a team leader.
Is not that all that it'scracked up to be?
And number three, you have tohave some structure and some
(18:47):
training and some systemsinvolved.
You have to Like one of thethings when we came, when I
jumped back into production andwe talked you and I talked about
this.
Actually, when I first came here, I wanted you to come with
because I knew I couldn't bringpeople on and build my
production and coach and trainthem at the same time and I
wanted you to come be our coach,remember.
And then you like bailed on me.
Yeah, well, you came eventually, but I was like man, okay,
(19:09):
that's not gonna work, butanyway, I knew, which is why
when we initially startedgrowing this like our little
organization, I wouldn't bringon a bunch of agents right away.
I didn't go out activelyrecruiting, growing.
Even with the 20 plus years ofexperience, it wasn't like, okay
, let's just build this, justbuild this really quickly.
I'm like I went back and I waslike, okay, now I need to write
a foundational coaching programbecause I need to have something
(19:29):
that I can give these people.
And yeah, there's a lot ofstuff in the industry, but it
needs to be customized andspecific to what you're doing
for your people, right, like inyour team and your organization.
And then so we did that, and sowe we wrote that, and then
you've helped me with that, andso I feel like we had to have
systems and structure in place.
We had to have a goodcompensation model.
And then we had to be inbusiness with good people.
(19:49):
We've said this on a few otherepisodes that who's in your
circle matters, right, so, likeyou can bring someone in who,
like, is going to be just.
And we've had a couple peoplecome and go in all my different
businesses and teams that, likewe brought them on because we
thought they were like you know,the racehorse or whatever and
nobody wants to be around themand you're like you got to go.
You treat people shitty, yeah,you, you're rude, or the ones
(20:10):
that just can quote things outof a book but don't actually
know how to do anything or don'twant to do anything.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
They think they want you to do it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
I've been used and abused way too many times by too
many people that want me to dobecause I'm a workhorse and
you're a workhorse.
I will never bring someone andallow them to outwork me, and
not from an ego perspective,just from an outfield, guilty
perspective.
I'm never going to sit back and, although it may have appeared
that way to people at times, oneof my faults is I need to
(20:37):
communicate better and share thethings that I'm doing, and I
would say you too, because youjust do it and people don't
realize.
They think you're just Kim's,just out there business falling
in her lap.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
They don't realize what you're doing to get the
business?
Oh yeah, I think a lot ofpeople yeah, well, and I feel
like too.
They only see, oh, you have 10deals.
Well, for the past three monthsI've been cultivating them and
working.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
So when you were on a team before because I remember,
I remember there was tell mehow you felt when you were on
this team and things were notall rainbows and unicorns.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Which I was on a team and you were already a
successful producing agent atthat point.
Yeah, I was already a cappingagent.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
But I think what made you decide to want to do it,
and then what went wrong.
I got where I was going tostart.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
So, and I think a lot of it was glitz and glamour.
You see, like these people areup on stage and these people
have big businesses and what arethey doing?
They got to be doing.
Maybe I can learn from them,and really a lot a lot of it.
I can learn from them andreally a lot, a lot of it, and I
hate to say it is smoke andmirrors.
(21:45):
It just is In this business it'sdetermination.
There's a lot of bullshit outthere, there's a lot of shit,
yep.
And in this business it's and Ithink we're all trying to you
hear something and you're like,oh, I'm going to try that it's a
lot of it's like a lot of shinyobjects, and the bottom line is
it's consistency and hard workand a lot of it.
So for me, I was in the grindfor two years.
I was just starting to build,and opportunity, you know, came
(22:08):
my way, like join this team, andit was an expansion team.
So I was the leader here, buthad a team in other states.
Well, first of all and I didn'tknow any better a team in other
states.
Yeah Well, first of all, and Ididn't know any better, how is
somebody in, I don't know Utah,and I'm just saying that going
(22:29):
to tell me how to handle asituation in Illinois?
Yeah, local customs can varyfrom place to place.
That was off.
So I mean that starts yourconflict like what.
You don't know what you'retalking about here.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, that's also why , like, we're multi-state, now
right right like the forwardgroup, not reals, not national.
Reals in all 50 states, canada,whatever.
So that's national, but ourlittle group is multi-state, but
we didn't expand to any statesthat we hadn't done business in
first, so we knew how to dobusiness right and it's uh,
personally, yeah, and it's, it'sa lot different here, Even
(22:57):
Indiana right across the super,completely different Florida.
They're all completely different.
We didn't bring on other agentsin Florida, even an expansion
leader, until we had actuallybeen licensed and done deals
there first.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
And then you're, you know, as the person here, so in
mine they call it an expansionteam.
Here I'm still running my ownbusiness, trying to run their
business.
Then I'm splitting my personaldeals, I'm splitting their deals
.
It just became.
It was overwhelming.
But how did I get there?
Opportunity presented itself.
(23:32):
I wanted the shiny object Iwanted a shortcut.
What's the shortcut to get methere?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
You wanted to go to here and you thought of it as a
way up there, instead ofclimbing stairs to get there.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
It was oh, look what they're doing there.
They can bring that here, andI'm going to go from here to
here.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, I mean you probably got taken advantage of
a little bit and.
I will take some, accept someresponsibility for putting you
in that situation, and I didn'tknow any better either, because
the way that it was presentedand taught to us, we're like, oh
, this is great, but do youremember then that was the up
and coming.
Everybody was startingexpansion teams, but you did
(24:14):
learn some things when you werethere too.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
What to do and what not to do and how to treat
people, and you know, and itreally made me understand the
money aspect of it.
If anything, I walked away fromthat thinking if I ever build a
team or have anybody work forme, I can't build it based on
this model.
So that was one of the things.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Well, I think, inherently, you're a fair person
and you believe in doing theright thing, and so you
understood that that model justwasn't fair.
It just wasn't fair.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Especially when somebody else is doing all the
work and you know it reallyopened your eyes to.
They didn't get there that wayeither.
Yeah, it was nitty gritty.
It was get into the trenches.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
So then let's flip the script a little bit.
There are some instances andsome situations.
I mean, we've got peopleworking with us where a team
makes sense.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Oh sure, so let's talk about that, the right team
makes sense, so tell me moreabout that.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
What's the right team look like to you?
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I think, where it's fair, where you can feed your
family, where you're giving them.
I think for me, the biggesttakeaway that I've had in
learning this is you have togive people opportunities, you
have to give them value.
A lot of times, these teamsdon't bring a lot of value.
I feel like if you're there tohelp them through, if you're
(25:34):
sharing business with them,you're paying them fairly.
People will work and they'llwork hard for you and they're
loyal to you.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
I think the compensation one is a big, a big
, big, big one, huge.
I think the challenge thatwe're faced with is when a team
lead steps out of production,then they're so reliant on the
profitability of that team thatthey have to take a bigger chunk
from everybody.
And so then therein lies theissue, and it becomes like
(26:04):
lopsided, like you're justmaking money off of me but
you're not actually doinganything.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Once you step out of production, I feel like it goes
downhill and not.
You don't have to do 55 deals,you can step out and do five
deals as long as you're in thetrenches with your people.
The bigger your team gets, themore responsibility.
I understand that.
But when you completely walkaway and you said it a lot
(26:28):
depends on you, know your team,and then you're taking more to
make more because you're notmaking your own money.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Sort of yeah, I think there's a value in that for
sure.
When I think about like theright team that's structured
properly is gonna provideadministrative support.
Yes, In both the paperwork sideand the marketing side.
Right, they're also going toand that doesn't mean everything
.
That doesn't mean you're notgonna like so.
If a team's providing adminsupport, they're not gonna
handle all of your social mediafor you, but they're going to
(26:58):
give you the stuff that you canthen because, at the end of the
day, your consumers and yourclients still want to see and
hear from you.
I got it.
I had a deal I closed last yearand they had previously used
another agent who I knew, whohad a big team, and they're like
we never heard from them everand we just felt like we were
pawned off.
I hear it all the time.
So I think there's that elementof personal touch that still
needs to be there, but the rightteam is going to have
(27:19):
administrative support in formsof both paperwork support and
marketing materials marketingsupport.
The right team is also going toprovide leads in some form,
format or fashion, and you knowI hear a lot of gurus go back
and forth and say, oh well, ifsomeone just wants to join you
for leads, then that's the wrongreason.
They should bring, bring leadsand they should do this.
Yeah, I mean it is a two-waystreet, but you have, I think,
(27:41):
as a team leader or team owneror whatever it is that you and I
are doing here, that we do needto give value to those people
and kind of help them get theirfeet wet.
Now that doesn't mean that theydon't also have to fish, but
we're going to help give themsome bait, we're maybe going to
provide a little bit to get themgoing.
And I also think and this iswhere we have disagreement
(28:03):
there's some teams where you sayyou can only work with buyers
and you can only work withsellers.
I don't see that as sustainableeither, because people get
confused like, oh wait, so I'mbuying with you and I'm selling
with you.
Now that doesn't mean that youdon't have support for them in
doing all the things that needto happen on the marketing end
when they take the listing, butthey should still have their
hands in it, for sure, Iabsolutely, and that's how they
(28:24):
learn the business.
That's how they learn how toservice clients, how do you
draft an?
Agent, or draft an offer as abuyer's agent without
understanding and seeing it fromthe perspective of the listing
agent.
Like I am a better buyer'sagent because I understand what
it's like when offers come intome on my listings and why, like
when a buyer's agent sends methis crappy offer that they and
(28:46):
I'm like well, this sucks.
Why would this benefit myseller?
Like, I think you can seethings better from a different
perspective when you've walkedin those shoes.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, when you're doing both.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yeah, so we said admin support in both marketing
and paperwork Leads yeah.
So we said admin support inboth marketing and paperwork
leads yeah.
I think technology is a big onetoo.
All these companies claim like,oh, we'll give you this, we'll
give you that, we'll give youthat.
I don't think they can give thelevel of tools that you need to
function at a really high levelin this business.
I think you're going to eitherhave to spend a lot of your own
(29:14):
money or join a network or ateam that pools their resources
to be able to buy those sources.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Everybody's got a CRM to offer, everybody's got this
to offer.
So you go there based on thatand you're like, oh, this team
does this or this broker doesthat, and they're sort of speak
a team.
You know, if I walk into AntProperties, I expect them to
have the bomb of a you knowthey're.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, I have no idea what they have there.
Well, they have a whole box.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
It's actually nice, but whatever, but you expect
that.
And then when you don't get itor you have to pay a small
something for that, you're likebut wait, I don't what?
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day it's a business.
There's costs involved.
So those costs, that money'sgot to come from somewhere.
So I think finding that sweetspot is the challenge that most
people have.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
And don't you think too?
I mean, just that's why we'rehere where we are now.
It's all a learning curve, itwas trial and error.
It's what I'm not going to dofor there.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
I'm not going to do for there.
I am going to pull from there.
This is what I thought, and Ithink that's what makes I have
hired people just because I feltbad for them and I tried to
help them.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
And it's come back to Thanks.
It's come back to bite me inthe ass over and over and over
again, but I can't stop being agood person just because I'm a
good person and I thinksometimes you think that person
because, being a good person,just because I'm a good person,
and I think sometimes you thinkthat person because you've known
them for so long, you think, ohyeah, that that fit and it
really doesn't so.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
So I think screening and hiring is probably a big
thing too.
So I'm jumping back and forth.
So we're talking about when, asan agent joining a team, you're
looking for leads, you'relooking for support in terms of
marketing and paperwork, andthen we're talking about
technology tools resources andthen there's the tactile things,
like think about all the hardcosts that you would have to pay
for individually, and are youdoing enough business that you
(31:05):
can do that on a regular basis,or do you need so?
like photography, signage, lockboxes, marketing materials, yeah
, flyers postcards, all of thestuff that folders the
everything, because you know,just going out and printing one
on your own versus being able totake it from the pile that the
(31:25):
team has there, or evendeveloping your own buyer buyer
guide or developing your ownseller guide or all the, even
the crm, like I've seen.
People say they have crms, butthere are.
There's a big difference incrms out there, I will say.
And then all the add-on tools,that websites, all that knowing
how all that works together, andall those pieces.
So, as an agent, I think neweragents definitely should join a
(31:47):
team to start out, because it'llget your feet wet.
You're going to get businessfaster Now.
I didn't do it when I startedout and I feel like it took me
six months to put my first dealtogether.
I would have been in that muchfaster if I could, but at the
same time, back then when I wasin it, there weren't a lot of
teams and the ones that werewere far and few between in
terms of Back then.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
You've been in the business longer than me, but a
lot of it was husband-wife team.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Yeah, you know it was two people or mother-son.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yes, yeah, like, yes, yeah, like.
I feel like there was neverreally more than two yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
And they were very Well.
I mean, my first team memberwas my husband and man.
I wanted to fire his ass, Idon't know how many times.
So here's where the fun storiescome.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
How to fire his ass not.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
So how I first ended up building a team was I got
hired on so I was selling.
I've been selling for I don'tknow about six, seven years or
whatever, before I built a team,so I wasn't a newbie.
So, following your model andyour rules, I was right in line
with where I was, I got hired onas a managing broker of a
brokerage firm.
So now I have an activebusiness, a book of business
(32:54):
database and I'm in an officenow running a brokerage and I
think we had like maybe 60agents at the time and I was
responsible for training,recruiting, hiring, compliance.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
What were you the managing?
Speaker 1 (33:06):
broker for there.
Like what year?
Oh, seven to 2010.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
For three years I was there, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
So 2007 to 2010.
Okay, so, and I've been 25years, so, yeah, it was about
seven years, so it was twofold.
So my husband decided he wantedto get out of construction and
get into real estate, because hethought we didn't do anything
but go out and get free lunch.
Sure, did, at Broker's Open,yep.
So I'm like, oh yeah, okay,buddy, yep, and you know, in the
(33:33):
trades back then it was you'reon and he would get laid off,
start the course, then they'dcall him back to work and then
he'd have to start it all overagain and they didn't have
self-study or online or anythingback then.
So I'm running this firm andI'm like you know, I can go out
and take listings while I'mstill doing all these things,
but running around with buyerstakes time.
To this day it still does Goingto take.
A listing is a little bit less.
(33:54):
So I was like like I reallyneed a buyer's agent and I
needed an admin.
But the office secretarydoubled as my admin, so I had
that in place and so you know, Igive her a little extra on the
side and she would do extrastuff for me that you know was
there, and then I need a buyer'sagent.
So I'm like, fine, you can come.
So then he he got almost allthe way through the class and
they called him back to work andhe's like nope, I'm not going
back, I'm gonna finish it so I'mlike, oh, finish it.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
So I'm like, oh shit, okay, we better do this.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
We better make this work, cause now we're losing our
benefits, we're losing ourpaycheck Like you gotta make
this work.
Um and yes, we were alreadymarried by then, so it was do or
die.
He would not listen to me.
I tried to teach him and trainhim, but you know oh come on,
how many husbands would listento their wives?
Totally, I would get.
I get it.
Could you see Dave listening toyou?
No, so I mean the first deal hedid.
(34:41):
I think he showed this buyerlike 50 homes, drove them all
over, they were late, theydidn't like the houses.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
That's when you drove people too.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
It was terrible.
He showed him about 50 plushomes.
They finally write a contract.
He doesn't know aboutfloodplains and flood insurance.
The deal dies the week beforeclosing.
Now, because he wouldn't listento me, he wouldn't.
I didn't train him.
In his defense I didn't trainhim, but in my defense he
wouldn't listen to me when Itried to train him.
So it was like a two-way thing.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
It was terrible.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
And so deal dies.
Right before closing the peoplecancel the contract or whatever
because they didn't want theflood insurance.
Then they go out and they firehim.
And they go out and buy a house30 days later with the listing
agent of the deal that they died.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
No, yes they did.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
He remembers the agent's name.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
He remembers the clients he remembers everything
about him.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
It's a good story for him to tell.
He's got some good stories, sothat's kind of like my first
getting my feet wet.
So when I came to the brokerage,we were at it was me and him
and an admin and we had kind ofbuilt a good little business.
And then we had the short sale,you know the crash of the
market, and we had the REObusiness and we didn't really.
We had a few REOs but we didn'tget a lot of REOs Right, I
(35:48):
remember it was but REOs.
Even to this day the agent hasto put a ton of money out there.
Like these banks expect you toput all your money on the line,
all the utilities in your name,all the winterizing, the clean
out, like you pay for all thatup front and maybe get
reimbursed later.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
It's risky.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
So we didn't do a lot .
We did some.
We had a few REO accounts, butwe mostly did short sales.
We did a ton of short sales.
I wrote a blog about short sales.
Like we were short sale expertand so we did a decent little
business together.
He you know, he dealt with alot of divorce situations with
short sales got gun pulled onhim a couple times by angry
husbands and like we had a goodthing going.
And so we end up moving to thebrokerage where we were together
(36:28):
and I get there and they'relike you're not allowed to sell
real estate anymore if you'regoing to be in a leadership role
at this company.
So I literally took my thisteam that we had built and it
was.
It was just husband and wife,just the two of us and our admin
.
We had to leave our admin behindat the brokerage when we
changed brokerage and I go toBart and I say here you go,
here's the team, it's all yours,the business it's all yours.
(36:55):
And he's like what team?
It's me.
And I'm like well, good luck,figure it out.
And so that was kind of likethe start of our team building.
And I think you know who hisfirst admin that he brought on
was oh, corey, was it?
Yeah, part-time Corey.
And then the office.
I stole Corey from him and thenhe had to hire and he went
through a few more admin and Iover the years helped him build
that team yeah but I would say,um, you know, we did a lot of
trial and error, so I would helphim from an out of production
(37:16):
standpoint but not an inproduction standpoint, and I
love that we get to do this now.
So back then it was a lot ofhusband and wife teams.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Yeah, I feel like, because there was no.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
I mean, if you couldn't do it, he would do it,
if he didn't do it you couldlike that was, but I also think
that there's some downfall tothat, because if you're going on
a family vacation together,who's going to handle things?
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, I agree, business shuts down.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
So if you, had to give some like bullet points or
some takeaways on to build ornot to build and who.
Actually, before we go intothat, we read a mastermind a
couple months ago and we hadthis couple of questions come up
, and so I just want to expandon that a little bit, because I
think we can add some value.
A couple of the people in ourmastermind were like well, how
do you find the right person tohire and where do you find the
(38:01):
right person to hire?
And you know we need an adminand we don't think we're hiring
the right people.
So let's talk about that's onearea where I've excelled in
terms of you know.
I mean even the virtualassistants we've had have been
great.
When I outsource it to anothercompany, that's where I got
(38:21):
screwed over.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Well, I think you're really good One of your talents
you're really good at the hiringprocess, Like what questions to
ask.
You know, I feel like that was.
I mean, you guys did well, Ourtwo VAs are pretty good.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
But I mean even over the years with some of the like.
Maybe not, maybe I didn't hiresome of the best leaders, but on
the admin side I feel like wereally nailed that.
I only had two and I thinkyou've had great admin.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
And I still talk to them.
They're actually still in thebusiness.
Yeah, you've had great admin.
So people, even though that,come in and like for me, like
most of the people, except forone.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
So we're stayed in the business.
So let's go back and just kindof walk through this up.
Where have you found your best?
Speaker 2 (39:05):
hires friends yeah, not that they were my friends,
but friends of referrals,referrals.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Same thing here, absolutely the same thing the
best hires that I've had in allof our different businesses and
through everything we've donehave never been from some fancy
ad we ran.
No, it's always been peoplethat we know or people who know
people that we know.
Yeah, with the exception of ourvas and but even our current va
one of one of our two vas thatwe have she was referred or came
(39:35):
from an ad that I don't know ifit was an ad Like, we had a
different transactioncoordinator and she had another
opportunity came up that wasgoing to be something she liked
more and get more money.
So she gave us notice.
She stepped out so sweetlyshe's a sweet girl, but she
helped us find her replacement.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Which is great.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Yeah, so that Corey.
Obviously we didn't offload itto her.
Cory still interviewed andscreened, but she helped source
those candidates.
So I think people that you knowor people that work for you
have a tendency to bring inother people like like attracts,
like yes, now, that's notalways the case.
Sometimes you'll get a sourapple, like we've had agents
that brought someone in the teamand we're like, we bring them
out and think they're going tobe great and I'm like, oh, this
(40:13):
person's gotta go, yeah, now,but that's not their fault.
Like sure, for the most part, alot of the people I hang around
are like me, but once in awhile I do have someone that I
know that's just a jackass, yeah, right.
So I would say to those of youthat are looking look for people
that are in your sphere ofinfluence or that people in your
sphere of influence know that.
Yes, you know, ask people.
(40:34):
I mean some of the best hiresI've had.
I've asked well, kiki.
I mean kiki was an amazing hirefor me.
I wish she could come back towork for me again, but she's got
two little babies she's takingcare of full time at home.
In due time, yeah, she'll beback eventually.
We're holding it out there.
But I, cory, was working forbart at the time, or maybe the
office, I don't remember,remember, and I kept asking him
like who do you know, who do youknow, who do you know?
And I remember he said to me hegoes, well, my girlfriend
(40:57):
Jackie is way smarter than meand I'm like, good, let me have
her number.
He's like I don't know.
I'm like, just let me talk toher, come on.
And I don't know if smarter, Ithink they're both very, very
smart they're both great, greatworkers, great people, but
that's what I mean where peopleknow other great people.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
I feel like a lot of hires, a lot of good hires, come
from that.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
No, I know at our other brokerage we were taught
like this huge, long drawn outtraining or hiring and screening
process, which I think therewere parts of it that were good.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
And there were parts of it that were bullshit.
Yeah, I can't say they were allbad, like that whole, you know,
was all bad, but a majority,majority was bullshit.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
A lot of, a lot of smoke and mirrors yeah, I would
say that dig deep, ask a lot ofquestions.
Now, when I think about some ofthe people that I've hired,
that have been with me a longtime or that were really great,
I did follow a lot of thatprocess, like going through so
when you take that initialinterview, I, you know, do a
great job, ask great questions,um, check references.
When you skip the referencecheck it comes back to bite you
(41:55):
in the ass.
You find out the person's likepsychotic or whatever.
Right, I would say, take thetime to sit down and get to know
them, know what's important tothem, and then be kind.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
I feel like that's.
I mean not in every situation,but I think respect goes a long
way.
If you respect them and theyrespect you.
I mean you can even partrespectfully.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Yeah, and I mean you've got good friends that
work with your team, that are ontheir own or doing different
things now and actually, that'sactually a good point that you
bring up.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
They came in under me because of me and they've left.
We've left on good terms, andthey're successful agents or
successful admins all of thembut one.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
And I think that's a good point is that to keep in
mind that every person comesinto your life for a season or a
reason, Sure, and that doesn'tmean they need to stay with you
forever and you don't have to goscorched earth just because
they leave, Absolutely.
You know, when someone doesthat, I'm like okay, so we're
not going to work togetheranymore, that's okay.
There's nothing wrong with that.
(42:53):
I've actually had so.
There was a girl that we hiredon our team initially and we
were out of the area and so weprobably over jumped the gun in
terms of being able to supporther at the level that we wanted,
but she was so afraid to tellme that she was going to leave
the team and I said to her Isaid okay, and she was like what
?
And I was like what's best foryou?
(43:15):
I don't need to keep you hereor get mad at you because you're
leaving If this is not what'sbest for you, and that's what's
best for you.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
I want that for you.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
Because, right, I would like to think that I'm a
good human and, as a good humanbeing, that's what we want for
each other, is we want them toflourish in whatever opportunity
is best for them, and it makesyou, as the leader, like you're
like, oh, oh, okay, that was.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Nobody walks away feeling bad you don't have to an
agent situation you still wantto keep that.
You know.
Keep them.
Well.
What's great?
You don't have to be on yourteam.
Well, what's great about?
Speaker 1 (43:45):
it is.
We still have the relationship,we're still friendly, we're
still whatever.
She actually is still withinour company, just not on our
team.
She's flourishing and we'vereferred business back and forth
to each other.
So it's been a win all the wayaround and I didn't have to just
hoard and hold on to peoplejust because I think that's when
you come from a scarcitystandpoint.
If you come from an abundancemindset, you're going to have
(44:08):
the opportunity to have otherpeople come into your world and
it's okay that people come inand out of your world.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
And don't you think?
Sometimes, when they come toyou and say well, you know, I
don't want to be here, butsometimes not only are they
relieved, but you are.
Oh yeah, you know, you're likewell, they just weeded
themselves out.
Well, that's great, we ended ona good note.
I love that part yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
Yeah, and sometimes you're like whoo, that took that
, left me off the hook.
Bye, yeah, you know.
So it's all in how we handle itand I think that the more you
get into business, the more youdo it, the more you know you can
handle it better.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yeah, and I think also the next point I would make
is, once you find those peopleand you bring them in, you have
to set them up for success, youbet?
Oh, we've talked about thisbefore.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
We still talk about it.
It's so important because then,if they don't succeed, you know
you as the leader have to takeresponsibility, like you just
said it, like maybe we didn'tset her up for success Like we
should.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
That's why, with this last VA, I spent so much time
like making sure that I had allmy training materials and my
manuals, and also when we wereadding agents onto the team, why
I wrote that 12-week coachingprogram.
I'm like I have to have thisall laid out and organized in a
system and a structure so that Ican best support them.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
So that they can be successful.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Because then I can walk away from any hire or
anyone I bring into myrelationship or my world and
know that it was not me.
I can leave in good conscience,knowing that I did what I could
.
At the end of the day, it's atwo-way street.
You still have the hire, stillhas to do the work, whether it's
an admin hire or an agent hireor whatever they have to bring
what they need to bring to thetable, no-transcript to record
(46:04):
it, and then you're going to doit yourself.
And so I think, though but thesame thing with an agent, too.
As a new, as an agent, a teamleader hiring on agents, you
have to.
They, as an agent, a teamleader hiring on agents, you
have to.
They don't know how to open alockbox, even Like they're.
You have to show themeverything.
You have to teach them whatthey need to know.
Now, some of it's going to becommon sense, yeah, but if
they're representing you, youwant to be out there.
You have to have set them upfor success, sure.
(46:25):
So I think it's good peoplethat you, you know.
Look for people who are likethe people that you want to be
in business with, and then setthem up for success.
And then I would say the thirdpoint is to delegate, not
abdicate, and what I mean bythat is like, give them
opportunities to do things andgive them the work, but don't
just throw it at them and walkaway and expect them to figure
(46:47):
it all out.
Like you want to give someconfines of structure around it
and deadlines and goals and somesomething to work with.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Yeah, Well, I was going to agree and say I did
that.
Or here you go and you expectthat team member who's new, and
then you're mad at them becausethey didn't get it.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
And I would say the last thing is opportunities for
growth.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
For sure.
Super important, yeah that one.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
We're out of time already Are we yeah, so I would
say we can dig more into this onthe next, next episode right
team building well, maybe notteam building, but, like you,
know what opportunities forgrowth look like, how to keep
people with you like how tocreate an environment that
people want to be a part of.
Speaker 2 (47:27):
I like that, yeah a winning environment because it
took a while yeah, I mean we'vedone a lot of things wrong.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
I think think this was good.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
I think it was great.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
If you like, give us a thumbs up, follow us, check us
out.
So team building, it's not foreveryone, but it has some great
benefits.
And don't jump in too quick.
Don't do it just because youwant to take advantage or be
lazy and get out of production.
Building a team is it forimpact, not ego.
(47:56):
Yes, and the right people canchange your life, that's true.
So hire slow, hire slow, firefast, but train well.
That's a good one.
Speaker 2 (48:01):
I don't know if we necessarily always do that.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
You know, I think I've gotten better on that over
the years.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
But yeah, I mean, there's a lot of truth in that,
just that one statement.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
And leadership starts with leading yourself.
Yeah, like I think, Iabsolutely think you have to
walk the walk.
I believe that but I could say,like I don't just sit back and
say, well, I do this and I dothat, and then I don't do it.
No, I'm out there slinging,just like you guys are, yeah,
and I think it's super importantthat.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
That's what makes me that's what makes everybody
respect that person as a leader.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
They've been there, done that, doing it and they're
right there with us.
I noticed that we have a lot ofthemes every single week that
kind of come through and I hearthe same ones here.
So I can't wait to hear some ofthose tidbits and see them out
there.
So comment like follow give usquestions.
Next week we're going to talkmore and we hope to see you
there.
All right, bye, bye, thanks.
just because I felt bad for them and I tried to help
them and it's come back tothanks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
So here we go.
Boy, I feel like I haven't seenyou in ages here Right it's
been a while.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Well, welcome to Do.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Epic Shit.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm Colleen Baczynski , I'm Kim Neal, and we are here
to share with you today.
So today's topic is building ateam, what works and what
doesn't.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Let's get into it.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
So if you haven't been following us on Instagram,
facebook, tiktok, we're there.
Spotify, you can listen.
Iheartradio, amazon, applewe're everywhere, yeah, so
follow along.
We're having some goodconversations, fun conversations
.
I got my heart socks on today.
I got no socks.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
It's kind of cold outside, I know, what are we
going to talk?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
We're talking about building a team, what works and
what doesn't.
So why does this matter?
So, team building, yeah, teambuilding.
I have in my notes here a couplethings.
Well, you can't grow somethingepic alone.
Absolutely not, for sure.
There's a big difference.
High producing agent and beinga leader I would say it takes
both.
Well, don't you know somepeople that just do a lot of
deals but they are justmiserable to be around?
(01:08):
You bet yeah, Yep.
And then everyone glamorizesteam building, but no one talks
about what goes wrong.
We're going to give you the lowdown, dirty down truth.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
You'll get it yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Say, kim, you've built a team.
You've had a team.
You haven't you know you'vegone solo been on a team.
You've been on a team.
You were on an expansion teamlike a multinational team.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
You know what made you realize it was time to build
a team so I think the thebusier you get, you obviously
need leverage and you need somehelp.
So that's where I started.
It was just a little too muchfor me to handle, so I I thought
you know, let's dive in andstart building.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, I think where we came from too, at least at
some point, like not maybe whereI first started my first
brokerage, but the brokeragewhere we first met and worked
together building a team, waskind of shoved down your throat.
All the time it was like, oh,this is the only way to do it,
and I think at that point you'rejust getting into the business
and build.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
They're teaching you how to build a business, but
then it goes from building abusiness into a team and for me
it soured me.
Yeah, not that I don't thinkthey're beneficial.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Well, I think we have the benefit right now of
building it the way that we wantto, based on what we know
worked and what didn't work, andeven some of the gurus like the
models that worked, I thinkback then.
Some of the gurus like themodels that worked, I think,
back then.
Some of them are still solidfoundational models, but a lot
of them the world has changedand I don't think that they've
changed with it, I agree.
(02:33):
So I would agree that nobodycan succeed 100% alone, like
there's.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Everybody needs help at some point it's like anything
you have to grow that business.
Then you start to leveragepieces out.
I just feel like for me there'sa lot of moving parts to a team
.
You know, not just you come onmy team, you come on my team,
I'll take half your money, I'llspend more money and then I end
up by myself.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Well, I've got some good bullet points here.
I'm going to share some ofthese with you and I bet you're
going to get the wheels turningwhere we can share some good
stories and some things that soI have.
Don't build a team to stopworking.
I see so many people like, oh,I can sit back and just I'm
gonna get out of production.
There you go.
You build it to level up.
You build it to expand yourresources, to leverage resources
.
You build it to be aroundpeople that you like to be
(03:20):
around and that you can all growand win together, not to get
out of production.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
That was your trophy.
To be able to say so stupid.
So freaking stupid I'm out ofproduction.
That was like you're.
You wore that badge with honor,yeah, when you couldn't be so
far removed from it Well and Ithink you get out of touch with
what the consumer wants.
You do.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Like.
So I was out of production, butnot because I was building a
team.
Yeah, I will tell you.
It also caused me to be out oftouch with what the consumer
wants to some extent, and sinceI've been back in it, you know a
couple of years now, so it'sbeen almost two years back in
production.
So like I feel like I'mgrounded really well, I have all
the foundational principlesthat I had from the past, all my
(04:01):
experience from the past andnow, like what's working now and
what's not.
I will tell you that you get outof touch with what's going on
if you're out of productioncompletely.
I also have written down abullet point A team is not
passive income, it's leadership.
What do you think about that?
Yeah, I would say Well, I don'tknow.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
When it's done correctly.
I was going to say if it's donecorrectly, how many people do
you talk to, or how many peopleare doing it correctly.
I think that's where thethere's very few that do it
correctly.
And that's where it getsfrustrating for me, because I
see it, I watch it, I was thereand I would say, if you had 20
teams, three are running rightthe way that it should.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Well, and what's right too?
So like what's right for usmight not be what's right for
someone else Because the way wehave ours set up now, we've got
like a couple of tiers to it, sowe've got our network, we've
got our group, we've got ourteam and we have different
levels so that people can plugin at the level that's right for
them and their lifestyle.
Because, just as you go throughdifferent seasons of life,
(04:59):
you're going to have differentneeds and wants.
And I want to be around peoplethat I want to be around, that
we can build and grow togetherand that it's a mutually
beneficial relationship.
And I see too many teams thatit's about the team leader's ego
, about their pocketbook and howmuch they can make off of other
people, and that's a shitty wayto grow a business.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Well, that's, I feel like, that's why a lot of teams
fail, and I think that's thebeauty now is you've made so
many mistakes building theseteams and being involved yes, I
have.
Well, and then you know for thenext round what you want and
what you don't want, what'sappealing, what's not appealing.
And I just told you, I had aconversation with somebody I
(05:42):
used to work with about buildinga team.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Well, and when we think about the old model, so
we're kind of jumping all overtoday and that's okay.
I'll kind of recap so that wecan organize our thoughts and
talking points later.
But I think that's when Italked about like the old models
.
If you're hiring someone andyou just think about even
corporate in general and jobs ingeneral and companies in
general, the old way of hiringsomeone for as little as
(06:05):
possible and squeezing everyounce of work out of them just
doesn't work as a human beinganymore and not that I ever
wanted to be that person, butthere were companies that did
that, Plenty of companies, Sure.
And then if you think about likethe idea of hiring people now,
it's about making sure they havea good balance of life, that
they can earn a good living andhave a good time with their
family, and it's all thatbalance.
(06:25):
I think the old model I knowyou want to say something and I
just got to get this out Oldmodel of like I split with my
team members 50-50, and thenthey have to split with my
brokerage and before you know it, there's just a little fraction
of a portion that's left forthem.
That's just not a sustainablebusiness model and it just not a
sustainable business model andit's not a humane business model
(06:46):
.
Like we talk about work hard, bekind To me.
That's not kind.
I have some.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
How do you feed your family?
You don't.
How do you feed your family IfI'm splitting 50-50 with you and
then I got to give 30% ofanother 30%, 20, whatever.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
So 50-50 with my team , 30.
With my brokerage, I'm takinghome 20%.
Well, and what if there's areferral fee or a Zillow Flex
fee?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
You're getting like 7% and I watch these teams and
they're I'm killing it at $40million.
I'm killing it at $80 millionand I'm a Zillow Flex agent,
which is great because you doget the leads.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
You build.
Yeah, we're not the ones thatare going to dog the lead
aggregators Zillow.
Redfin, Realtorcom, Movoto.
They all have their place inthis industry and I feel like
they help you build yourbusiness.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I've used one of them for leads for many years and it
helps you build your business.
What I think is misleading forme and I can only speak for me
when I see other teams that aredoing 40, 50, 60, 70 million
dollars and then I see, you know, as you talk to them and you
say, hi, I'm a flex agent, I'm athis agent.
(07:58):
So here you go, you'resplitting half with you know,
you're the internet company.
You're splitting half with yourteam, then you're splitting
another portion with your bro.
By the time you're taking home,you're taking home 10%.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Well, you think about it of a pie.
If you split that pie in half,and then you took that half and
you split it in half, and thenyou took that half and gave 30%
of it away, and then you hadanother little fraction out of
that for your taxes and whatever.
What are you left with?
Like a little tiny sliver ofpie.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
How are you going to eat that whole pie could feed
you.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
But on the flip side there's costs.
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, I was just going to say that little sliver
of pie.
Now bring that home and splitit with your family of four or
five.
I don't know, is it sustainable?
Speaker 1 (08:38):
I'm tired.
I think there's a happy mediumout there, and I think there's a
lot of people that haven'tfound it yet, in my opinion.
So, anyway, that's that's mythoughts on that.
I will say, though, building ateam slow and steady, can make
sense, and having the rightleverage can make sense.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
You bet.
I think there's benefitsdefinitely to have a team.
I mean if you know you haveyour TC and your you know
buyer's agent and showing itLike they all bring value to the
team.
You know, that's how you cangrow.
There is a happy medium.
You have to find within that.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Well, and I think you said something like your TC and
so we have a marketingassistant, a transaction
coordinator, an operationsmanager, and then we have agents
on our team, and then we havemarketing group agents that
collectively network togetherand brand together and pool
resources.
So, there's different levels.
I think for us it works.
That might not work foreverybody else.
(09:35):
So you know there's risk andresponsibility and everything.
So you have to decide whichrisks you want to take and who
you want to hire.
And I think also we'll talk alittle bit about this is
outsourcing or offloading,because we just made a terrible
hire recently.
Wow so we have a couple of VAs,so we have two great VAs right
now.
Va stands for virtual assistant, got a marketing VA, marketing
(09:59):
assistant and we've got atransaction coordinator.
And then obviously Corey's onhand.
He's in-house, he's ouroperations manager, so I don't
have to personally hire oroversee the virtual assistants,
because he's handling that andresponsible for all that, which
is great.
Now I've been working withCorey and then even I had his
wife Ki.
He worked with me for many,many years.
So they've kind of I've trainedthem over the years and helped
(10:21):
lead them and develop them andgrow them.
So I have trust in him that he'sgoing to do what's needed to be
done.
But he still comes to me.
We still meet regularly, westill talk regularly on how to
do things.
But I was going to say we madea hire recently.
I was like we need anotherassistant.
So we've got this podcast thinggoing right and so we have all
of our support staff for theteam and the group and the
(10:43):
network together.
But we're doing you and I aredoing some side projects right
let's just call it is.
So we want to build ourindividual sales a little bit
more.
We're doing this podcast.
Obviously we're doing someother kind of growth strategies
in terms of passive income andinvestment and things, and so we
were looking for a second like,basically, personal assistant
for the both of us, since wethought about doing a virtual
assistant, so I still think itis a great idea.
(11:04):
We're going to.
I just think we're going to.
I'm going to personallyinterview the people instead of
offloading it, so we outsourcedto a third party company to do
that for us.
What a freaking disaster.
It's still a disaster.
Yeah, it's been over a month.
We don't have a person.
We had a person.
They worked for three days.
I spent three days.
So one of the things that I'velearned over the years is you're
(11:25):
going to get out of a hire whatyou put into them.
So I did know that I did dothat correctly.
You did and it was really goodit was good and you know we
talked about AI.
If you guys aren't using AI, youare missing the boat.
I know you hear everybodytalking about it's like all the
rage right now, but it literallyI think ai saves me hundreds of
hours, hundreds of hours foryou, for sure ai I.
(11:48):
I used it to help organize mythoughts and to put my training
materials together.
So I talk to it and then itbasically is like a secretary
transcribing my thoughts, andthen it organized them to bullet
points and then I can put itinto training material and it
helps research for me.
So, but you still need aphysical person to do a lot of
things, so I can't use AI foreverything.
So I spent all this timeputting the training together
and I knew I had to invest intothe training of the person.
(12:11):
Yes, but it wasn't the rightperson, because after three days
, what happened?
He got scared.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
No, yeah, Maybe he just well, yeah, but he just
like MIA.
Well, they said, you know theinternet went down, yeah, but
yeah, that was almost, that wastwo weeks ago today, two weeks
ago, it was two weeks ago and westill don't have somebody else.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
So I would just say, and this was a reputable company
that's out there.
So I think now the other twovirtual assistants we have I
actually found them on my ownwhich I like, and Corey and I
interviewed them and wentthrough and so Corey's gone
through an extensiveinterviewing process.
So I think interviewing peopleand doing a valid screening
there's a personal involvementthat has to be there.
(12:47):
You can't offload that to athird party company in my
opinion.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Yeah, I'm not a fan.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And I think the same thing goes for agents on your
team too, team members, becausethe wrong hire can cost your
culture and your credibility.
Like, think about people thatwe've had on our team, that
we've had to offload.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I never really paid much attention to that, until
you really pay attention, likeyou're like oh, this person
wants to work, they're so nice,bring them on your team, and it
really I mean, it's like what?
If you don't cut those tiesquick.
It's a cancer.
Yeah, that's what I said it's acancer.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I mean, I think, when you even had your team way back
, when you had a few folks likethat, that came and went I mean?
Mean you've had some reallygreat people like yeah,
kristen's come and gone from our.
She was on your team.
She was just at the brokerageand now she's in our team now
like she's a good team member,but also things ebbed and flowed
based on the structure of thebrokerage and the team
structures we had, and also youknow your personal journey in
(13:39):
your life unless I mean we, allyou know, can sever ties with,
and I feel like it's you as theteam leader, leader, how you
choose to end thoserelationships, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
so I mean with a team , you're with people and you
should know this.
I mean just with all agentscoming in and out, I mean some.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
you know that you're like hey ooh, and maybe I'm
giving myself too much creditand, coming from a place of like
, I'm so great.
But I think I have a lot ofexperience in this regard and I
will say that there are plentyof relationships where I thought
I tried to end them gracefully,in the correct way and,
depending on the person, theystill went sideways, that's true
.
But I think, as the leader, allyou can do is always do your
(14:20):
best to end it gracefully and tolet go and move on.
And I would say your team notonly consists of the agents you
hire and the support staff youhire, but also the vendors that
you're in business with, becausewe've ended relationships with
vendors that went horribly wrongand then we've had some that
went just fine, and sometimesI've done it right and sometimes
I've done it wrong.
(14:41):
What I've found iscommunication is probably the
best, and also don't always feellike you have to share your
side of the story or be right.
Sometimes it's best to just say, okay, yeah, you're right and
move on even though they're notright.
Right.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yes, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
I also have in my bullet notes here.
Sometimes giving the underdog achance pays off.
So I can think of a specificexample and I'm not afraid to
use her name.
I don't think she would care.
Um Goulai's been with us and Ifinally know how to pronounce
her name after nine years ofbeing in business.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
I can't believe she's been.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, we said her name wrong for so long and I'm
like she.
When she said it she was like.
I was like why didn't you evercorrect me?
She's so sweet.
She wouldn't correct me so sheis but when we first.
So I hired her as an agent intoour brokerage many years ago,
so that's why we've beentogether for so long right.
But she had interviewed with abunch of teams over the years at
that brokerage because shewanted to be a part of a team.
She's such a good team playerLike she just will help out and
(15:34):
that's why we send her business.
We send her referrals and leadsand stuff too, like it's a
two-way street right.
But I feel like she hadinterviewed with a bunch of
teams and they would not hireher because they thought she
wasn't assertive enough, theythought that the language
barrier was going to be a bigdeal.
And we gave her a chance on ourteam and I got kind of in
trouble for it because we tookher from another brokerage or
whatever.
I don't know if we did.
We followed all the protocoland steps that we're supposed to
(15:56):
do, but you know sometimes youdo everything right and people
still have sour grapes.
But we brought her on to ourteam and gave her a chance and
watching her blossom and grow asa leader and an agent in the
organization and then watchingher like when she closed her
first million dollar deal andhow hard she worked for her
clients and how she developedLike that's an example of like.
Sometimes I like to give peoplea chance when other people
(16:19):
won't, Although sometimes thatdoes come back to bite me in the
butt too, she does anything.
Yeah, she does great, she'sfantastic, I love her.
She does anything, yeah, shedoes great, she's fantastic, I
love her.
So she's done great.
But I think there's a lot ofpeople that just want the
perfect person and the perfectthis, and I don't know about you
, but I've never met anybodyperfect yet at anything.
God, yeah, no.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I was laughing.
There's been a lot of like whenyou're in the business for a
year.
I think it goes like anything.
You know you kind of follow.
You know when you're a kid,like you know, don't be the
follower, be the leader.
I feel like the culture we wereinvolved in was just like that
(17:00):
was be your own leader.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
But I think what I'm hearing you try to say and I
don't mean to interrupt you, I'msorry, no, was be your own
leader, but I think what I'mhearing you try to say and I
don't mean to interrupt you, I'msorry, no, not at all.
Is they almost made it feellike?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
you were less than if you weren't the leader of the
team.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Like that you were on a team or that you were a solo
agent, Like oh, what's wrongwith you that you're?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
not building a team.
Absolutely, you're not goodenough.
You said it perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Because I where you were going with that and I'm
like and I think that's soterribly awful and wrong,
because there's so much value inbeing on a team and being part
of a team and as a solo agent.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
It takes you three and four years just to get
acclimated and dealing withother agents and speaking to
other agents and learning thebusiness.
I feel like it was stressful.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
What I hear you saying is that you need to know
how to walk the walk and talkthe talk before you're bringing
other people on too.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, and then you end up hurting people's feelings
because you don't know you'restill learning Because you don't
have a freaking clue whatyou're doing and you're trying
to teach other people how to doit and you think you know what
you're doing you because ittakes a long time to learn this
business it's yes.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
I'm 25 years in and I'm still learning shit every
day me too, there's plenty oftimes I'm like uh-oh.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
And then you know, building a team, you know, like
you said, you get the wrongperson on there, you and you're
not showing them or you're notteaching them.
You know that it's like cancer.
I was on that team and thatthey did this.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
They said that and they only paid me this and I
have kids, so I hear a couple ofthings that you're saying there
.
I just want to organize thoseinto points.
Like one you got to pay peopleand treat people fairly.
Yes, you got to know whatyou're doing and walk the walk
before you start growing into ateam, like being a team leader.
Is not that all that it'scracked up to be?
And number three, you have tohave some structure and some
(18:47):
training and some systemsinvolved.
You have to Like one of thethings when we came, when I
jumped back into production andwe talked you and I talked about
this.
Actually, when I first came here, I wanted you to come with
because I knew I couldn't bringpeople on and build my
production and coach and trainthem at the same time and I
wanted you to come be our coach,remember.
And then you like bailed on me.
Yeah, well, you came eventually, but I was like man, okay,
(19:09):
that's not gonna work, butanyway, I knew, which is why
when we initially startedgrowing this like our little
organization, I wouldn't bringon a bunch of agents right away.
I didn't go out activelyrecruiting, growing.
Even with the 20 plus years ofexperience, it wasn't like, okay
, let's just build this, justbuild this really quickly.
I'm like I went back and I waslike, okay, now I need to write
a foundational coaching programbecause I need to have something
(19:29):
that I can give these people.
And yeah, there's a lot ofstuff in the industry, but it
needs to be customized andspecific to what you're doing
for your people, right, like inyour team and your organization.
And then so we did that, and sowe we wrote that, and then
you've helped me with that, andso I feel like we had to have
systems and structure in place.
We had to have a goodcompensation model.
And then we had to be inbusiness with good people.
(19:49):
We've said this on a few otherepisodes that who's in your
circle matters, right, so, likeyou can bring someone in who,
like, is going to be just.
And we've had a couple peoplecome and go in all my different
businesses and teams that, likewe brought them on because we
thought they were like you know,the racehorse or whatever and
nobody wants to be around themand you're like you got to go.
You treat people shitty, yeah,you, you're rude, or the ones
(20:10):
that just can quote things outof a book but don't actually
know how to do anything or don'twant to do anything.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
They think they want you to do it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
I've been used and abused way too many times by too
many people that want me to dobecause I'm a workhorse and
you're a workhorse.
I will never bring someone andallow them to outwork me, and
not from an ego perspective,just from an outfield, guilty
perspective.
I'm never going to sit back and, although it may have appeared
that way to people at times, oneof my faults is I need to
(20:37):
communicate better and share thethings that I'm doing, and I
would say you too, because youjust do it and people don't
realize.
They think you're just Kim's,just out there business falling
in her lap.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
They don't realize what you're doing to get the
business?
Oh yeah, I think a lot ofpeople yeah, well, and I feel
like too.
They only see, oh, you have 10deals.
Well, for the past three monthsI've been cultivating them and
working.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
So when you were on a team before because I remember,
I remember there was tell mehow you felt when you were on
this team and things were notall rainbows and unicorns.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Which I was on a team and you were already a
successful producing agent atthat point.
Yeah, I was already a cappingagent.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
But I think what made you decide to want to do it,
and then what went wrong.
I got where I was going tostart.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
So, and I think a lot of it was glitz and glamour.
You see, like these people areup on stage and these people
have big businesses and what arethey doing?
They got to be doing.
Maybe I can learn from them,and really a lot a lot of it.
I can learn from them andreally a lot, a lot of it, and I
hate to say it is smoke andmirrors.
(21:45):
It just is In this business it'sdetermination.
There's a lot of bullshit outthere, there's a lot of shit,
yep.
And in this business it's and Ithink we're all trying to you
hear something and you're like,oh, I'm going to try that it's a
lot of it's like a lot of shinyobjects, and the bottom line is
it's consistency and hard workand a lot of it.
So for me, I was in the grindfor two years.
I was just starting to build,and opportunity, you know, came
(22:08):
my way, like join this team, andit was an expansion team.
So I was the leader here, buthad a team in other states.
Well, first of all and I didn'tknow any better a team in other
states.
Yeah Well, first of all, and Ididn't know any better, how is
somebody in, I don't know Utah,and I'm just saying that going
(22:29):
to tell me how to handle asituation in Illinois?
Yeah, local customs can varyfrom place to place.
That was off.
So I mean that starts yourconflict like what.
You don't know what you'retalking about here.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, that's also why , like, we're multi-state, now
right right like the forwardgroup, not reals, not national.
Reals in all 50 states, canada,whatever.
So that's national, but ourlittle group is multi-state, but
we didn't expand to any statesthat we hadn't done business in
first, so we knew how to dobusiness right and it's uh,
personally, yeah, and it's, it'sa lot different here, Even
(22:57):
Indiana right across the super,completely different Florida.
They're all completely different.
We didn't bring on other agentsin Florida, even an expansion
leader, until we had actuallybeen licensed and done deals
there first.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
And then you're, you know, as the person here, so in
mine they call it an expansionteam.
Here I'm still running my ownbusiness, trying to run their
business.
Then I'm splitting my personaldeals, I'm splitting their deals
.
It just became.
It was overwhelming.
But how did I get there?
Opportunity presented itself.
(23:32):
I wanted the shiny object Iwanted a shortcut.
What's the shortcut to get methere?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
You wanted to go to here and you thought of it as a
way up there, instead ofclimbing stairs to get there.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
It was oh, look what they're doing there.
They can bring that here, andI'm going to go from here to
here.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, I mean you probably got taken advantage of
a little bit and.
I will take some, accept someresponsibility for putting you
in that situation, and I didn'tknow any better either, because
the way that it was presentedand taught to us, we're like, oh
, this is great, but do youremember then that was the up
and coming.
Everybody was startingexpansion teams, but you did
(24:14):
learn some things when you werethere too.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
What to do and what not to do and how to treat
people, and you know, and itreally made me understand the
money aspect of it.
If anything, I walked away fromthat thinking if I ever build a
team or have anybody work forme, I can't build it based on
this model.
So that was one of the things.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Well, I think, inherently, you're a fair person
and you believe in doing theright thing, and so you
understood that that model justwasn't fair.
It just wasn't fair.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Especially when somebody else is doing all the
work and you know it reallyopened your eyes to.
They didn't get there that wayeither.
Yeah, it was nitty gritty.
It was get into the trenches.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
So then let's flip the script a little bit.
There are some instances andsome situations.
I mean, we've got peopleworking with us where a team
makes sense.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Oh sure, so let's talk about that, the right team
makes sense, so tell me moreabout that.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
What's the right team look like to you?
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I think, where it's fair, where you can feed your
family, where you're giving them.
I think for me, the biggesttakeaway that I've had in
learning this is you have togive people opportunities, you
have to give them value.
A lot of times, these teamsdon't bring a lot of value.
I feel like if you're there tohelp them through, if you're
(25:34):
sharing business with them,you're paying them fairly.
People will work and they'llwork hard for you and they're
loyal to you.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
I think the compensation one is a big, a big
, big, big one, huge.
I think the challenge thatwe're faced with is when a team
lead steps out of production,then they're so reliant on the
profitability of that team thatthey have to take a bigger chunk
from everybody.
And so then therein lies theissue, and it becomes like
(26:04):
lopsided, like you're justmaking money off of me but
you're not actually doinganything.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Once you step out of production, I feel like it goes
downhill and not.
You don't have to do 55 deals,you can step out and do five
deals as long as you're in thetrenches with your people.
The bigger your team gets, themore responsibility.
I understand that.
But when you completely walkaway and you said it a lot
(26:28):
depends on you, know your team,and then you're taking more to
make more because you're notmaking your own money.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Sort of yeah, I think there's a value in that for
sure.
When I think about like theright team that's structured
properly is gonna provideadministrative support.
Yes, In both the paperwork sideand the marketing side.
Right, they're also going toand that doesn't mean everything
.
That doesn't mean you're notgonna like so.
If a team's providing adminsupport, they're not gonna
handle all of your social mediafor you, but they're going to
(26:58):
give you the stuff that you canthen because, at the end of the
day, your consumers and yourclients still want to see and
hear from you.
I got it.
I had a deal I closed last yearand they had previously used
another agent who I knew, whohad a big team, and they're like
we never heard from them everand we just felt like we were
pawned off.
I hear it all the time.
So I think there's that elementof personal touch that still
needs to be there, but the rightteam is going to have
(27:19):
administrative support in formsof both paperwork support and
marketing materials marketingsupport.
The right team is also going toprovide leads in some form,
format or fashion, and you knowI hear a lot of gurus go back
and forth and say, oh well, ifsomeone just wants to join you
for leads, then that's the wrongreason.
They should bring, bring leadsand they should do this.
Yeah, I mean it is a two-waystreet, but you have, I think,
(27:41):
as a team leader or team owneror whatever it is that you and I
are doing here, that we do needto give value to those people
and kind of help them get theirfeet wet.
Now that doesn't mean that theydon't also have to fish, but
we're going to help give themsome bait, we're maybe going to
provide a little bit to get themgoing.
And I also think and this iswhere we have disagreement
(28:03):
there's some teams where you sayyou can only work with buyers
and you can only work withsellers.
I don't see that as sustainableeither, because people get
confused like, oh wait, so I'mbuying with you and I'm selling
with you.
Now that doesn't mean that youdon't have support for them in
doing all the things that needto happen on the marketing end
when they take the listing, butthey should still have their
hands in it, for sure, Iabsolutely, and that's how they
(28:24):
learn the business.
That's how they learn how toservice clients, how do you
draft an?
Agent, or draft an offer as abuyer's agent without
understanding and seeing it fromthe perspective of the listing
agent.
Like I am a better buyer'sagent because I understand what
it's like when offers come intome on my listings and why, like
when a buyer's agent sends methis crappy offer that they and
(28:46):
I'm like well, this sucks.
Why would this benefit myseller?
Like, I think you can seethings better from a different
perspective when you've walkedin those shoes.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, when you're doing both.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Yeah, so we said admin support in both marketing
and paperwork Leads yeah.
So we said admin support inboth marketing and paperwork
leads yeah.
I think technology is a big onetoo.
All these companies claim like,oh, we'll give you this, we'll
give you that, we'll give youthat.
I don't think they can give thelevel of tools that you need to
function at a really high levelin this business.
I think you're going to eitherhave to spend a lot of your own
(29:14):
money or join a network or ateam that pools their resources
to be able to buy those sources.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Everybody's got a CRM to offer, everybody's got this
to offer.
So you go there based on thatand you're like, oh, this team
does this or this broker doesthat, and they're sort of speak
a team.
You know, if I walk into AntProperties, I expect them to
have the bomb of a you knowthey're.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, I have no idea what they have there.
Well, they have a whole box.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
It's actually nice, but whatever, but you expect
that.
And then when you don't get itor you have to pay a small
something for that, you're likebut wait, I don't what?
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day it's a business.
There's costs involved.
So those costs, that money'sgot to come from somewhere.
So I think finding that sweetspot is the challenge that most
people have.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
And don't you think too?
I mean, just that's why we'rehere where we are now.
It's all a learning curve, itwas trial and error.
It's what I'm not going to dofor there.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
I'm not going to do for there.
I am going to pull from there.
This is what I thought, and Ithink that's what makes I have
hired people just because I feltbad for them and I tried to
help them.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
And it's come back to Thanks.
It's come back to bite me inthe ass over and over and over
again, but I can't stop being agood person just because I'm a
good person and I thinksometimes you think that person
because, being a good person,just because I'm a good person,
and I think sometimes you thinkthat person because you've known
them for so long, you think, ohyeah, that that fit and it
really doesn't so.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
So I think screening and hiring is probably a big
thing too.
So I'm jumping back and forth.
So we're talking about when, asan agent joining a team, you're
looking for leads, you'relooking for support in terms of
marketing and paperwork, andthen we're talking about
technology tools resources andthen there's the tactile things,
like think about all the hardcosts that you would have to pay
for individually, and are youdoing enough business that you
(31:05):
can do that on a regular basis,or do you need so?
like photography, signage, lockboxes, marketing materials, yeah
, flyers postcards, all of thestuff that folders the
everything, because you know,just going out and printing one
on your own versus being able totake it from the pile that the
(31:25):
team has there, or evendeveloping your own buyer buyer
guide or developing your ownseller guide or all the, even
the crm, like I've seen.
People say they have crms, butthere are.
There's a big difference incrms out there, I will say.
And then all the add-on tools,that websites, all that knowing
how all that works together, andall those pieces.
So, as an agent, I think neweragents definitely should join a
(31:47):
team to start out, because it'llget your feet wet.
You're going to get businessfaster Now.
I didn't do it when I startedout and I feel like it took me
six months to put my first dealtogether.
I would have been in that muchfaster if I could, but at the
same time, back then when I wasin it, there weren't a lot of
teams and the ones that werewere far and few between in
terms of Back then.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
You've been in the business longer than me, but a
lot of it was husband-wife team.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Yeah, you know it was two people or mother-son.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
Yes, yeah, like, yes, yeah, like.
I feel like there was neverreally more than two yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
And they were very Well.
I mean, my first team memberwas my husband and man.
I wanted to fire his ass, Idon't know how many times.
So here's where the fun storiescome.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
How to fire his ass not.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
So how I first ended up building a team was I got
hired on so I was selling.
I've been selling for I don'tknow about six, seven years or
whatever, before I built a team,so I wasn't a newbie.
So, following your model andyour rules, I was right in line
with where I was, I got hired onas a managing broker of a
brokerage firm.
So now I have an activebusiness, a book of business
(32:54):
database and I'm in an officenow running a brokerage and I
think we had like maybe 60agents at the time and I was
responsible for training,recruiting, hiring, compliance.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
What were you the managing?
Speaker 1 (33:06):
broker for there.
Like what year?
Oh, seven to 2010.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
For three years I was there, yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
So 2007 to 2010.
Okay, so, and I've been 25years, so, yeah, it was about
seven years, so it was twofold.
So my husband decided he wantedto get out of construction and
get into real estate, because hethought we didn't do anything
but go out and get free lunch.
Sure, did, at Broker's Open,yep.
So I'm like, oh yeah, okay,buddy, yep, and you know, in the
(33:33):
trades back then it was you'reon and he would get laid off,
start the course, then they'dcall him back to work and then
he'd have to start it all overagain and they didn't have
self-study or online or anythingback then.
So I'm running this firm andI'm like you know, I can go out
and take listings while I'mstill doing all these things,
but running around with buyerstakes time.
To this day it still does Goingto take.
A listing is a little bit less.
(33:54):
So I was like like I reallyneed a buyer's agent and I
needed an admin.
But the office secretarydoubled as my admin, so I had
that in place and so you know, Igive her a little extra on the
side and she would do extrastuff for me that you know was
there, and then I need a buyer'sagent.
So I'm like, fine, you can come.
So then he he got almost allthe way through the class and
they called him back to work andhe's like nope, I'm not going
back, I'm gonna finish it so I'mlike, oh, finish it.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
So I'm like, oh shit, okay, we better do this.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
We better make this work, cause now we're losing our
benefits, we're losing ourpaycheck Like you gotta make
this work.
Um and yes, we were alreadymarried by then, so it was do or
die.
He would not listen to me.
I tried to teach him and trainhim, but you know oh come on,
how many husbands would listento their wives?
Totally, I would get.
I get it.
Could you see Dave listening toyou?
No, so I mean the first deal hedid.
(34:41):
I think he showed this buyerlike 50 homes, drove them all
over, they were late, theydidn't like the houses.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
That's when you drove people too.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
It was terrible.
He showed him about 50 plushomes.
They finally write a contract.
He doesn't know aboutfloodplains and flood insurance.
The deal dies the week beforeclosing.
Now, because he wouldn't listento me, he wouldn't.
I didn't train him.
In his defense I didn't trainhim, but in my defense he
wouldn't listen to me when Itried to train him.
So it was like a two-way thing.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
It was terrible.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
And so deal dies.
Right before closing the peoplecancel the contract or whatever
because they didn't want theflood insurance.
Then they go out and they firehim.
And they go out and buy a house30 days later with the listing
agent of the deal that they died.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
No, yes they did.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
He remembers the agent's name.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
He remembers the clients he remembers everything
about him.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
It's a good story for him to tell.
He's got some good stories, sothat's kind of like my first
getting my feet wet.
So when I came to the brokerage,we were at it was me and him
and an admin and we had kind ofbuilt a good little business.
And then we had the short sale,you know the crash of the
market, and we had the REObusiness and we didn't really.
We had a few REOs but we didn'tget a lot of REOs Right, I
(35:48):
remember it was but REOs.
Even to this day the agent hasto put a ton of money out there.
Like these banks expect you toput all your money on the line,
all the utilities in your name,all the winterizing, the clean
out, like you pay for all thatup front and maybe get
reimbursed later.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
It's risky.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
So we didn't do a lot .
We did some.
We had a few REO accounts, butwe mostly did short sales.
We did a ton of short sales.
I wrote a blog about short sales.
Like we were short sale expertand so we did a decent little
business together.
He you know, he dealt with alot of divorce situations with
short sales got gun pulled onhim a couple times by angry
husbands and like we had a goodthing going.
And so we end up moving to thebrokerage where we were together
(36:28):
and I get there and they'relike you're not allowed to sell
real estate anymore if you'regoing to be in a leadership role
at this company.
So I literally took my thisteam that we had built and it
was.
It was just husband and wife,just the two of us and our admin
.
We had to leave our admin behindat the brokerage when we
changed brokerage and I go toBart and I say here you go,
here's the team, it's all yours,the business it's all yours.
(36:55):
And he's like what team?
It's me.
And I'm like well, good luck,figure it out.
And so that was kind of likethe start of our team building.
And I think you know who hisfirst admin that he brought on
was oh, corey, was it?
Yeah, part-time Corey.
And then the office.
I stole Corey from him and thenhe had to hire and he went
through a few more admin and Iover the years helped him build
that team yeah but I would say,um, you know, we did a lot of
trial and error, so I would helphim from an out of production
(37:16):
standpoint but not an inproduction standpoint, and I
love that we get to do this now.
So back then it was a lot ofhusband and wife teams.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Yeah, I feel like, because there was no.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
I mean, if you couldn't do it, he would do it,
if he didn't do it you couldlike that was, but I also think
that there's some downfall tothat, because if you're going on
a family vacation together,who's going to handle things?
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Yeah, I agree, business shuts down.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
So if you, had to give some like bullet points or
some takeaways on to build ornot to build and who.
Actually, before we go intothat, we read a mastermind a
couple months ago and we hadthis couple of questions come up
, and so I just want to expandon that a little bit, because I
think we can add some value.
A couple of the people in ourmastermind were like well, how
do you find the right person tohire and where do you find the
(38:01):
right person to hire?
And you know we need an adminand we don't think we're hiring
the right people.
So let's talk about that's onearea where I've excelled in
terms of you know.
I mean even the virtualassistants we've had have been
great.
When I outsource it to anothercompany, that's where I got
(38:21):
screwed over.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Well, I think you're really good One of your talents
you're really good at the hiringprocess, Like what questions to
ask.
You know, I feel like that was.
I mean, you guys did well, Ourtwo VAs are pretty good.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
But I mean even over the years with some of the like.
Maybe not, maybe I didn't hiresome of the best leaders, but on
the admin side I feel like wereally nailed that.
I only had two and I thinkyou've had great admin.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
And I still talk to them.
They're actually still in thebusiness.
Yeah, you've had great admin.
So people, even though that,come in and like for me, like
most of the people, except forone.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
So we're stayed in the business.
So let's go back and just kindof walk through this up.
Where have you found your best?
Speaker 2 (39:05):
hires friends yeah, not that they were my friends,
but friends of referrals,referrals.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
Same thing here, absolutely the same thing the
best hires that I've had in allof our different businesses and
through everything we've donehave never been from some fancy
ad we ran.
No, it's always been peoplethat we know or people who know
people that we know.
Yeah, with the exception of ourvas and but even our current va
one of one of our two vas thatwe have she was referred or came
(39:35):
from an ad that I don't know ifit was an ad Like, we had a
different transactioncoordinator and she had another
opportunity came up that wasgoing to be something she liked
more and get more money.
So she gave us notice.
She stepped out so sweetlyshe's a sweet girl, but she
helped us find her replacement.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Which is great.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Yeah, so that Corey.
Obviously we didn't offload itto her.
Cory still interviewed andscreened, but she helped source
those candidates.
So I think people that you knowor people that work for you
have a tendency to bring inother people like like attracts,
like yes, now, that's notalways the case.
Sometimes you'll get a sourapple, like we've had agents
that brought someone in the teamand we're like, we bring them
out and think they're going tobe great and I'm like, oh, this
(40:13):
person's gotta go, yeah, now,but that's not their fault.
Like sure, for the most part, alot of the people I hang around
are like me, but once in awhile I do have someone that I
know that's just a jackass, yeah, right.
So I would say to those of youthat are looking look for people
that are in your sphere ofinfluence or that people in your
sphere of influence know that.
Yes, you know, ask people.
(40:34):
I mean some of the best hiresI've had.
I've asked well, kiki.
I mean kiki was an amazing hirefor me.
I wish she could come back towork for me again, but she's got
two little babies she's takingcare of full time at home.
In due time, yeah, she'll beback eventually.
We're holding it out there.
But I, cory, was working forbart at the time, or maybe the
office, I don't remember,remember, and I kept asking him
like who do you know, who do youknow, who do you know?
And I remember he said to me hegoes, well, my girlfriend
(40:57):
Jackie is way smarter than meand I'm like, good, let me have
her number.
He's like I don't know.
I'm like, just let me talk toher, come on.
And I don't know if smarter, Ithink they're both very, very
smart they're both great, greatworkers, great people, but
that's what I mean where peopleknow other great people.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
I feel like a lot of hires, a lot of good hires, come
from that.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
No, I know at our other brokerage we were taught
like this huge, long drawn outtraining or hiring and screening
process, which I think therewere parts of it that were good.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
And there were parts of it that were bullshit.
Yeah, I can't say they were allbad, like that whole, you know,
was all bad, but a majority,majority was bullshit.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
A lot of, a lot of smoke and mirrors yeah, I would
say that dig deep, ask a lot ofquestions.
Now, when I think about some ofthe people that I've hired,
that have been with me a longtime or that were really great,
I did follow a lot of thatprocess, like going through so
when you take that initialinterview, I, you know, do a
great job, ask great questions,um, check references.
When you skip the referencecheck it comes back to bite you
(41:55):
in the ass.
You find out the person's likepsychotic or whatever.
Right, I would say, take thetime to sit down and get to know
them, know what's important tothem, and then be kind.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
I feel like that's.
I mean not in every situation,but I think respect goes a long
way.
If you respect them and theyrespect you.
I mean you can even partrespectfully.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Yeah, and I mean you've got good friends that
work with your team, that are ontheir own or doing different
things now and actually, that'sactually a good point that you
bring up.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
They came in under me because of me and they've left.
We've left on good terms, andthey're successful agents or
successful admins all of thembut one.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
And I think that's a good point is that to keep in
mind that every person comesinto your life for a season or a
reason, Sure, and that doesn'tmean they need to stay with you
forever and you don't have to goscorched earth just because
they leave, Absolutely.
You know, when someone doesthat, I'm like okay, so we're
not going to work togetheranymore, that's okay.
There's nothing wrong with that.
(42:53):
I've actually had so.
There was a girl that we hiredon our team initially and we
were out of the area and so weprobably over jumped the gun in
terms of being able to supporther at the level that we wanted,
but she was so afraid to tellme that she was going to leave
the team and I said to her Isaid okay, and she was like what
?
And I was like what's best foryou?
(43:15):
I don't need to keep you hereor get mad at you because you're
leaving If this is not what'sbest for you, and that's what's
best for you.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
I want that for you.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
Because, right, I would like to think that I'm a
good human and, as a good humanbeing, that's what we want for
each other, is we want them toflourish in whatever opportunity
is best for them, and it makesyou, as the leader, like you're
like, oh, oh, okay, that was.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Nobody walks away feeling bad you don't have to an
agent situation you still wantto keep that.
You know.
Keep them.
Well.
What's great?
You don't have to be on yourteam.
Well, what's great about?
Speaker 1 (43:45):
it is.
We still have the relationship,we're still friendly, we're
still whatever.
She actually is still withinour company, just not on our
team.
She's flourishing and we'vereferred business back and forth
to each other.
So it's been a win all the wayaround and I didn't have to just
hoard and hold on to peoplejust because I think that's when
you come from a scarcitystandpoint.
If you come from an abundancemindset, you're going to have
(44:08):
the opportunity to have otherpeople come into your world and
it's okay that people come inand out of your world.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
And don't you think?
Sometimes, when they come toyou and say well, you know, I
don't want to be here, butsometimes not only are they
relieved, but you are.
Oh yeah, you know, you're likewell, they just weeded
themselves out.
Well, that's great, we ended ona good note.
I love that part yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
Yeah, and sometimes you're like whoo, that took that
, left me off the hook.
Bye, yeah, you know.
So it's all in how we handle itand I think that the more you
get into business, the more youdo it, the more you know you can
handle it better.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yeah, and I think also the next point I would make
is, once you find those peopleand you bring them in, you have
to set them up for success, youbet?
Oh, we've talked about thisbefore.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
We still talk about it.
It's so important because then,if they don't succeed, you know
you as the leader have to takeresponsibility, like you just
said it, like maybe we didn'tset her up for success Like we
should.
Speaker 1 (45:07):
That's why, with this last VA, I spent so much time
like making sure that I had allmy training materials and my
manuals, and also when we wereadding agents onto the team, why
I wrote that 12-week coachingprogram.
I'm like I have to have thisall laid out and organized in a
system and a structure so that Ican best support them.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
So that they can be successful.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Because then I can walk away from any hire or
anyone I bring into myrelationship or my world and
know that it was not me.
I can leave in good conscience,knowing that I did what I could
.
At the end of the day, it's atwo-way street.
You still have the hire, stillhas to do the work, whether it's
an admin hire or an agent hireor whatever they have to bring
what they need to bring to thetable, no-transcript to record
(46:04):
it, and then you're going to doit yourself.
And so I think, though but thesame thing with an agent, too.
As a new, as an agent, a teamleader hiring on agents, you
have to.
They, as an agent, a teamleader hiring on agents, you
have to.
They don't know how to open alockbox, even Like they're.
You have to show themeverything.
You have to teach them whatthey need to know.
Now, some of it's going to becommon sense, yeah, but if
they're representing you, youwant to be out there.
You have to have set them upfor success, sure.
(46:25):
So I think it's good peoplethat you, you know.
Look for people who are likethe people that you want to be
in business with, and then setthem up for success.
And then I would say the thirdpoint is to delegate, not
abdicate, and what I mean bythat is like, give them
opportunities to do things andgive them the work, but don't
just throw it at them and walkaway and expect them to figure
(46:47):
it all out.
Like you want to give someconfines of structure around it
and deadlines and goals and somesomething to work with.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Yeah, Well, I was going to agree and say I did
that.
Or here you go and you expectthat team member who's new, and
then you're mad at them becausethey didn't get it.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
And I would say the last thing is opportunities for
growth.
Speaker 2 (47:08):
For sure.
Super important, yeah that one.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
We're out of time already Are we yeah, so I would
say we can dig more into this onthe next, next episode right
team building well, maybe notteam building, but, like you,
know what opportunities forgrowth look like, how to keep
people with you like how tocreate an environment that
people want to be a part of.
Speaker 2 (47:27):
I like that, yeah a winning environment because it
took a while yeah, I mean we'vedone a lot of things wrong.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
I think think this was good.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
I think it was great.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
If you like, give us a thumbs up, follow us, check us
out.
So team building, it's not foreveryone, but it has some great
benefits.
And don't jump in too quick.
Don't do it just because youwant to take advantage or be
lazy and get out of production.
Building a team is it forimpact, not ego.
(47:56):
Yes, and the right people canchange your life, that's true.
So hire slow, hire slow, firefast, but train well.
That's a good one.
Speaker 2 (48:01):
I don't know if we necessarily always do that.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
You know, I think I've gotten better on that over
the years.
Speaker 2 (48:05):
But yeah, I mean, there's a lot of truth in that,
just that one statement.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
And leadership starts with leading yourself.
Yeah, like I think, Iabsolutely think you have to
walk the walk.
I believe that but I could say,like I don't just sit back and
say, well, I do this and I dothat, and then I don't do it.
No, I'm out there slinging,just like you guys are, yeah,
and I think it's super importantthat.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
That's what makes me that's what makes everybody
respect that person as a leader.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
They've been there, done that, doing it and they're
right there with us.
I noticed that we have a lot ofthemes every single week that
kind of come through and I hearthe same ones here.
So I can't wait to hear some ofthose tidbits and see them out
there.
So comment like follow give usquestions.
Next week we're going to talkmore and we hope to see you
there.
All right, bye, bye, thanks.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.