Shawn Getty sold 186 homes in the first half of his third year in real estate, including a stretch of 60 homes in 60 days. And he did it all with $0 in ad spend.

Shawn started the team-building process 6 or 7 times before getting the traction he has today (including losing 27 agents all at once). But Getty Group, brokered by eXp Realty in Calgary, has grown from 4 to 48 agents in an 8-month window this year.

Learn his tactics for agent attraction, the structure of his recruiting conversation, and many hard-learned lessons from the fits and starts of building his real estate team.

Listen to this Real Estate Team OS episode with Shawn Getty for insights into:

- Two basic truisms of team success

- Multiple false starts on the team-building journey

- Building an education-based and skills-based team of people who hunt together, rather than alone

- Growing agent count by 12x (from 4 to 48) in under 8 months

- How to attract agents using Instagram

- The specific conversation structure to bring agents onto your team

- A free social media tactic drives 30-40% of their business (and that other agents make fun of)

- A free social media tactic to become top of preference, not just top of mind (with a specific example)

- The two ways he’s working on the main bottleneck in his business today

- Why teams will be bigger, more prominent, more impactful, and more needed in the future

At the end, learn about “the uniform of the wealthy,” “the champion sweater that can’t be beat,” and the balance in being all on or all off.

Shawn Getty:

- https://www.instagram.com/shawngetty

- https://www.gettygroup.ca/

Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Four and a half years ago, Kyle Draper started Serene Team (brokered by eXp Realty in Los Angeles) with two agents he’d mentored earlier in his career and an admin.

Today, the team is more than 40 agents strong - and growing. As you’d expect, the path was filled with hard-learned lessons and supported by the guidance of mentors. Those initial team members? They’re all still contributing.

 Learn about the challenges in the 7- to 12-agent range, the nuances of a transaction management system they put into place, and which tools and tech have been vital to turning online leads, past clients, and sphere opportunities into closed transactions - including video.

Watch or listen to Ep 046 with Kyle Draper for insights into:

- Setting and managing expectations

- Three hurdles for new agents to clear in the first 21 days before earning a spot and a mentor on the team

- What he had to put down before fully committing to real estate and starting a team (at the onset of COVID)

- Which staff positions he’s hired locally and which he’s hired internationally

- Finding your right team size and the specific challenges in the 7- to 12-agent range

- Why and how he stepped back into sales production

- Inside the transaction model he’s running, including its nuances, benefits, and challenges

- Balancing investment of time, energy, and focus on online leads, past clients, and sphere - especially when the latter two drive most of your business

- How the FUB-Ylopo pairing helps the team create and close more opportunities

- When, why, and how his team uses video email, video messages, and screen recordings - including very specific stories, use cases, and wins

- Two reasons teams will get bigger in the future

At the end, learn about two competitors receiving flowers, cutting a car payment nearly in half, and the two sides of a wonderful weekend.

Kyle Draper:

- https://www.instagram.com/thekyledraper/

- https://www.zillow.com/profile/Kyle%20Draper

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Prospecting to set up listing appointments. 

It was foundational to a successful real estate business 30 years ago.
It remains so today.

Greg Harrelson got his start prospecting. And growth from appointment setter, to a small real estate team, to a teamerage with 9 offices and 5 markets in the Carolinas that closed nearly 4,000 transactions last year all happened through … prospecting for listings.

Greg, who prospects alongside his agents for 3 hours every day, describes his approach as “developing talent and amplifying wealth.” In this wide-ranging conversation, he welcomes us into the philosophy and practices behind his success.

Listen to this Real Estate Team OS episode with Greg Harrelson to learn:
 - The 3 must-have characteristics of your next real estate team member

- How to find the right coach, how to become more coachable, and why he’s always sought coaching

- The brokerage challenges from which teams emerged, how online buyer leads accelerated teams, and the future of real estate teams

- The four things every brokerage or team must provide (and what they all have in common)

- Why culture is more about agent retention than attraction

- How he built and then disbanded his real estate team

- Insights into acquiring agents, developing agents, and recruiting agents 

- The org structure for their 9-office, 5-market team and his place and role in it (including his 10-80-10 approach)

- What’s been lost in the real estate industry and how easy it is to correct (spoiler: talk to more people)

- Coaching an acquired agent from 40 transactions per year (mostly buyers) to 90 transactions per year (all listings)

- Why he’s coaching pricing presentations, price reduction presentations, and listing extension presentations “religiously” right now

- Very specific advice for the leader of a small real estate team

Connect with Greg Harrelson:

- https://realestatesalessolutions.com/agent-success-academy/

- https://www.facebook.com/groups/235977313258813

- https://www.instagram.com/gregharrelsonrealestate/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

The future of your real estate team is agents working with AI. It's a human experience, not a bot experience. A well-equipped, tech-enabled agent becomes a cyborg.

But don’t confuse a cyborg for a robot. The former is simply a living organism augmented by an artificial component or technology.

So, a well-equipped human is a cyborg. For example: with a smartphone and a ton of texting shortcuts to save time or with a prompting process to write more personal emails or replies to reviews faster.

The future of real estate sales and services belongs to those moving in this direction.
 
Learn how and why - in a practical, approachable, no-hype way - with Taylor Hack, Owner of Hack&Co in Edmonton, Alberta.
 
Taylor shares why he built a team (but not a mega team), how guests of Real Estate Team OS like Veronica Figueroa, Justin Havre, and Kris Lindahl have helped him on his journey, how he’s leveraged his passion for marketing and technology, and specific ways he’s using AI to improve himself, his team members, and their results.

Get specific tips to increase speed and maintain quality in getting insights from spreadsheets, writing and replying to emails, responding to online reviews, and more!

Listen to Ep 036 with Taylor Hack for:

- A meaningful definition and clear benefits of synergy

- How high-end car sales, mortgages, and irritation helped him produce $1M in commission in his first 32 months in real estate

- Why he started his real estate team and how hard it is to learn to run a business

- Why his 10-person team is exactly the right size (and how to find your right size)

- Why “the future of real estate is cyborgs” delivering “awesome” and “now” five-star experiences

- How to find the balance of people and machines in your business (how to make sure clients can’t “see the wires” of your machines)

- How he learned about AI and a framework to better leverage Chat GPT (concluding with 3 critical questions)

- Places to turn for trustworthy AI guidance (a couple of links here: https://linktr.ee/taylorhack)

- Writing emails, replying to emails, and replying to reviews with AI

- The benefits of a voice paragraph (written by and for AI)

At the end, learn about earning a vintage 911, mowing the lawn, being present with dogs, and trading the two worst hours of your day for the two best.

Taylor Hack:

- https://www.instagram.com/taylorthehack/

- https://linktr.ee/taylorhack

- https://www.google.com/search?q=taylor+hack+follow+up+boss

- https://www.hackandco.ca/team-page

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

What’s the OS stand for in Real Estate Team OS?
 
Operating System!

So what exactly is in your real estate team operating system?

It’s everything backstage, behind the curtain, back of house, and behind the agent. It’s the people, processes, and technology we put into place to keep agents in dollar-productive activities and to add efficiency and scalability to our organization.

In this episode, you’ll hear about key elements of the operating systems of 7 different team leaders and teamerage owners from New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida over to Colorado, Arizona, and Texas.
 
Specifically, we asked: What are one or two key people, processes, or technologies that you couldn’t have built your team without?

Watch or listen to Episode 035 of Real Estate Team OS for insights from:

Dave Ness
Founder of Thrive Real Estate Group, an independent teamerage in Denver, Colorado

• Two key roles: the integrator (which gets various titles) and a dedicated sales leader
• The importance and challenge of having these roles well-staffed
• The changing needs of your team over time

Micah Harper

CEO of Exquisite Properties, an independent teamerage in San Antonio, Texas

• Why his inside sales leader is titled Director of Opportunity 
• How a truly empowered ISA team operates
• What a healthy ISA-agent partnership looks like

Becky Garcia
Founder and CEO of The Garcia Group, a 99% female real estate organization in Phoenix, Arizona

• Two roles to save time and improve results: operations manager and personal assistant
• The challenge and benefits of migrating from one CRM to another
• Training agents to communicate and demonstrate the differences in and benefits to the consumer of how your team operates

Marcus Larrea

Founder and Team Lead at Palm Paradise Realty Group, an independent teamerage in southwest Florida

• First two hires: transaction coordinator (do-it-all ops person) and marketing
• Two key tools: Follow Up Boss and Cloud CMA (“best tool,” “best investment”)

Mercy Lugo-Struthers

CEO and Principal Broker at Casals, Realtors, in Northern Virginia

• Characteristics all staff and agents need to possess and how she evaluates them in the first 7 days and first 30 days
• A piece of tech that’s “the glue of the team”
• The benefits of an accountability partner like the Zillow Flex program

Joe Oz

Remote Team Leader of Joe Oz Real Estate Group in Montclair, New Jersey

• The benefits of investing in a team member and having them grow into their strengths
• Retention through compensation
• Getting saved from yourself

Abel Gilbert
Broker/Owner of ONEPATH Realty, an independent teamerage in Miami, Florida

• The constant change and evolution required in your operating system
• Maintaining your database and sales processes in one, central hub
• Seeing the future 60 to 90 days out and making changes accordingly

Connect with Dave Ness:
 https://www.instagram.com/thrivedenver/

Connect with Micah Harper:
 https://www.instagram.com/micahharper/

https://www.instagram.com/exquisitepropertiessa/

Connect with Becky Garcia:

- https://www.instagram.com/garciagroupaz/

Connect with Marcus Larrea:

- https://www.instagram.com/marcuslarrea/

- https://www.instagram.com/palmparadisegroupfl/

Connect with Mercy Lugo-Struthers:
- https://www.instagram.com/mercylugostruthersteam/

- https://www.instagram.com/mercylugostruthers/

Connect with Joe Oz:
- https://www.instagram.com/joeozrealestate/

Connect with Abel Gilbert:

- https://www.instagram.com/growwithabel/

- https://www.instagram.com/onepathrealty/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:

- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Our themes in this conversation include simplicity, ease of use, interconnectedness, complementarity, intention, unification, transparency, and holism.

Our topic is real estate tech stack in general and real estate CRM in particular.
 
 Our guest is Elena Kee, a real estate team ops leader turned real estate tech consultant. She’s the founder of Kee Technology Solutions, a 20-member team helping people get the most from their real estate tech. And it all began with a CRM migration project years ago.
 
 Elena’s worked with previous guests on the show like Lauren Bowen, Suneet Agarwal, and Nick McLean and joins us to share common challenges, top tips, and practical approaches for agents and teams to solve business problems and capitalize on business opportunities by working from one, central hub.

Watch or listen to Ep 034 with Elena Kee to learn:

- How a CRM migration project unlocked her path in the real estate industry

- How to identify great ops people - including the 3 specific assessments she uses with TestGorilla (https://www.testgorilla.com/)

- One of the most common problems she finds in real estate tech stacks

- Two things that top teams are working on right now from a CRM perspective

- Why leads and lead sources aren’t your real problem as an agent or a team

- A process to improve your CRM workflow, from smart lists to reporting to transparency to notes to automations

- How many stages and tags are too many - and how to land at the right amount

- What agents do and don’t need to know about how your CRM is set up

- Trends she’s seeing in real estate teams

At the end, learn about starting a gigging band, saving on paper towels, hiring a content “ingester,” and getting cozy with video games.

Connect with Elena Kee:
 - https://keetechnology.com/
- https://www.youtube.com/@ElenaKee/playlists

Real Estate Team OS guests mentioned in this episode:

- Lauren Bowen https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/lauren-bowen-robert-slack-coo-lead-sources-team-leaders

- Suneet Agarwal https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/suneet-agarwal-real-estate-agent-recruiting-reside

- Nick McLean https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/real-estate-team-onboarding-training-differentiators-nick-mclean

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:

- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

As we’ve heard on episodes of Real Estate Team OS with guests like Tom Ferry and Chris Heller, the roots of the real estate team business model are more than 30 years deep.
 
 But we’re still just getting started!
 
 Spend time with seven pioneers of teams and teamerages from New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida to Colorado, Arizona, and Texas.
 
 Each answers these three questions:
 
 1 When did the team model come onto your radar? When did you first learn about it?
 
 2 Why did you commit to the model as a team leader or brokerage owner?
 
 3 What’s the future of teams? Will they continue to play a bigger or more dominant role in the industry?

Watch or listen to Episode 033 of Real Estate Team OS with:
 
Micah Harper, CEO of Exquisite Properties, an independent teamerage in San Antonio, Texas

• Creating a team by solving his own challenges as a high-performing solo agent
• Why traditional brokerages are losing value
• Asking important questions about the future of teams

Dave Ness, Founder of Thrive Real Estate Group, an independent teamerage in Denver, Colorado

• Why he started a teamerage, homegrown from day one, a decade ago
• Why they’re so prescriptive for the first 3 years with team agents
• What level of production is required to be a true real estate advisor

Mercy Lugo-Struthers, CEO and Principal Broker at Casals, Realtors, in Northern Virginia

• How an “awakening of possibilities” occurred and drove her team
• Two takeaways from the Workman Success Systems research on teams (download it here: https://workmansuccess.com/teams-report/)
• How the team helps agents manage one of their biggest challenges

Abel Gilbert, Broker/Owner of ONEPATH Realty, an independent teamerage in Miami, Florida

• What role human experience plays in the real estate industry
• Why agent count is a superficial number
• Why independent teamerages with great culture and optimized per-agent productivity will dominate the future

Becky Garcia, Founder and CEO of The Garcia Group, a 99% female real estate organization in Phoenix, Arizona

• How she grew her team to 30 agents and 9 staff members
• How she transitioned a team started in an REO market through a major shift
• Which signs and trends suggest that teams will continue to grow in importance 

Joe Oz, remote Team Leader of Joe Oz Real Estate Group in Montclair, New Jersey

• The role of Gary Keller’s The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and mega agent model
• The spark for starting his own team
• How he’s transitioned to a remote team (operating a NJ-based team from Orange County, CA)

Marcus Larrea, Founder and Team Lead at Palm Paradise Realty Group, an independent teamerage in southwest Florida

• Why the need for a team became immediately clear to him when he entered the industry
• What the consequences are of the “Uberization” of society
• Why team production will continue to grow in the years ahead

Connect with Micah Harper:
- https://www.instagram.com/micahharper/

- https://www.instagram.com/exquisitepropertiessa/

Connect with Dave Ness:
- https://www.instagram.com/thrivedenver/

Connect with Mercy Lugo-Struthers:
- https://www.instagram.com/mercylugostruthersteam/

- https://www.instagram.com/mercylugostruthers/

Connect with Abel Gilbert:

- https://www.instagram.com/growwithabel/

- https://www.instagram.com/onepathrealty/

Connect with Becky Garcia:

- https://www.instagram.com/garciagroupaz/

Connect with Joe Oz:
- https://www.instagram.com/joeozrealestate/

Connect with Marcus Larrea:

- https://www.instagram.com/marcuslarrea/

- https://www.instagram.com/palmparadisegroupfl/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:

- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

The most common problem with corporate training and education, including real estate training, is its classroom-style, content-based, and lecture-based approach.

We tend to pile on more modules, courses, topics, and information, rather than focusing very specifically on closing a skills gap.

We often toss new agents into “sink or swim” situations, rather than supporting them in their roles.

We tell them what to do over and over, rather than create a valuable learning experience.

It’s exhausting, ineffective, and unkind. And it’s more work than you, your leaders, managers, staff, and agents should be doing.

If you want better results with greater efficiency, you need to see or hear Carmen Morin. The fractional Chief Learning Officer with the #1 eXp Realty team in the world, Carmen shares with you the performance-based approach to education and training.

She's an instructional design strategist, an award-winning classical pianist, and an entrepreneur who's partnered with Justin Havre and Jon Cheplak on https://AgentDevelopment.com.

Here in this episode, you’ll learn to set the right goal or outcome for your teaching programs, to develop skills, behaviors, and mindsets rather than knowledge alone, and to come alongside your agents just as teachers and mentors have done for millennia.

The result: a more efficient and streamlined approach to developing foundational skills that produce performance and results.

Watch or listen to this episode of Real Estate Team OS for Carmen’s insights into:
- All knowledge, skills, behavior, and mindset can be learned through focused and intentional training (90% nurture, 10% nature)
- “Teaching as the mother of all leadership” and where we went astray
- Transitioning your training to performance-based and learner-centered rather than content-based and content-centered
- The importance of constant feedback and a sense of autonomy throughout the entire learning experience
- How the solo, self-directed nature of real estate affects the way it should be taught, trained, and coached (think: more like golf or tennis than like basketball or hockey)
- Key differences between teaching children and teaching adults
- The sales successes, cost savings, and cultural benefits of the beta cycle of their 90-day, foundational training program
- What types of training to deliver live vs written or recorded
- Why your revamped training system is built around and cycles back to foundational skills
- Advice for someone who wants to take a performance-based approach (whether agent, team leader, or brokerage owner)
- How the habits to shape skills in arts and music benefit you in a professional pursuit like real estate

At the end, learn about Beyond Real Estate, (nearly) empty gas tanks, and resting in an active, multidisciplinary way.

Check out the training program for solo agents, teams, and brokerages:
- https://www.agentdevelopment.com/

Connect with Carmen Morin:
- https://carmenmorin.com
- https://www.instagram.com/carmenmorin.co/

Check out The Justin Havre Real Estate Team:
- https://www.justinhavre.com/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
 

Taking two steps forward might require taking one step back. In other words, growth doesn’t always look like growth.
 
 In this conversation with Marcus Larrea, Co-Founder of Stellar Medical and Founder and Team Leader of Palm Paradise Realty Group, you’ll get a few very specific examples - including ways he protected agents, clients, and staff by creating and communicating calm even amid chaos.

Marcus shares several marketing and operations ideas that he learned through R&D - which means “rip off and deploy” as much as research and development.

Gamifying standards and performance, improving every agent’s social media presence, more effectively leveraging your first hire - get all that and more here in Episode 031, which we recorded together in person at the Pendry in San Diego.

Listen to this episode of Real Estate Team OS to learn with Marcus:

- Ways to create a competitive edge

- The path from co-founder of an FDA-certified medical device manufacturer, to licensed agent, to team leader

- Why “swiping a credit card” to buy online leads and reinvesting 100% of commissions back into more leads worked for him but wouldn’t work today

- Why he committed to the team business model and how it helps clients and agents alike

- Who his first two hires were and how they provided a foundation for the team

- Their process for the team and their agents to produce more social media engagement

- PARADISE as core values

- How to protect your staff, agents, and clients from chaos and why “what you don’t know doesn’t hurt you, as long as it doesn’t affect you”

- How he ramped down personal production to commit to a leadership role

- Why “growth doesn’t always look like growth” and three examples of taking a step back before moving forward again

- How they gamify team standards and create more agent success

- A few systems and tools that have been critical to their success - from SOPs to Cloud CMA

At the end, Marcus talks Florida Gators and travel soccer, an underused VR headset and an indulgent “shoe thing,” and work as a series of sprints then anticipated breaks.

Connect with Palm Paradise Realty Group:
- https://palmparadiserealty.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/palmparadisegroupfl/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

If you’re looking for ways to level up your agents and win the second half of the year, you’ll love this conversation with a fellow Real Estate Team OS viewer/listener.

After building a real estate branch in a corporate banking environment, Jordana Tobel founded Premier Listings in 2015. With plans to triple agent count from 100 to 300, Jordana shares specific ways they’re preparing agents to get uncomfortable, create new habits, and generate more listings with a new 90-day listing program.

Learn why their agents have been getting signed listing agreements for 5+ years, how the NAR settlement can benefit agents, clients, and the industry, and how she’s using an AI training tool (linked up below) to improve agents’ conversations with buyers.
 
 And hear how the diverse needs of agents led to three levels of leads and accountability for agents to opt into - as well as the nuance they’re adding to the highest level of leads and accountability to serve both brand-new agents and deeply experienced agents alike.

Listen for Jordana’s insight into:

- Relentless positivity (without false positivity)

- The value prop inspired by her corporate background and REO properties

- The three partnership levels she created for agents with varying levels of leads and accountability

- The nuance they’re adding to the highest level of leads and accountability to serve new agents and experienced agents alike

- Tripling agent count and raising standards

- Preparing the team for the second half of 2024

- Details of their 90-Day Listing Program to improve skills and habits through training and accountability

- Getting comfortable on camera

- Why their team has been getting signed buyer agreements for more than five years and how the NAR settlement raises their standards … and improves the industry

- Improving role play with an AI training tool

At the end, learn why the captain doesn’t have to be the best player, the frivolity of self-driving mode, and the importance of consuming content like Real Estate Team OS!

Connect with Jordana Tobel and Premier Listings:
 - https://www.instagram.com/jordanathefloridabroker/

- https://www.youtube.com/premierlistings

- https://www.joinpremierlistings.com/

- https://www.premierlistings.com/

Check out the AI-driven training tool:

- https://app.7taps.com/bmvQQHJqdgFP

Learn more from Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

At one point, ONEPATH Realty was home to 250 agents. Today, that count is approximately 100 - with 50 producing team agents.
 
 Why? Culture, mindset, and focus.

These words are easily and often thrown around - so much so that they can seem soft or squishy. But they’re keys to your sustainable success. In this conversation, Abel Gilbert, broker/owner of ONEPATH Realty in Miami, demonstrates why and explains how.
 
 Worth noting: he considers the human experience of your agents, staff, and clients as the essence of your culture.

Abel also shares practical takeaways from his journey, including the five departments of a real estate team, the two most important leading indicators to watch, the key components of building to the right agent count, and the three areas he wanted to master before opening his own brokerage.

We recorded this together in person at the Pendry in San Diego.

Listen to this episode of Real Estate Team OS for Abel’s insights into:

- How mindset (not a magic pill or easy answer) makes a team more productive and optimized

- What he was waiting for and developing before opening his own brokerage

- Why he left sales production quickly - on the path of leading and guiding clients, then agents, then a company

- How his team filled in the valleys in the peak-and-valley dynamic of the real estate business

- One system that’s been with him throughout his growth

- The five departments of a real estate team

- The two leading indicators his team focuses on

- Company culture as the human experience of your agents, staff, and clients - and the key to the longevity of your business

- The role of their Culture Manager, why it matters, and where to find the right person

- How he approaches hybrid roles for agents

- Waiting for the right time vs trying things to see what works

- The key components of finding the right agent count

- Why the independent brokerage operating as a team is the future of the business

At the end, he shares with you how he shares the ocean and how 11-year-old triplets allow him to recharge even if they don’t allow him to rest or relax.

Connect with Abel Gilbert and ONEPATH Realty:

- https://www.instagram.com/growwithabel

- https://www.instagram.com/onepathrealty

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Every week you meet and learn from a different leader on Real Estate Team OS. Typically, you meet a visionary or an integrator, an owner or an operator, an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur.
 
This week, you get both in the same episode!
 
Jose Samano and Jeffery McGonigle are co-owners of Power Real Estate Group in Orange County, California. Jose is the visionary; Jeffery is the integrator and operator.

Together, they bring you inside their journey of attracting, onboarding, and empowering the right people - after initially trying to recruit everyone. You’ll learn what a collaborative culture looks like and how it operates. And you’ll understand how and why they’re turning new agents into “sales athletes” in a real estate industry that’s embracing professionalism.

Watch or listen for Jeffery’s and Jose’s insights into:

- The shift to a more professional industry and the grit and love of fundamentals that success in it requires

- How one started in the industry as a teenager and the other came from corporate management

- Tips and tactics for more effective SOPs (it’s easier and more important than you think)

- How they’ve structured their 140-person team to deliver lower-funnel leads and lots of support systems to agents

- Why they celebrate VAs’ birthdays just like they do every other team member

- Why “We don’t want to change people. We want to enhance them.”

- Why everyone is in-office by 830am, role-playing by 9am, and on the phones by 930am

- Why “You don’t have to be a new agent, but you have to be willing to take on new ideas.”

- Why “The North Star has to be the client.”

- How their agent advisory board process works and what makes it successful

- How their 30-day onboarding and 12-week training programs work and what makes them successful

- How they do collaborative call listening and coaching - spending 45 minutes on a 5-minute call

- Specific tips to work more effectively with VAs

At the end, learn what the Orlando Magic have in common with The Laughton Team, just how inexpensive a unique dining experience can be in LA, and how a book can pour into you, your office, and your agents.

Check out our previous two-guest episode:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/ryan-rodenbeck-john-mccarthy-spyglass-leadership-structure

Connect with Jeffery, Jose, and Power Real Estate Group:

- https://www.instagram.com/jeffery_mcgonigle/

- https://www.instagram.com/joserobertosamano

- https://www.pwregroup.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Chase Whitney is doing geographic farming activities today that he was doing as a pre-teen to support his parents' real estate business. After more than a dozen years as an agent himself, Chase still does many hands-on, in-person, face-to-face, and human-to-human activities that can’t be scaled or leveraged.
 
But he’s also passionate about tech and improving The Whitney Team’s marketing and finances through that passion.

Learn how they expanded from a father-mother-son trio to an 8-person team, the 5 pillars of their tech stack (and his preferred vendors for each), what he learned using 7 different CRMs in 7 years, how he overcame shiny object syndrome, and much more!

Watch or listen to this Techtember episode with Chase Whitney to learn:
 - The when-you-know-you-know aspect of team culture

- Moving from a father-mother-son real estate business to the fits and starts of building out their real estate team

- Why old-school, manual, hands-on, and human-to-human marketing is so valuable in a tech-enabled age

- Overcoming the challenge of being drawn toward shiny objects

- The five core pillars of your real estate tech stack and the two rules that support them all

- What he learned by migrating their database through seven CRMs in a seven-year period

- Tips for improving your retargeting ads and alleviating ad fatigue in your target audiences

- How their direct mail strategy is targeted and tracked with tech

- Why front-facing IDX is irrelevant and what to look for in a real estate website solution

- Ways to leverage your best asset - property! - to create more valuable conversations

- The two main problems or questions that agents and team leaders reach out to him with

At the end, learn about bleeding red and gold, hours of research to save $2, and the problems with audiobooks.

Connect with Chase Whitney:

- https://consultwithchase.com/

- https://4realestatehelp.com

- https://www.instagram.com/chasewhitney_re/

Check out the book we talked about but couldn’t remember the title of:

- https://www.amazon.com/Oversubscribed-How-People-Lining-Business/dp/0857086197

Check out Real Estate Team OS episodes with people Chase mentioned:

- Ep Elena Kee https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/real-estate-crm-elena-kee-technology

- Ep 043 Chelly Herren https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/techtember-operations-real-estate-tech-stack-chelly-herren

- Ep 028 Jeffery McGonigle https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/real-estate-agent-proficiency-jose-samano-jeffery-mcgonigle

- Ep 041 Justin Benson https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/techtember-shaping-tech-to-your-way-of-doing-business-with-justin-benson

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Improving sales production and agent recruiting requires that we layer add a layer to our marketing function - performance marketing.

Grant Wise has been an entrepreneur his entire adult life and has developed a passion and expertise in direct response marketing. Learn what he’s learned and taught to top teams, including those of several people featured on this show!
 
 Learn how to narrow your focus and investment to what’s really working, how and why to create a deal tracking report, how to create and implement a lead management policy, and more.
 
 Learn why you need at least a 3x return per lead source, why you should send 5 emails per week, and which role can close the “gaping hole” in most team’s businesses.

Watch or listen to this conversation with Grant to learn:

- Getting clear on the top 3-5 things driving growth in your business

- Improving production and recruiting by adding a performance marketing layer (and a P&L for your marketing, advertising, and sales efforts) to your business

- The problem with elevating your social media manager to Marketing Director

- How a Deal Tracking Report tells you what’s driving your profit (not just your revenue) and how to create one (and keep it updated!)

- Why you need a 3x return on every lead source … at a minimum

- How to determine your proper reinvestment rate per lead source

- The “gaping hole” in most team’s businesses that they don’t know about and how a CRM Manager position helps close it

- Why you need a Lead Management Policy and how Keri Shull and her team created and implemented theirs

- The difference between remarketing and retargeting and two tips to increase appointments with remarketing

- How to leverage your expertise of living in and experiencing your community to create more conversations

- Why many people have “automated themselves out of relationship” with their marketplace and how email marketing can help you restore relationships

- How not to misuse AI and synthetic media

At the end, hear a question that’s better asked to Grant’s wife, a dynasty he’s pleased to experience, and a replacement for Netflix in his evening viewing.

Connect with Grant Wise:

- www.likegw.com 

- https://www.youtube.com/@likegrantwise

- www.facebook.com/likegrantwise 

- www.instagram.com/likegrantwise 

Mentioned at the close of this episode:
- https://www.masterclass.com/
- https://ouraring.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.realestateteamos.com

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

The Briley Team, the #1 real estate team in Nebraska, tripled production over the past few years and they’re pacing for another year of tremendous growth in 2024.

In this conversation with General Manager Koby Sway, you’ll get insights into how they’ve done it, including the DIRECT model to engage, empower, and focus agents and staff.
- Develop rapport

 - Indicate focus

 - Reinforce / recognize

 - Engage in self-discovery

 - Create a plan / cause for gap

 - Test / tweak / timeline

This is Koby’s first role in the real estate industry. Learn why it made sense for him and for the team, how they’ve grown lead conversion from 5% to 21%, the first hires he made when he joined the team, and more!

Watch or listen for insights into:

- Finding coachable, moldable, and trainable people

- His path from corporate America into a General Manager role with a real estate team

- The two things that drove the need for a GM: challenges with the “Seal Team” approach and the opportunity with Zillow Flex

- Specific growth in agents, production, and conversion over the past few years - and how they achieved it

- Why he loves termination and how to overcome the reason that 90% of real estate agents fail

- The 6 steps in the DIRECT method to empower people to achieve their goals (and the two steps most people overlook)

- How to get comfortable and confident yourself and how to help your team get comfortable and confident as you start using the DIRECT method

- How they increased lead conversion from 5% to 21% over the past few years

- Two key staff hires early on: Sales Operations Manager and Sales Coach

- How to save time with better feedback loops between team members

- Why the goal of 250 agents and $1B in volume still comes down to one agent at a time

At the end, learn how Kobe made Koby a Lakers fanatic, why he’s such a cheap date, and how you can learn something from anyone and everyone.

Episode with Tim Grover, NYT bestselling author and trainer for Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/tim-grover-winning-relentless-fubcon-session

Connect with Koby Sway:

- Email (as mentioned in the episode): Koby at The Briley Team dot com
 - https://www.instagram.com/the_inspiring_agent/

- https://www.facebook.com/theinspiringagent/

Connect with The Briley Team:

- https://www.instagram.com/thebrileyteam/

- https://www.facebook.com/brileyteam

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.realestateteamos.com

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Go inside a top-ten team in the nation ($1B in sales volume and nearly 2,500 transaction sides in 2023) in this Inside The Team episode with Tiffany Gobster, Team Leader of The Gobster Group inside The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona.

A team within a team within a team? Yes! It comes up in this conversation. The theme is continued growth in collaboration with a family of people in a shared culture.

Find out why - as she’s found more and more success in her business - Tiffany will always build with George Laughton and within The Laughton Team.

Watch or listen for Tiffany’s insights into:

- The natural and the intentional aspects of a vibrant team culture

- The expected and unexpected aspects of life as a real estate agent

- When starting a team became an obvious need and the first two people she brought alongside her

- How things like onboarding, training, and tech stack work as a team within a team

- Her preferred methods of recruiting agents and of coaching her team members

- Two things you need before starting a team

- Why you’re a better agent for your clients when you join a team

- Branding implications of building a team within a team (within a team) - spoiler: it’s about the agent, not about the company

- Why future success will draw on the past

At the end, learn just how a collection of colorful Stanley cups became the household standard.

Connect with Tiffany Gobster and The Laughton Team:
- https://myphoenixhomesearch.com/team/tiffany-gobster

- https://www.gobstergroup.com/

- https://www.instagram.com/laughtonteam/

- https://www.facebook.com/laughtonteam/

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe/
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Go inside a top-ten team in the nation ($1B in sales volume and nearly 2,500 transaction sides in 2023) in this Inside The Team episode with Tony Tramontozzi, Team Leader of The Tozzi Group inside The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona.

Hear how Tony transitioned from property management to become a real estate agent, how he stepped into and then back from a regional team leader role before starting his own team within The Laughton Team (timing is everything), and what the next steps are for him and his six-agent team.
 
 You’ll get a look into his bi-weekly accountability calls with agents and a hands-on, human-to-human practice he’ll always maintain even though some people automate it.
 
 You’ll also understand the benefits of building a team inside a team - and what it takes to attract new agents and make them successful. 

Watch or listen for Tony’s insights into:

- What a collaborative culture looks like in action

- How he shifted from property management and joined The Laughton Team back when they had just a half dozen agents

- Why the timing of a leadership role makes all the difference (one he stepped into and stepped back from before starting his own team within the team)

- The big shift a new team leader has to take - both as a mindset and in day-to-day practice

- How to make your team attractive to new agents

- What his bi-weekly accountability conversations with agents look like and why he asks “what got in the way?” more than “why?”

- What specifically gets in the way of new agents meeting their commitments and goals

- How he leverages tech and what he keeps as a hands-on, human-to-human, and in-the-moment video texting practice (even though some people automate it)

- How he’s thinking about potentially hiring his first staff member, assigning a co-team-leader, and stepping back a little from sales production to be more available to his agents

At the end, learn why he loves a team with haters and a team that’s had some down years.

Connect with Tony Tramontozzi and The Laughton Team:
- https://myphoenixhomesearch.com/team/tony-tramontozzi
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonytramontozzi/
- https://www.instagram.com/laughtonteam/
- https://www.facebook.com/laughtonteam/

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe/
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Go inside a top-ten team in the nation ($1B in sales volume and nearly 2,500 transaction sides in 2023) in this Inside The Team episode with Julia O’Buckley, Operations Manager with The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona.

To the operations role, Julia brought experience as a real estate agent and as a transaction coordinator. She helps run the ISA team, the TC team, database management, and a tech stack that puts their 200+ agents in the best position to win.

Learn how they uncover problems and opportunities, vet potential tech solutions, and roll it out into the organization - including the keys to agent buy-in and adoption. Specifically, she shares the story of switching CRMs from concept to implementation.
 
 Hear references to Follow Up Boss, Bara Agency, Sisu, BrokerMint, Ylopo, Grow.com, Curaytor, and other tools used by this top team.

Watch or listen for Julia’s insights into:

- What the Operations Manager role includes and how she brings it to life

- Matching transaction coordinators and agents for better customer experience, including the file per TC ratio they shoot for

- The state of their tech stack, why 2023 was the year to switch CRMs, why Follow Up Boss was the choice, and how they got everyone on board

- How Ylopo and Sisu have benefitted The Laughton Team

- Specific tips to increase agent adoption, including trust, value, communication, and training

- How the team has invested in her as a person and as a professional

At the end, learn how working with your hands can quiet down your mind.
 
Connect with Julia O'Buckley and The Laughton Team:
- https://myphoenixhomesearch.com/team/julia-obuckley
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-o-buckley-60ab2a98/
- https://www.instagram.com/laughtonteam/
- https://www.facebook.com/laughtonteam/

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe/
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Go inside a top-ten team in the nation ($1B in sales volume and nearly 2,500 transaction sides in 2023) in this Inside The Team episode with Alise Hannebaum, VP of Sales and Operations for The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona.

Alise joined the team at the start of the year; it’s her second role in the industry after more than a decade in finance and banking operations. 
 
 Learn how she scoped the role, how she invested her time in the first 90 days, and what’s ahead in the next year or two to align sales and operations from both an operational and financial perspective.

Watch or listen for Alise’s insights into:

- Endurance as a must-have characteristic within your team

- The puzzle-piece metaphor that captures her approach to operations and the benefits of coming into real estate from outside the industry

- Her initial steps through the first 90 days of joining The Laughton Team

- Protecting your Fridays

- The relationship between sales and operations and two definitions of her role across them

- Tips to improve your likelihood of operating your business profitably

- What to look for to know when to hire so that you’re not overstaffed and you’re not burning out your best people

- Key metrics for your leadership team and tips for managing cash flow

At the end, learn about her perfect place … especially when there’s no splashing in the shallow end.
 
 Connect with Alise Hannebaum and The Laughton Team:
 - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisehannebaum/
- https://www.instagram.com/laughtonteam/
- https://www.facebook.com/laughtonteam/

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe/
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Go inside a top-ten team in the nation ($1B in sales volume and nearly 2,500 transaction sides in 2023) in this Inside The Team episode with Justin McLellan, Head of Agent Productivity for The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona.

After nearly 15 years of teaching in a high school classroom, Justin joined the team to improve the engagement and efficiency of real estate agents. He’s been the point person on multiple lead sources, including the Zillow Flex program.

Justin shares here what he learned by listening to more than 1,000 phone calls and how he turned those insights into multiple playbooks, as well as the relationship between will and skill in driving the productivity of their 200+ agents.
 
Watch or listen to this episode with Justin McLellan for insights into:
- Tips for piloting and experimentation, including the willingness to fail and to test even the smallest things
- A description of his role as Head of Agent Productivity
- Why “all leads are created equal” and how they bring multiple lead sources into one funnel
- What he learned by listening to more than 1,000 phone calls between agents and potential buyers and sellers
- How he turned those learnings into multiple playbooks
- The balance of will and skill - of engagement and effectiveness - that drives agent productivity
- How they invest in and distribute leads across hundreds of agents and multiple offices
- The unique benefits of the Zillow Flex program
- The passion behind his work as a high school teacher and with The Laughton Team

At the end, learn why he wore multiple hats (literally) over the past couple of decades!

Connect with Justin McLellan and The Laughton Team:
- https://myphoenixhomesearch.com/team/justin-mclellan
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mclellan-870431286 
- https://www.instagram.com/laughtonteam/
- https://www.facebook.com/laughtonteam/ 

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe/
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Go inside a top-ten team in the nation ($1B in sales volume and nearly 2,500 transaction sides in 2023) in this Inside The Team episode with Michelle Bleach, Regional Team Lead for The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona.

Learn about Michelle’s path from real estate agent to team leader to leader of team leaders - and the development of and transition into her role as Regional Team Lead (with stops as a trainer and mentor along the way!).

Get tips for more effective coaching. Find out what makes The Laughton Team unique for agents, staff, and team leaders alike. And hear her advice for agents thinking about starting or joining a real estate team. 
  

Watch or listen for insights into:

- Processes and procedures as roadmaps

- How she tripled her annual sales production when she joined The Laughton Team

- Ways to turn online opportunities into a sustainable book of business (and help others do the same!)

- How to successfully transition from peer to leader of peers

- How the leadership team stays on the same page and speaks the same language through a leadership development program and coach

- Key elements of an effective coaching conversation, how to be a more effective coach, and how to be more coachable

- When groups and teams get together in person (vs remotely)

- How they’re evolving support of teams within the regional branches

- Which agents should join teams (and few tips to find the right one)

- What’s ahead for her, her role, and the team leaders in the next year or two

At the end, learn how a relationship created at the start of her career still benefits Michelle today!

For more on Levels 1-4 of the agent journey inside The Laughton Team, watch or listen to the first two episodes in this Inside The Team series with founder George Laughton and COO Billy Hobbs!
 
 Connect with Michelle Bleach and The Laughton Team:

- https://myphoenixhomesearch.com/team/michelle-bleach

- https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-alcorn-bleach-84463924/ 

- https://www.instagram.com/laughtonteam/
- https://www.facebook.com/laughtonteam/

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe/
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Go inside a top-ten team in the nation ($1B in sales volume and nearly 2,500 transaction sides in 2023) in this Inside The Team episode with Billy Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer for The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona.

In this conversation, Billy shares his path to the COO role (which includes experience as an agent, broker, and team leader), the nuanced and mutually beneficial system of splits and services they’ve designed to engage and retain agents, and tips for connecting and communicating with hundreds of team members across regional offices, teams within the team, and subcultures.

Watch or listen in particular for the critical role that pilots and iterations have made throughout their team journey.

Watch or listen for insights into:

- Hiring for and celebrating the pursuit of excellence

- His path from agent to broker to team leader to ops leader - including an indicator of who’s a good fit for a COO role 

- Team growth from 30 agents, 3 staff, and 1 office to 200 agents, 75 staff, and 6 office to 235 agents, 27 staff, and 5 offices

- The critical role of pilots and experiments and the two filters to define success

- The four levels of splits and services within the team (and how it’s changed from the first iteration to the third)

- Tips for supporting teams within the team (and the value of subcultures within the team)

- The importance of building with humans then driving efficiency with systems and of being willing to lead with ops investments, not just to lead with revenue

- Why the team model is so relevant in today’s market and why they operate according to that business model

- What’s  ahead in this Inside The Team series with The Laughton Team

At the end, learn about a team that found success even though they weren’t the most talented team.

Connect with Billy Hobbs and The Laughton Team:
- https://myphoenixhomesearch.com/team/billy-hobbs
- https://www.instagram.com/laughtonteam/
‍- https://www.facebook.com/laughtonteam/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/billy-hobbs/

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe/
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Go inside a top-ten team in the nation ($1B in sales volume and nearly 2,500 transaction sides in 2023) in this Inside The Team episode with George Laughton, Founder of The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona.

George speaks to the past, present, and future of their team, the values that drive them, why he’ll always invest in coaching, and ways they’re improving agent retention.

Watch or listen for insights into:

- The value of being surrounded by A players

- Balancing growth and scale with the local and grassroots aspects of your real estate team

- How his grandfather’s portfolio of rental properties influenced his approach to his business and his team

- The #1 focus of a team leader

- Which hats he kept on and took off as the team grew

- Tips for coaching and for finding a good coach

- A must-have characteristic of a member of The Laughton Team

- What it means for a buyer’s agent to “show value” and how he’s coaching his team regarding the NAR settlement and buyer-broker agreements

- Tips and cautions for real estate teams at different stages of growth (and the duplicatable quality of their regional pod model)

- How and why they developed Level 1 to Level 4 agent journeys within the team, plus teams within the team (including a caution on what NOT to do)

- Balancing investments in technology and innovation with the human-to-human moments that create sustainable success

At the end, discover the benefit of leaving something in your digital Costco shopping cart and of shutting down a credit card and seeing what happens.

Connect with George Laughton and The Laughton Team:
- https://myphoenixhomesearch.com/team/george-laughton
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-laughton-51506679/
- https://www.instagram.com/laughtonteam/
‍- https://www.facebook.com/laughtonteam/ 

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe/
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Deep experience with transaction coordination and operations.

Roles on mega teams and small teams alike.

A passion for and understanding of technology.

Lisa Vo brings more than a dozen years of industry experience and specific strengths and insights to this Techtember conversation.

Watch or listen to this Techtember episode of Real Estate Team OS to learn:

- The need to challenge flexibility with standardization

- A 13-year journey into real estate through multiple roles and teams, including four of the main roles she takes on now

- The key questions she asks to diagnose a team’s tech stack and CRM

- How to know if you’re using too little tech or too much tech in your business - and advice for both types of people

- How to untangle a Franken-stack of too much real estate tech

- Specific tools you can use for efficiency and convenience … even if you don’t know how to write code

- Benefits of joining a real estate team, including a done-for-you tech stack

- Keys to a great TC function

- Distinct stages of tech implementation for transaction coordination - and which tools you need as you progress

- Trends toward real estate teams and teamerages

- Advice for someone who fears or hates tech in general and AI in particular

- Why she’s most excited about industry-specific solutions when it comes to AI

At the end, get fun stories about YouTube, a MacBook Pro, and Astros.

Follow Up Boss Success Community:

- https://www.facebook.com/groups/followupbosscommunity

Lisa Vo:

- https://lisalovesfub.com

- https://simplyclosed.house

- https://huzi.ai

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Episode 025 of Real Estate Team OS features Nick McLean, Owner and CEO of Nick McLean Real Estate Group, author of Million Dollar Agent, cofounder of Reside Platform, and coach to top teams and team leaders.

After serving as a wildland firefighter and 747 pilot, Nick started a team in a new market and grew it from 6 agents and 1 staff to 40 agents and 7 staff, from 100 units to 500 units, and from $0.5M in revenue to $5M in revenue over a 10-year period.

Learn how operations in general and onboarding and training in particular differentiated his team - and why those things will matter more for your team in the years to come.

Watch or listen to this episode for Nick’s insights into:
- The need to be in sync as a team
- The role of belief statements (relative to mission statements and core values)
- Starting a team in a new market and at a time when there were very few teams
- Thinking of your business as a manufacturing business and resolving bottlenecks in the flow (with hiring as the last resort solution)
- Onboarding, training, and standards as the differentiating factors for your real estate team
- Four specific ways to improve training and its value to your team
- The critical importance of knowing the game you’re playing (and sticking to it)
- Why “teams are going to continue to dominate” but how the Pareto principle will wash out teams that aren’t lean, tight, agile, and competitive

At the end, learn how Nick’s experience as a wildland firefighter informed the squadron model for real estate teams, where he takes calculated, Storage-War-type business risks, what there’s an unlimited budget for, how he gets hours and hours of podcasts and audiobooks in, and when his daughter’s on her own with homework.

Connect with Nick McLean:
- https://www.instagram.com/nickmcleanre/
- https://www.facebook.com/nickmcleanrealestate

Check out Nick’s businesses:
- https://www.nickmcleanrealestate.com/
- https://resideplatform.com/

Books mentioned in this episode:
- Million Dollar Agent by Nick McLean: https://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Agent-Proven-Playbook/dp/B0C9FXJ8K9
- Same As Ever by Morgan Housel: https://www.amazon.com/Same-Ever-Guide-Never-Changes/dp/0593332709
- The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt: https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Process-Ongoing-Improvement/dp/0884271951

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS: 
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS: 
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Get subscriber-only episodes instantly, plus email-exclusive insights and guest previews every week! Sign up at https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

Episode 024 of Real Estate Team OS features Jeff Brown, Director of People and Operations with The Heaps Estrin Team, the #1 team in Canada under Royal LePage.

He joined the real estate team, led by Cailey Heaps, two years ago after spending about a decade with BMO Financial in human resources and workplace transformation.

Learn how the role shaped up, how the role serves the organization, how they support people through changes (including deeper adoption of Follow Up Boss and opening a second location), how to add performance management, which KPIs are worth reporting, and much more!

Watch or listen to this episode with Jeff for:
0:00 Intro and welcome
1:36 How to get the most from your team and team members by leading in an emotionally intelligent way
7:45 How he made the transition into real estate two years ago, what the initial role looked like with the team, and why the team needed him and his role 
13:58 Which KPIs are reported each month (and the various ways you can spend on flowers)
18:15 What the state of operations was within the team before bringing on a Director of People and Operations
21:14 Why *timing* is the key to opening up mindshare and creating scale for the agents and team leader alike
23:20 Insights into the what and why of two significant projects for the team - a new location and a new vertical
29:05 Culture and communication tips to facilitate change 
31:21 How a “five whys” approach helped move the team deeper into their CRM (Follow Up Boss) and why they looked to go deeper in the first place
37:55 How "the meeting after the meeting" supports training, education, and change
39:44 How the team runs their weekly sales meeting
40:49 How and why to implement true performance management for your admin and support staff - with two specific tips
46:25 Why and how to face the leadership and management aspects of your job even if you don’t love them

49:08 At the end, hear about an executive seeking permission from a junior team member, about just how expensive hand soap can be, and about leaving your phone in the other room.

Learn more about The Heaps Estrin Team:
- https://heapsestrin.com

Connect with Jeff Brown:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-brown-72077424/

Learn more about happiness with Gretchen Rubin:
- https://gretchenrubin.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Get subscriber-only episodes instantly, plus email-exclusive insights and guest previews every week! Sign up at https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

Christy Belt Grossman is the go-to expert for real estate operations.
 
She started in mortgage ops before joining a 2-agent team as an assistant. Together, they grew to the #5 Keller Williams team and one of the first teams to produce $1B in sales.

Today, Christy is the Owner of Ops Boss Coaching and shares tips for owners and operators alike on building a business by building a partnership. 
 
You’ll also learn when and how to hire or promote an Ops Boss from Assistant to Director of Operations to Chief Operating Officer.

Watch or listen to this conversation with Christy to learn:
- The definition and value of life-giving leadership
- Her growth from assistant to COO in a pioneering real estate team 25+ years ago including a hard lesson along the way
- The nuance in operations roles and a team leader’s need to match their goals with these roles
- Empowering your ops person to be a multiplier rather than just a subtractor
- The Assistant as a job (not a career) that’s paid based on time spent (not results generated)
- The Director of Operations as a goal setter who’s paid on results
- The Chief Operating Officer as a business leader who’s producing results, driving growth, and co-creating and co-casting the vision
- The 3x Rule for optimizing your operations
- The process to determine proper compensation for operations team members
- A general rule of thumb to guide operations hiring
- How to identify the Assistant who’s prepared to become a Director of Operations
- How to set goals and drive progress between team leader and ops leader … together
- What solo agents and team leaders get by investing in operations

At the end, learn about a rock band as a melting pot, a +20-year-old, patriotic VW Beetle, and Picasso’s mastermind sessions.

Connect with Christy and Ops Boss on Instagram:
- https://www.instagram.com/christybeltgrossman/
- https://www.instagram.com/opsbosscoaching/

Learn more about Ops Boss Coaching:
- https://OpsBossCoaching.com

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Episode 022 of Real Estate Team OS features Matt Smith, President and CEO of Matt Smith Real Estate Group, the #1 team in Mid-Missouri and the #2 team in the state. 

Learn how Matt turned hardships into an environment of productivity, positivity, and accountability - and how anyone can learn the language of leadership. Get insights into hiring staff at the right time - and into empowering both staff and agents to make more and better decisions.

Why should an agent join a team? When should a team leader leave sales production? What’s the 1-3-1 Method? Get those answers and more!

Watch or listen to this episode with Matt to learn:
 - How an emphasis on culture and the language of leadership drive team performance

- What it takes to be a leader who creates more leaders, which is a skill you can acquire and develop

- Two questions to answer and one thing to ignore when considering when, whether, and how to leave sales production

- How Matt got started in real estate including personal and business challenges along the way (like a broker taking 97 listings and 42 pendings from his team)

- The nature and structure of his 3-location team that’s hit 25% market share

- Tips for hiring staff in the right order and at the right time to allow growth and minimize friction

- “I’m a TERRIBLE COO” and why he runs operations anyway

- The cause of most problems between people

- How The 1-3-1 Method and two empowering decision-making filters help your staff and agents build confidence, momentum, and success

- Why there are “very few people who wouldn’t be better off on a team” - with a focus on taking more money home each year, not just from each transaction

At the end, learn about the best job Matt has (among many), why his wife walked out of a car dealership on him, and the perfect pairing of podcasts and workouts.

Connect with Matt Smith:
 - https://www.instagram.com/mattsmithexp/

- https://www.facebook.com/matt.smith.733450

Check out All or Nothing in Real Estate:
 - https://allornothinginrealestate.com/

Check out Matt Smith Real Estate Group:
 - https://www.mattsmithrealestategroup.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.realestateteamos.com

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Episode 021 of Real Estate Team OS features Drew Little, Realtor and Team Leader of The Home Run Team in Virginia Beach. He’s just a few years into his real estate career and brings to it 25 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience.
 
Learn how and why he got licensed, started a real estate team, and approached the business influenced by his baseball, military, corporate, and personal experiences.

Hear him out on the misalignment between agent and broker in some models - and how to correct them. Get his story on interviewing nearly two dozen brokers and team leaders when he started his career - and what he looked for to make the decision who to go with.

Watch this episode of Real Estate Team OS for Drew’s insights into:

- Getting buy-in and commitment from team members, who want to be part of something bigger than themselves despite the individualistic nature of the industry

- Working for fulfillment, not just for money (and avoiding “commission breath” in the process)

- Why real estate was the solution when he realized corporate jobs were a problem

- His initial vision for a real estate team that scales, including what needs to be localized and what can be centralized

- “A fanatical focus on clients and on fiduciary responsibility” as a long-term strategy for sustainable success

- The misaligned incentives in some brokerage models

- What it means to be a true fiduciary (and how “helping people pays you back”)

- How an agent should hire a broker (not the other way around) and the one question every broker should be able to answer for you

- Why an agent should never chase splits (but how you can negotiate them)

- The litmus test and value prop for joining The Home Run Team

- Being committed to making sure agents can’t sell any more property anywhere else than with their team

- Their first 3 staff hires (and why)

- Why he’ll always be in sales production

- His commission-based partnership approach to the ISA position (and how it’s paying off for everyone)

- What an agent needs to know and be able to deliver before starting a team

At the end, hear about some benefits (and a drawback!?) of coaching teenage baseball players, how his business partner’s frivolousness balances him out, and what it means to be an “omnivore of improvement.”

Connect with Drew Little:
- https://www.instagram.com/coach_drew757/
- https://linktr.ee/coachdrewlittle
- https://home-run-team.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Episode 020 of Real Estate Team OS features Katie Day, Realtor and Team Leader of The MOVEMETOTX Team in Houston.

Hear her journey into real estate sales and team leadership - in part through the lens of the simple promise you hear in webinars, podcasts, and stage presentations versus the messier reality of hiring, firing, and losing people. Hype oversimplifies. Experience teaches.

Watch or listen to Episode 020 with Katie Day for insights into:

- The need for adaptability within your team and where it comes from

- Balancing team goals with individual goals

- The progression from multi-family and single-family property management to real estate sales (with lessons learned from running an apartment community at age 21)

- The first hire a new team leader should make (and that she didn’t make)

- The role of culture and the development of core values of their 10-agent, 2-TC, 2-VA team (and defining some of it based on what you *don't* want, not just what you do want)

- Why building a mega team isn’t their goal, despite its being glamorized and oversimplified

- A "losing battle" many teams fight as they scale - and the high price they pay for it

- Their two agent avatars and how they built a three-week training program specifically in support of them

- Organizing your training into Sales, Marketing, and Operations and sequencing lessons for early sales wins

- The multiple benefits of staying in sales production (and why many mega team leaders are returning to sales production)

- How a solo agent benefits from joining a team and the two things that are required for success within a team (coachability and humility)

- How an aspiring team leader should plan their first hire (or three)

- The aha moment of being present on social media and creating video content

At the end, hear why a varsity basketball lineup went rec league, a $2 refill savings, and the benefits of conferences and events.

Connect with Katie Day:

- https://www.instagram.com/movemetotx/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.realestateteamos.com

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Episode 019 of Real Estate Team OS features Mike Heddle, Broker and Team Leader of Heddle Real Estate in Hamilton, Ontario.

Learn how he built their real estate practice on four specific verticals, including relocation, new construction, property investing, and referrals through a tight network.

Hear about the $300,000 they pay out in referral fees each year as a marketing cost he’s glad to pay - in large part because it’s a variable cost in their highly productive and profitable business.

And listen for specific language around a consultant’s approach, a sales partner, and a real estate practice.

Watch or listen to this conversation with Mike Heddle for:
- A quick dive into the necessary presence and balance of leadership, drive, systems, accountability, and culture for team success
- Flipping the org chart upside down as a leader (like a bee apiary)
- The need for a North Star to align individual goals and success with team goals and success (and an overview of their core values)
- The Heddle Group real estate team as a product of necessity (too much opportunity to deliver the level of service he was building his reputation on)
- Their first vertical - a relocation partnership with a world-renowned medical research center
- Their second vertical - a new home construction partnership with a builder
- The vertical strategy “makes the phones ring off the hook” and generates 120-140 organic, inbound leads each month
- Their third vertical - a real estate investment network (1/3 of their business, about 100 of the 300 transactions each year)
- Their fourth vertical - connecting with the top 1% in Royal LePage and the fortunate market dynamics an hour outside of Toronto
- A deeper dive into how you can leverage their third vertical - "the best ROI" in their business and “one of the strongest value propositions” they’ve put out to prospects, clients, and the market
- The four financial fundamentals of investment properties
- Specializing by vertical and lead routing by vertical
- Why he’ll likely always stay in sales production and won’t likely pursue a mega team structure

At the end, learn about the NHL teams he’s loved, the “wooden skis” upgrade, and a renewed focus on health (specifically: sleep).

Learn more about Heddle Real Estate:
- https://liveinhamilton.ca

Learn more about The Deal of the Week:
- https://dotw.ca

Connect with Mike Heddle:
- https://www.instagram.com/mike.heddle

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos/

Episode 018 of Real Estate Team OS features Preston Guyton, an entrepreneur who’s been a founder and leader of companies in real estate, mortgage, design and construction, online lead gen, and coaching.

Learn how these all work together and learn from his expertise in online lead generation, lead conversion, and email marketing. Pay special attention to the 7-11-4 formula to connect with people.

Watch or listen to this conversation with Preston for insights into:
0:00 Intro and welcome
1:00 The need for every team member to be committed, consistent, and accountable (even when it’s *boring*)
4:19 How leadership and marketing translate across the industries he’s served and companies he’s founded
6:24 How his door-to-door sales job kicked off his entrepreneurial journey through real estate, mortgage, construction, and online lead gen
12:18 The challenge of letting people do what they were hired to do
14:43 How they hit the ground running when they opened Palms Realty and the first 3 leadership positions they hired
19:15 Why they opted for an independent brokerage rather than a teamerage or a franchise
20:16 How their Agent Excellence Program provides onboarding for about 10 agents per quarter and improves results across the team
25:12 The lead generation goal of 20-30 leads per agent per month
26:36 The 7-11-4 formula for lead generation, engagement, and conversion (7 hours, 11 interactions, and 4 places)
29:04 Why he still takes a hands-on approach to marketing
33:58 Why your conversion problem is much more about lead follow-up than lead source (and a reminder to stop using canned action plans)
38:38 Tips for email list segmentation and newsletter engagement (including how to structure your emails based on how people read them)
46:53 Why his approach to AI is one of caution

51:15 At the end, learn about his appreciation for Justin Havre, Gary Ashton, and the Real Estate Webmasters community, how he styles up a canned tuna lunch, why he doesn’t listen to music while running or working out, and the benefits of a national (rather than a local) network.

Connect with Preston Guyton:

- https://www.instagram.com/prestonguyton/

- https://www.facebook.com/preston.guyton/

Learn more about Preston’s companies:
- https://www.palmshome.com/

- https://www.ezhomesearch.com/

- https://cheplakdigital.com/

- https://resideplatform.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Episode 017 of Real Estate Team OS features Jim Remley, who coaches team leaders and brokerage owners on per-agent productivity and profitable growth.
 
He pioneered one of the first real estate teams in the late 80s and grew it to a 17-office company across Oregon. He later grew a 30-agent team to 250 agents. The keys to both successes: acquisitions, partnerships, and per-agent productivity.

Here, you’ll get telltale signs of an unprofitable real estate company, the best hire a team leader can make, and the simplest recruiting message you can offer.

Listen to Ep 017 with Jim for:
0:00 Intro and welcome
1:15 The balance of empathy and automation in “world-class service”
7:36 A team as a brokerage within a brokerage with specialized positions and why they'll absolutely be the dominant players” - responsible for 60-80% of GCI and challenging solo agents at scale
9:14 How the emerging “virtual team” model works and why it makes sense financially
14:25 “The best hire a team leader can make” and the value of coaching and mentorship for agents looking to invest and grow
16:48 A caution on building teams within teams (and a proposed way to do it effectively)
18:25 How a company he started at age 23 grew to 17 offices across Oregon (through acquisitions, partnerships, and recruiting)
20:02 The simplest recruiting message you can offer and how he leveraged it to grow two real estate businesses
23:46 The two ways they entered new markets as they expanded their business and a strategy to bring top performers into new offices
27:06 The per-agent productivity metric to pay attention to (and new data about it)
30:14 The telltale sign of a weak real estate company (and potential acquisition target)
33:18 The importance of listings for profitable growth and “the #1 place where listings will come from in 2024 without question”
35:30 A basic marketing strategy to speak to those 30 million people who’ll be listing over the next several years
38:20 How the Hawthorne Effect helps you recruit and retain productive agents - and the two things to hold them to (participation or performance)
40:59 The “magic words” of “How’s your pipeline?”
43:40 How to decide whether to leave sales production and the one role you have to figure out how to pay for when you do
46:56 Positive signs in the market and 4 top sources to find more stories and data 

50:30 At the end, learn about the power of a paper route, what he seeks at used book stores, and the travel goal he’s working toward at least 7-8 weeks per year.

Follow Jim Remley:
- https://www.instagram.com/erealestatecoach
- https://www.tiktok.com/@erealestatecoach

See Jim's News and Data Sources:
- Zillow research https://www.zillow.com/research/
- NAR Economists’ Outlook https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook
- Redfin News https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-news/
- KCM Blog https://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/blog/

Learn more about eRealEstateCoach:
- http://erealestatecoach.com/
- https://linktr.ee/erealestatecoach

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

For more than 8 years, Emily Smith has helped build Wemert Group Realty, an 80-person independent teamerage in which "team" is as much a culture and set of commitments as it is a business model.

Though Emily’s held just two titles, Marketing Director and COO, she's served in many roles and initiated many projects.

By watching, you’ll develop a picture that a) you need an intrapreneur in your growing company and b) that person may already be a team member.

Watch this episode with Emily Smith for insights into:
0:00 Intro and welcome
2:04 The importance of being solution-based and how to find this quality in the hiring process
5:58 How she transitioned from her own entrepreneurial journey into a real estate team
8:18 Her path from Marketing Director to Chief Operating Officer at Wemert Group Realty
13:26 How to find your team’s COO through the “hole plugging” method and other names the role might go by
18:30 How to prioritize the operational improvements your business needs (no matter your size or structure, including solo real estate agents)
22:36 A simple habit to accelerate the growth of your assistant(s)
25:04 Why their team is more than a business model and what agents are opting into when they join their teamerage
29:58 Two reasons why recruiting ISN’T a top priority for Wemert Group Realty
32:44 A fundamental, self-reflective decision that most team leaders will face
37:22 The one question that helps you and every team member run a more successful business (and how Emily would answer that question herself)
40:36 Why every entrepreneur needs an intrapreneur and tips to build the relationship, share the successes, and manage the vision from both sides

47:54 At the end, Emily shares her appreciation for the OpsBoss community, her not-so-frivolous throw pillow obsession, and her pursuit of the expert.

Meet the Wemert Group Realty team:
- https://wemertgrouprealty.com/the-team/

Connect with Emily Smith:
- https://www.facebook.com/emilytompkinssmith
- https://www.instagram.com/emily_t_smith/

Learn more about Ops Boss Coaching:
- https://opsbosscoaching.com/meetchristy/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

From studying supply chain management to running operations for a team from 0 to 100 agents to becoming COO of a real estate team committed to per-agent productivity, Chelly Herren’s seen, tried, learned, and achieved a lot - especially in the zones of real estate tech and real estate ops.

And she’s here to share it with you.

- How to simplify your tech stack for more efficiency and less redundancy. 
- A disciplined approach to evaluating the true cost and true benefits of new technology.

- Specific tactics to increase agent understanding, buy-in, and adoption.
 
It’s all here in one helpful and engaging conversation!

Listen to this Techtember episode with Chelly Herren to learn:

- 3 reasons people join team leaders (not just join teams)

- Her path to COO of The Hyland Group, including helping build a team from 0 to 100 agents in a couple of years and a couple of markets

- The profile and structure of a highly productive team, including a leader closing 100+ transactions per year

- Her two-step process for evaluating the tech the team had in place and redesigning it to reduce redundancy and increase per-agent productivity

- Transparency and efficiency gains from managing transactions inside Follow Up Boss

- The most common tech theme, question, or problem she encounters (consolidation / simplification)

- The 3 main questions she asks when evaluating whether, when, and how to add new tech to their operation

- A caution and question to help you consider the full cost of new tech and weighing it against the benefits

- Specific tactics for better agent buy-in and adoption of new tools and tech (including an SOP library and agent tools website)

- How she keeps up with trends in real estate operations and technology

At the end, learn about Swifties, Zonies, leftovers, designer purses and wallets, information saturation, and pilates vs beaches.

Connect with Chelly Herren:
- https://chellyherren.com/

- https://www.prescottareaproperty.com/

Guests mentioned in this episode:

- Ep 016 with Emily Smith https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/emily-smith-intrapreneur-entrepreneur-teamerage

- Ep 023 Christy Belt Grossman https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/operations-leadership-real-estate-assistant-coo-christy-belt-grossman-ops-boss

- Ep 041 Justin Benson https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/techtember-shaping-tech-to-your-way-of-doing-business-with-justin-benson

- FUBCON Session with Jon Cheplak https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/jon-cheplak-real-estate-teams-traditional-brokerages

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Episode 015 of Real Estate Team OS features Suneet Agarwal, CEO and Owner of Big Block Realty North and the Best Sac Homes Group, the #1 team in Sacramento and a top team in California.

A co-founder of the Reside Platform, Suneet also coaches top teams and brokerages.

In this conversation, we hit on three of his favorite topics: recruiting, email marketing, and ISAs!
 
Listen to Ep 015 with Suneet for:
0:00 Intro and welcome
1:50 Why leadership separates good teams from great teams
4:35 How he landed in real estate after experiences in mortgage, cannabis, bulldog breeding, and other businesses
7:44 How Tristan Ahumada, Jon Cheplak, Lab Coat Agents, and the Keller Williams community helped him on the path to #1 in Sacramento, then #1 in California
12:38 “Recruiting solves all problems” - agents, managers, and admins alike, as well as "compartmentalizing the business"
20:40 The top challenge he hears “across the board” from agents and team leaders right now
24:40 Why the real estate team model is more effective than the traditional brokerage model right now
27:20 Why more team leaders should ignore the “merit badge” of leaving sales production
30:05 How to adjust ad spend in a tough or slow real estate market
35:55 Just how simple the recruiting conversation can be (and how - specifically - he runs his recruiting conversations)
40:24 How he scaled up, then topgraded his ISA team (which includes local and international agents) 
44:52 Why earlier is better for the ISA-to-agent handoff 
47:12 Why joining a team is the best option for most agents right now

49:50 At the end, Suneet shares the best team he’s ever been a part of (and he’s part of it right now), picks up a beautiful, frivolous purchase, and speaks to investments in both coaching and video games.

Connect with Suneet (and get his free stuff):
- https://suneetagarwal.com
- https://www.instagram.com/suneet_agarwal916/

Check out Reside Platform:
- https://resideplatform.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

The ISA. The inside sales agent. The “keeper of the leads.”
 
Travis Halverson is “just an ISA” in the very best way. He coaches and consults on the ISA function with Cheplak Digital and EZ Home Search. For years, he served in ISA and inside sales leadership roles with Keller Williams Oak and Ocean Group and the Anderson Hicks Group. 

In this conversation, Travis shares a step-by-step process you can use today as a solo agent, team, or brokerage to find missed sales opportunities in your database. He also speaks to the three keys to success in engaging people: speed to lead, speed to response, and speed to relationship.

Listen to this episode of Team OS with Travis for insights into:
0:00 Intro and welcome
2:00 Self-accountability and team accountability
3:30 Staring his career taking calls in a DirecTV call center, then setting up call centers and training staff in Cost Rica and El Salvador
6:45 Overcoming the negative stereotypes about call centers and high-volume outreach, as well as the stereotype of the ISA role as a "stepping stone" role
11:20 The importance of framing the ISA position as a sales position (plus a fun, little hack to stay motivated)
14:58 Speed to lead and the reason NOT to call immediately
17:04 Speed to response and the idea of too much automation
21:18 Speed to relationship and the importance of connecting deeper than surface level before anyone else
23:30 AI as another point of leverage for agents and for ISAs
27:10 Why your database size tells you whether and when to hire an ISA or an ISA team (and the risk of lead exhaustion if you miscalculate)
32:25 A step-by-step process for any agent, ISA, or team to organize a database to create sales opportunities you’ve missed
36:45 Tips for solo agents who need to prospect on their own - without an ISA
39:15 Balancing quality and quantity in outreach - and automating the WAY you follow up and the WAY you work (rather than automating the follow up itself)
43:47 How timeline and motivation should inform client handoffs between ISAs and agents
49:00 What a team leader should look for (and avoid) when hiring an ISA
52:05 Why every agent should spend a little time in the ISA seat

53:35 At the end, hear about the Anderson Hicks team in Idaho Falls, a traveling coin collection, podcast apps as search engines, and the benefits of a balanced relationship.

Connect with Travis Halverson:
- https://www.facebook.com/travis.j.halverson/
- https://www.instagram.com/travishalversonnn

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

After surviving an IED attack in Afghanistan as a Special Forces Green Beret and retiring from the US Army, Levi Rodgers started a real estate career.

Hear about his journey from solo agent to team leader to RE/MAX franchise owner to independent brokerage owner.His 300-person-strong organization operates in three markets, is characterized by speed, flexibility, and service, and was sparked by success with Zillow Offers.

Watch or listen for Levi's insights into:
- Drawing on a variety of voices and stories for information, inspiration, and ideas
- The need to be adaptable in the “constant startup environment” of a real estate business
- How military leadership and real estate leadership are similar (spoiler: they’re about people)
- His path from solo agent to team leader, to RE/MAX franchise owner, to independent brokerage owner
- An overview of his team structure and leadership positions on the path from 30 people to more than 300
- A view into their annual planning process that’s driven by an outside facilitator and captured in an 8’ wide graphic (rather than a multi-page document)
- How an aspiring team leader should think about the brokerage they’re in=
- How the Zillow Offers opportunity led him to go independent for greater speed and flexibility
- The recruiting philosophy and approach bringing 10-15 agents a month and hundreds of agents over the past several into the team
- Why successful teams are attractive to experienced agents right now

At the end, find out how this Lakers fan became a “life-long Spurs fan” and a frivolous purchase of “dirt” that may not be so frivolous after all.

Connect with Levi Rodgers:
- https://www.facebook.com/levi.rodgers.714

Hear Levi's story on Ep 040 of The MedEvac Podcast from Black Rifle Coffee:  
- https://youtu.be/4aSofDN7LEo

Learn about the Levi Rodgers Real Estate Group:
- https://lrgrealty.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/levirodgerslrg/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@levirodgerslrg

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Episode 012 of Real Estate Team OS features Winston Murray, Founder of Works Real Estate in Portland and Seattle.

Winston speaks to the gap and opportunity that inspired the way they’ve built Works Real Estate: being high-volume and tech-forward while remaining hands-on with a focus on long-term relationships.

Listen to this episode of Team OS with Winston for insights into:
- Balancing your relentlessness and determination with humility
- The path from getting fired as a transaction coordinator to joining a team to becoming a solo agent to starting a team to growing from 4 to 140 agents
- Staffing up and recruiting agents to handle the volume brought by the Zillow Flex program
- Why “endless leads mean nothing without quality control”
- Designing a brokerage that balances high-volume, online opportunities with old-school, hands-on service
- The exact splits and service combination he landed at after changing it four times over the past few years
- The tiered levels of splits on SOI business that works for Works
- How they landed at 10x the agents but 1/3 the staff
- Their approach to market expansion
- How they communicated changes in splits and services
- How they make it easy for agents to understand the value of their model
- Why they went independent with the brokerage
- How and why he participates on the Agent Advisory Board for both Zillow and Sisu - and the value of both partnerships
- Why he remains hands-on and active in the team
- How starting a nonprofit for addiction recovery prepared him for building a real estate business

At the end, learn which real estate team leaders inform and inspire his own growth and where he went “all out” instead of holding back “a little more” investing in their new office.

Connect with Winston Murray:
- https://www.instagram.com/winston_murray1/

Connect with Works Real Estate:
- https://www.instagram.com/worksrealestateco/
- https://worksrealestate.co/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Episode 011 of Real Estate Team OS features Lauren Bowen, Chief Operating Officer at Robert Slack, the fourth-ranked mega team in America and top-ranked in Florida.

Her roles with the company as it’s grown from 4 to 800 agents over the past 9 years: Realtor, Team Leader, Senior Team Leader Director, and now COO.

Learn about her career journey, her new responsibilities, and the company's market expansion into 5 states in a challenging, uncertain market.

Watch or listen for Lauren’s insights into:
- Consistency not just in processes, but also in rollouts and in team leader
- A snapshot of the 16 lead sources their lead-provided brokerage runs on (including Realtor.com, Zillow Flex, and Connect by Zillow Group)
- The leeway team leaders in different markets need to support their agents and the company
- How Slack Academy helps new agents and how they graduate into lead sources
- A vigilant approach to a family culture, culture as their fundamental differentiator, and the benefits to solo agents joining their team
- The 3am email that shifted her to COO and a drastic change she needed to make once in the role
- How “Making agent’s lives easier” as a decision-making filter led to a new application of VA and ISA talents
- The love of spreadsheets and the need to live in them, not just review them
- The biggest jump in her career - Realtor to Team Leader
- Why she left sales production and how she stays in touch
- The flexibility and bending required to shift from Team Leader to leader of Team Leaders
- Four characteristics that make a good team leader and the difference between a good agent and a good team leader
- The necessary foundation to invest and grow in a challenging and uncertain market
- Why there are NO “bad leads”

At the end, hear about shoes that aren’t lonely, how to learn something “from anywhere and anyone”, and the Phantoms of the Operating Room.

Learn more about Robert Slack:
- https://robertslack.com/careers/
- https://www.instagram.com/robertslackllc/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@robertslackllc

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

This FUBCON Session of Real Estate Team OS features marketing and branding expert Nick Mallory, who’s got deep expertise in craft beer and who worked with Elysian Brewing, Rogue Ales, and the Craft Brew Alliance before joining Boneyard Beer as Brand Director.

Watch or listen to this Session with Nick for insights into:
- Your ability to open up conversation, remove obstacles, and unlock creativity by being an empathetic leader
- How a leader should always be working to hire their replacement
- The 6 characteristics every great brand or marketing initiative should have to stand out and differentiate in a commoditized market: Simple, Interesting, Meaningful, Unique, Understandable, and Unexpected
- How to ladder up from agent brand to team brand to brokerage brand to franchise brand
- Balancing investments into your brand promise and your client experience

At the end, find out who he honors to honor his own soul and why the toughest times give you the most learning and growth.

Connect with Nick Mallory:
- https://www.instagram.com/thenickmallory/
- https://www.nickmallory.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

This FUBCON Session of Real Estate Team OS features Howard Tager, Co-founder and CEO at Ylopo. Among the other companies he’s founded (and sold) is TigerLead.

Watch or listen for Howard’s insights into:
- Why it takes a village to create a high-performing team (curating diversity, synergy, and uniqueness to create magic)
- The founding of Ylopo, even though he was already on a different, safer path
- The story and lesson from one of the four times they nearly lost the entire company (a story of diversification)
- What he learned from his TigerLead journey that led to Ylopo Realtors in Residence, ambassadors, coaches, and professors
- Why the ugly of AI gets all the attention
- What’s good about AI for real estate professionals who are thoughtfully solving the “last mile” problem every day

At the end, Howard shares the “most fun game” he plays (and why - after much reflection - he’s decided never to retire).

Connect with Howard and Ylopo:
- https://www.instagram.com/howard_tager/
- https://www.instagram.com/ylopo_official/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@ylopo_official

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

This FUBCON Session of Real Estate Team OS features Jeremy Larson, CEO of the Larson Real Estate Team in Santa Cruz and Monterey, California.

He’s a three-time Inc 500 Entrepreneur, a three-time eXp Realty ICON Agent Award winner, and member of the Zillow agent advisory board whose real estate team doubled revenue for three years straight.

Jeremy shares here the process for re-training and re-recruiting agents, how to know whether solo agent or team leader is your best path, how to know whether solo agent or team member is your best path, and a unique tactic to hire the right avatar for your team.

Watch or listen to this Session of Team OS with Jeremy for:
- The balance of resources, training, and opportunities required for team success
- His process for engaging, re-training, and re-recruiting agents, including the role of top producers
- Tips from his journey through the “messy middle” between producing agent and team leader
- The “instant clarity” and “something magical” that happens when you commit to leaving sales production
- A unique tactic he and his operations manager use to make sure they’re bringing on their ideal agent avatar
- Why to take the risk of hiring staff for where you’re going, not where you are (spoiler: it’s in part about agent experience)
- Two team paths for a top performing agent
- The big difference between being on a team and operating solo that every agent should consider

At the end, he shares appreciation for Bay Area teams.

Connect with Jeremy Larson:
- https://www.instagram.com/realjeremylarson/

Learn about the Larson Real Estate Team:
- https://www.larsonrealestate.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

This FUBCON Session of Real Estate Team OS features Chris Heller, a real estate team pioneer, former President and CEO of Keller Williams, and current President of OJO.

Chris shares the common sense behind the start of his real estate team 30+ years ago, how the model caught on, what its future is, and why agents should consider joining a team.

Listen to this Session with Chris for insights into:
- Communication and integrity for team success
- Versatility and flexibility as an agent and as a leader
- The (no so) common sense that led to his real estate team more than 30 years ago
- Keys to the normalization of the team model (including The Millionaire Real Estate Agent)
- A big change in how teams can get started
- Two reasons an agent should find the right team to join
- Why OJO isn’t just “selling leads” and what they’re doing to help teams instead
- The self-inflicted pain the agent community has brought on itself (and the only way to avoid it)
- The future of the team model, including challenges for solo agents and two successful team types
 
At the end, learn about the joy and fulfillment of lacing up your skates with your brothers.

Connect with Chris Heller:
- https://www.instagram.com/hellersells/

Learn more about OJO:
- https://ojo.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos
 

This FUBCON Session of Real Estate Team OS features Kenny Truong, Founder and Team Leader of FAST REAL ESTATE in Northern California.

Learn unique and specific strategies for leveraging Instagram, Slack channels, and newsletters for agent recruiting, training, and retention - and why being "fast and good beats slow and great."

Watch or listen to this Session with Kenny for insights into:
- A direct, data-driven leadership style
- How leading an online leads team helped develop a respect for different personality types
- Why FAST is the key element of their brand and why “fast and good beats slow and great”
- How he’s personally recruited more than 100 agents and his team has recruited more than 500 agents over the past few years
- Very specific tips for leveraging Instagram and Slack channels for culture, education, training, recruiting, and more
- How they repurpose much of the Instagram and Slack content in a weekly newsletter (the most recent of which was an all-AI creation)
- How a solo agent should think about joining a team or starting a team
- The plan to increase contacts through accountability groups in the year ahead

At the end, learn about the happiness a $400 toothbrush can bring.

Connect with Kenny Truong:
- https://www.instagram.com/kenny_fast/
- https://www.kennytruong.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Real estate agent. 
Operations leader for a real estate team. 
Partner in a real estate brokerage. 
Real estate tech consultant.

These are just a few of the roles Lee Adkins has played and seats he’s been in over the past couple of decades in the industry.
 
 He’s the Co-Founder and Chief Partnership Officer of Amplified Solutions, a team that designs, implements, and manages your team’s Follow Up Boss leads and systems.
 
 We invited him into this Techtember episode to help you assess and audit your real estate tech in general and your real estate CRM in particular.
 
 And many of the insights are simpler and more analog than you’d expect.
 
 Watch or listen to this Techtember episode to learn:

- The fundamental and often overlooked importance of a plan

- How he went from touring musician in a band to real estate tech consultant

- The two most common problems he encounters when assessing the tech stack of a team or brokerage (with a nod to the “I didn’t know it could do that” problem)

- Specific questions to help you find and implement new tech effectively

- Using a pencil and a piece of paper for your business plan, operations manual, or tech stack

- Why to click through all the Admin tabs of your CRM

- Setting, forgetting, and benefitting from the Follow Up Boss pixel

- Why to set all your reporting to the same time frame

- Knowing who to talk to, getting to Smart List Zero, then getting out to connect with people and earn commissions

- Where to get hours of in-account, on-screen, show-and-tell training on Follow Up Boss

At the end, learn how a rock band is like a real estate team, how fast $9.95/month racks up, and how to help your team unplug.

Follow Up Boss resources:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDmR8fGtgojAuhaYlB6n8xn8yJwkPCLPU
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/followupbosscommunity

Amplified Solutions:
- https://AmplifiedSolutions.com
- https://www.instagram.com/amplifiedsolutions/

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Episode 010 of Real Estate Team OS features Ryan Rodenbeck and John McCarthy of Spyglass Realty in Austin, Texas.

Ryan’s the Founder, Broker, and CEO. John joined him as an agent and became Sales Manager.

Learn what Ryan built that attracted John to the team and the growth and opportunity that created the need for formal sales leadership.

Watch or listen for insights into:
- John’s appearance on a house flipping show 15 years ago
- The role a formal leadership structure plays as foundation of a scaling business
- How and why Spyglass started (spoiler: it wasn’t to build a team - it was for Ryan as a solo agent)
- Why the team model was “exactly” what John needed in his transition back to Texas, allowing him to “plug right in” and “build from there” rather than build his real estate business from scratch
- Pro tips for naming your team or brokerage (especially if you’re not naming it after yourself)
- The two types of agents on the team and the drive to make them all more independent over time
- The risks and opportunities for Spyglass and for John in his stepping into the Sales Manager role
- Why agents have to trust and follow the process - and how they benefit over the long term by being trained into it in the short term
- Specific topics you can train your agents on today
- The good, bad, ugly, and necessity of implementing a system like EOS - “the biggest thing (they’ve) ever done with (their) brokerage to make (them) more nimble and more efficient”

At the end, learn about a team enjoying a 25-year reunion, a beloved and frivolous purchase, the benefit of immersive experiences, and the need to shut down your brain.

Follow Ryan, John, or Spyglass:
- https://www.instagram.com/ryanrodenbeck
- https://www.instagram.com/johnnymacspyglassrealty/
- https://www.instagram.com/spyglassrealty/

Check out their website and podcast:
- https://spyglassrealty.com
- https://realtyhack.com

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

This FUBCON Session of Real Estate Team OS features Tristan Ahumada, who serves as (among many other roles):
- Co-founder and CEO of Lab Coat Agents
- CMO of SUCCESS Magazine
- CEO of The Organization (brokered by eXp)
- Team Leader, Tristan and Associates
- Founder, A Brilliant Tribe

Tristan speaks to the role of confidence, investing in yourself, successes and failures in building a team and pursuing market expansion, and three specific things every team leader needs to attract and retain experienced real estate agents.

Listen to this conversation for insights into:
- Confidence, the way we make clients feel, and the emotional resonance we leave behind
- Ways to coach and build confidence in agents, including the need for other voices and real examples
- Taking the time to grow yourself as an individual person, including time to think and reflect
- How Chris Smith helped both Tristan and Ethan get publishing deals for their books
- The rise of the team model in his view and in his experience
- His failure in market expansion
- How AI and other emerging tech allows us to net more money
- The unique and differentiating role of client experience
- The role of humans and machines in delivering that experience
- A fundamental truth about real estate teams that’s necessary for success
- Why he allowed agents to build teams within his team early on (and after an expensive lesson)
- “The Steve Jobs Effect” of communicating your vision
- Providing agents everything except their own actions (and making sure they know it)

At the end, you’ll discover just how expensive a notebook can be.

Connect with Tristan Ahumada:
- https://www.tiktok.com/@tristan.ahumada
- https://www.instagram.com/tristan.ahumada/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

Episode 009 of Real Estate Team OS features Daniel Dixon, who serves (among many other roles) as … 
- Owner and CEO of The Dixon Group
- Owner and CEO of First Step Home Loans
- Operating Principal of Keller Williams Denver Southeast
- Host of The Color of Money podcast.

Listen to Episode 009 of Team OS for Daniel’s insights into:
- Athletes as the avatar for team members who’ll strive for greatness
- Not being okay with just being okay (and instead dreaming and working for more)
- Removing feelings to have fact-based conversations because “accountability is the highest form of love”
- Why it’s time to “be the lighthouse” for agents - language he adopted and adapted from Jon Cheplak
- Working the math equation of activity metrics to improve leading indicators of results
- How clarity helps agents and why it’s in short supply right now
- What Brett Tanner shared with Daniel that led him to start his team
- The tried and true method for solo agents to get a handle on their business (specifically their P&L)
- Why team members have a simpler business from a financial perspective
- Why he left real estate sales production and how that led to ancillary businesses like mortgage and title
- The strategy of making more money per transaction, not just generating more transactions
- What real estate agents need to know about mortgage loan officers and the mortgage process (but typically don’t want to hear)
- How to approach ancillaries if you’ve not built or added them to your business yet
- The misconceptions around starting a real estate team and one question to get clear on whether - and if so, how - it’s right for you
- An important and timeless lesson from his time selling time shares by way of Zig Ziglar

At the end, learn about the spark that started his 49ers fandom, an $8 expense he refuses to incur and a $3 savings he always seeks, why an annual $100k/year spend is an investment not an expense, and how he relaxes in an incredibly active way.

Follow Daniel Dixon:
- https://www.instagram.com/dixonsoldit/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@dixonsoldit

See Daniel’s real estate and mortgage businesses:
- https://www.findcohomes.com/
- https://firststephomeloans.com/

Listen to The Color of Money:
- https://thecolorofmoneypodcast.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos

This FUBCON Session of Real Estate Team OS features Buck Wise, the CEO of #CLOSINGDAY Agency and a marketing, branding, and strategy enthusiast.

Listen to this Session with Buck for insights into:
- The need to be inquisitive to guide yourself and guide teams more effectively
- The mentors who’ve shaped Buck’s no-nonsense, results-oriented leadership style
- How your leadership must change at different phases of business growth - and the challenges that come with that
- Balancing agent brand, team brand, brokerage brand, and franchise brand - leveraging the right ones at the right times
- “Marketing is connecting and earning trust”
- Ways to turn data into dollars, from collection through segmentation
- Why wide-net, mass-blast marketing fails in the short term and over the long term
- Why the size of your “list” doesn’t matter as much as you think
- The campaign behind pumpkin spice latte sales growth - and what it means for you

At the end, learn about both his favorite team to root for, the best team he’s ever been on, and the delicate balance of being an enterprise-level organization with startup qualities.

Connect with Buck Wise:
- https://www.instagram.com/aboutbuck/

Learn about CLOSINGDAY Agency:
- https://www.closingdayagency.com/

Learn more about Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

Follow Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@realestateteamos