My goal with anything is always going to be the same: to be the best that we can possibly be in the avenue or arena in which we’re playing.
When I started as an individual agent, I had a lot of people that did an excellent job providing the support that I needed to help me get where I needed to be, to put this thing on the map. That thing then transformed into a brokerage a year and a half ago, which now has over 200 agents.
My new goal, my new belly fire, is to be the best brokerage we can be and to get to the pinnacle of the space. The question is, “How do we get there?”
First, we will continue expanding on the professional support system we have in place and refine that foundation.
Second, we will cultivate a brokerage that is agile and flexible, and one that encompasses the need and expectations of all our agents from the new licensee looking to start a business to the experienced veteran who closes a lot of deals to the power teams looking to make larger inroads. Ultimately, we will have a growth culture built on a legacy of support to make people’s real estate goals possible, camaraderie, and a desire to be a part of something bigger than just yourself.
Now, whether that’s just somebody trying to buy their first home, or the investor trying to expand on their profile, at the end of the day, those are our clients. We also want to make it easier for our agents. We want to provide a space where they can grow their business. We want to continue that into the new year, and only just expand on what we’ve already done.
We’re getting away from the closed-door stuffiness of an office and encouraging conversations and camaraderie. We’re known in the industry as the company that operates differently, and by thinking outside the box, we’re drawing in recruits.
We went from one agent — me — to a brokerage of 200 agents in “the land of the misfit toys.”I believe that there’s a reason why the misfit toys will win.
The reason is that we don’t have an ego. We’re building a plug-and-play system that provides opportunities for growth for all the different personalities in our eight unique branch offices.
I choose to operate branch offices because that affords each office to run individually but under one roof. For example, we added a Fall River office, which is in Southeastern Massachusetts. We could have just brought agents in from Fall River, but we wanted to have a local presence run by local people with the same culture as the community. And when we opened in Rhode Island, I connected to the top ten influencers in the state and asked every one of them to come over, join a partner office, and to bring people with them. That business comes with the top producers but also ten, fifteen, or sometimes more than twenty other agents that come through the door. That is helpful to me.
In the year ahead, we plan to add a mortgage company, and branch offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and potentially Florida, along with another 75 agents.
Of course, this growth only happens if our agents are successful. One major way we help newer sales professionals is through our “Bulldogs Program.” The Bulldogs program is a team of people looking to increase production from organic and inorganic lead generation. More importantly, it is a space for agents to build their business and a terrific recruiting tool. Just recently, a Bulldogs team member and graduate of the program stood in front of a group of new recruits. He told his story, about how he does the basics day in and day out, holds himself accountable and the steps taken to go from zero to twelve transactions in his first year. For the people that are willing to put in the work, there’s almost no better program for them to be in.
The Bulldogs Program is just another aspect of the culture we have here. We’re hungry, fresh, and as different as the sales professionals who choose to affiliate with us. The way we see it is that we have eight different offices, with eight unique managers and more than 200 individual agent businesses. The ability to change up what you’re doing depending upon the person that you’re in front of is something that we’ve been very good at — adapting to our circumstances and what’s happening around us.
Real estate sales professionals value our mindset and approach to this business. We don’t force anyone to join us. They want to. At the end of the day, that’s our value proposition: growth through personalized culture and services. It’s the CENTURY 21® way.