Speaker 1 (00:00:00):
Ever wonder how successful teams recruit onboard and retain their best agents? We talk about it often here on real estate team os, but you are about to get an in-depth end-to-end walkthrough with the leaders of a 60 agent team and a 30 agent team. Neither has a recruiting funnel per se. One has a defined 90 day onboarding process and the other doesn't. They both balance cultural and financial factors to retain their best agents, but they do it a little bit differently. The Summit series continues with Emily Smith, COO of Wimer, group Realty and Geo Sansi agent partner who's also served as VP of Growth with Posit Group right now on real estate team os.

Speaker 2 (00:00:41):
No matter where your business is today or where you want to take it, you'll get there faster and more profitably with an operating system. Welcome to Team Os, your guide to starting, growing and optimizing Real estate team. Here's your host,

Speaker 1 (00:00:55):
Ethan Butte. Where we're going to jump off here is with recruiting. My impression, having spoken with both of you a little bit on this and having spoken with the team leaders of your organizations on this is that you're both attracting agents more than you're going out to find and pull them in. But why don't you kick it off, Emily, with a little bit on what recruiting looks like at Weimer Group.

Speaker 3 (00:01:15):
Yeah, we have been so lucky. So in not having to spend time building those funnels or trying to keep the door kind of revolving, I feel like it allows us to really focus on the people that come in the door and try to find that quality fit and make sure that it's going to be a match on both sides. We're very transparent about that. We say that to the person sitting across from us right away in the very first interview is We want this to work for you, but we also want it to work for us. So this is a discussion, let's dive deep on what would that look like, how does this feel to you? How does this feel to us? And let's make a great partnership decision with the goal of what you were speaking to of building longevity into the relationship from the start.

Speaker 3 (00:01:52):
I know logically an agent probably won't be with us through the entire life cycle of their career. That may or may not be true. Right now we have 41 teammates that have been with us more than five years, which the team right now is about 89 and I know that this is a moment in time, but for us, I'm really proud of the work that we've done to hire the right people, put the right people on the bus, and then give them those tools and the systems in order to build trust with 'em so that they'll stay for a long time so that they'll build with us. So we've been lucky that we don't have to go out and do heavy recruiting. We sort of joke that someone just seems to show up in the universe when we have a gap and I don't know why that is, but it really does feel that way to us.

Speaker 3 (00:02:32):
We had a big gap coming out of Christmas this year knowing what leads were going to look like and it was like magic, like three agents showed up and knocked on the door and said, I'm missing the support piece that I think that you all provide. And that was the discussion then at the table was, what do you think we provide? Is it actually what you are missing and could we bring those pieces together to support what you're trying to build? I just always feel like it's such a pain point for so many teams and I almost feel bad when we talk about it because again, the universe keeps delivering these amazing humans to our laps, but I know that happens because the agents are doing what they're supposed to do, building great relationships with other agents on the other side of the transaction, which builds curiosity about how we do things. Our staff, our operations team, again, they're right there as partners alongside of the agents and they're also connecting to co-op agents from other brokerages. So we're building trust at every step and hoping that the right people find us through those relationships basically that we already have on board.

Speaker 1 (00:03:31):
Cool. And do you have a specific set of agent avatars or is every opportunity kind of as you described, which is where are you now? Where do you want to go? Can we help you get there? And if so, let's keep having conversations?

Speaker 3 (00:03:46):
I think it's kind of a both and so we definitely have a specific avatar. Our avatar right now is we would love someone who's experienced ideally at least eight to 10 deals kind of under their belt. Really that's just enough about real estate that you're not teaching terms, you're not teaching basics of how a transaction works or yes, you do have to have a home inspection or all those basics. It lets them know that they don't know everything quite yet, but enough of a foundation that they also understand the mechanics. So we can teach systems and we can teach best practices and what we believe are best practices or best habits, but we're not starting from square one and all day long. I would take an agent that understands what they're doing and is built an amazing business too. That is a different conversation because they need different things in those partnerships.

Speaker 3 (00:04:28):
They might need an admin, they might need a support, they might need a buyer's agent. And so when you're talking to them, it's not just about the systems or the technology or maybe what I would call the traditional leverage that the brokerage provides everyone. It's how do we give you that and create a solid foundation, but then how do we also help you think bigger to the next, to break through that ceiling of where they're at? We get a lot of eight to 10 million producers that cannot figure out how to break the ceiling. They are afraid to hire, they're afraid to take that step. It is a missing piece in their business. And so when they come in, that discussion at the hiring table is how do we break the ceiling and we now have a proven track record that we can show them that we've showed other people how to do it. So they're a little less fearful about taking those steps because the brokerage can sort of show them the way we aren't traditionally hiring new agents, mainly because we're not good at it. We tried it over the years, we failed at it so many and I felt mean these are real people, real lives, real families tried to

Speaker 1 (00:05:24):
Make a real change in their

Speaker 3 (00:05:25):
Lives, right? You want to do right by these people when they come in. And so when we see someone though that we believe could grow into some, we call it talent in this world, that word sort of bothers me sometimes, but when you see people that are hungry, they have grit, they feel like they could grow into this, what we'll do is say, Hey, you can come into the brokerage, but you have to be paired with a mentor agent for about a year. They don't technically work for the brokerage at the time. They're not eligible to take direct leads from the brokerage. They can't take advantage of all those systems. They aren't writing contracts for themselves, they aren't doing all of the things a traditional real estate agent would do. Even though they're licensed, they are truly earning their stripes under someone who's helping them hit some mastery points. And so two different avatars, you have the successful already know a little bit about the business or know a lot about the business

Speaker 1 (00:06:13):
And they want to plug into your systems rather rather than build their own to break through that ceiling. And then if newer folks aren't quite ready, they're underneath

Speaker 3 (00:06:23):
Underneath of somebody else who's already in.

Speaker 1 (00:06:25):
Cool. Yeah. What's it look like for you all?

Speaker 4 (00:06:27):
So we're blessed. I think the greatest compliment is that we have so many realtors that follow us and so that's how we create, we establish a lot of interest is we get a lot of realtors that'll call and it always sounds the same. Hey geo, we've been following the PO group for a long time. We love your content, we love the stuff that Ken puts out there. I move from this state or that state as I transferred my business into Orlando and you guys were the ones that taught me a little bit about what I was moving into. So a lot of our interested potential agents partners come from that. And then we have a lot that come through transactions. Social media seems to be a real important point because you look at what Ken's done and you look what our team does. And so we try to manage both sides of that interest.

Speaker 4 (00:07:18):
Now, who we're looking for is consistent. We're looking for passionate motivated individuals who are licensed. Our avatar is anyone that's done more than six contracts. We also like to hire seasoned and experienced agents. However, recently because getting so many calls from newer or newly licensed is we are starting a new program and for simple terms it's called a mentorship program. I think you've used that word as well. And so we have many Asian partners on our team are now raising their hand and saying, I want to be a pod leader. Well, one of the ways that we're going to help them transition or at least be considered is by becoming a mentor and they're going to take on the responsibility of a newer or newly licensed agent. And so we will start working with those who have less than six plus contracts and see where that goes.

Speaker 4 (00:08:16):
And we've got a very specific framework and how we're going to evolve and we're going to measure it every step of the way to make sure that we're bringing the value proposition that I spoke to in our first episode because that we feel is the most important. You can speak, but you need to be able to walk the talk if you will. An agent's going to lose confidence in the brokerage real quick if what you promised on the front end is not being delivered throughout the process. And for us, someone who is experienced, someone who's done more than six contracts, they first of all have to understand what that value proposition is because when you're on a team, you are giving up a little more for every transaction, but in return you have to offset the value that you get and is that value going to grow your business to where you want it to be.

Speaker 4 (00:09:04):
So one of my questions right off the bat is where do you think your business can be five years from now if you're on this team or more generally, what is your true potential as an agent? Where do you think you will cap out in terms of units and volume? And we grow from there. And one of our more productive agents had a very low number when I asked that question, but I could see the potential. So we asking her on the team, and she's such rockstar because she didn't realize what her potential was. She didn't know what she didn't know. And so we help a lot of our agents along that way as well, taking the value proposition and helping 'em through the process by way of that one-on-one interaction with their pod leaders. So we're very intentional about how we do it, but it starts with, again, passion, motivation and then being a good culture fit or representing the core values that we know will make them successful on our team with what we do.

Speaker 3 (00:10:03):
I love when you used it with someone and you see the value and you see that they could do more and they just don't quite see it. That's fun for me as a leader sitting across the table. I do not love the opposite though when they're like, I'm going to do all these things. And I'm like, I don't think your track record of success is showing whether it be that you started in real estate or not. I'm not seeing that evidence that we're going to get there.

Speaker 4 (00:10:24):
My response though is real simple. Let's unpack that. Yeah, what does that look like?

Speaker 3 (00:10:28):
How are you going to get there? How

Speaker 4 (00:10:30):
Is a great model

Speaker 3 (00:10:31):
Question?

Speaker 4 (00:10:34):
What's that look like over the last three, four years? Is there a reason you're now considering a team truly because you're going to give up more, but are you going to get more? And we believe you are, but do you believe that?

Speaker 3 (00:10:45):
And

Speaker 4 (00:10:45):
That's what it comes down to. So there's a movement towards agent considering teams more than ever, I started as a solo agent, I was very intentional. I wanted to fail and succeed as a solo agent, understand all of what it took to get from point A to point C. There's many steps in the process. And I learned quite a bit and realized that given what I wanted, I wanted to find a team that could help me through that process.

Speaker 1 (00:11:15):
How long were you solo before and was Posik group your first team and how long were you

Speaker 4 (00:11:21):
Okay. No, it wasn't. And basically I was a solo agent for about a year. I did fairly well as a solo agent, but just I've never been that administrative type, right? So that's my least favorite part. So joining a team takes that away

Speaker 4 (00:11:36):
In a very big way. So that was part of my motivation. So after a year I realized, okay, I want to join a team that is going to help me grow my business. It's going to help pour into where I need to go. Even I bring, I thought a very strong skillset. The skillset was not necessarily aligned to real estate, so I had to take that skillset and now align it to real estate, residential real estate. And so the first team I joined unfortunately was not a good experience. I was with them for about 90 days and realized it was just not a good fit and I won't go into the reasons why it just wasn't a good fit. And I ended up leaving and the team ended up disbanding quite shortly after. Went back to being a solo agent and Ken and I actually met at a broker's open and we ended up having a chat and we aligned on certain levels. We ended up having coffee the next day and continue to really appreciate each other. And the rest is, as they say, history.

Speaker 3 (00:12:30):
I love that. As Gio was talking about that alignment piece, I think an important piece of recruiting to talk about here is, and if you're peeking in on this conversation, this is the part, it's do you know what your value proposition is, number one, so that when you're sitting across the table from that agent that is putting their hopes and dreams in your lap essentially and saying, can you help me accomplish these? Do you know if you can actually help accomplish that? And I am sure for you too, geo, but it keeps me up at night. Jenny and I talk a lot about how these are again, real people, real families. It's on my shoulders that I need to have enough leads coming into the brokerage. And we care about that a lot in the organization of we're taking these people on. So when they're sitting there, do you know your value proposition and are you clear on who you are so that they can decide, this is what I want to step into or this isn't for me?

Speaker 3 (00:13:21):
And it's okay. We actually talked to an agent last week that we actually recommended talk to the post ag group. We're not afraid at the table to say what you're trying to accomplish is great. This is amazing. We can't wait to cheer you on in the industry, but it's not going to work here. We're not built for it. We can't help you get there. And if they're more social media focused or they have that drive to want to build like Ken is building, it makes more sense for them to sit next to somebody who they can learn from

Speaker 3 (00:13:45):
Where that's not our world. And so I've got a little bit of a backs stack of relationships of local people, local brokerages that we can recommend and we can say, Hey, you should call so-and-so and I'll even make the introduction for you so that you get that warm handoff now that we know more about you. But I think knowing your value proposition first and then being able to honestly present it at the table. So many of us want to overinflate what we're doing. And I'll be honest, I am to a point of where I'm proud to not do that. I'm proud to be like, here's what we do really well. This is the part we don't do really well. Because if I set expectations that they're going to come into something that's perfect or shiny or too shiny and then we fall short, the only person we're hurting in the end is the organization.

Speaker 4 (00:14:29):
I've always followed the belief of under promise, over deliver. I am never ever going to sugar coat anything. I'm as straightforward as it comes. And we know our value proposition is very, very strong. I'll basically give them enough to be excited with, but never go over the top because to your point, have to make sure we can manage that value proposition.

Speaker 4 (00:14:53):
And we don't hire unless we've got the leads to support it. So we hire based on what our lead generation is capable of and if we need to open up more channels, if we need to put more money into certain channels, that's how we hire. So we'll never bring on more people than we can handle. And that's part of our position of under-promising and over-delivering in that we know that if they are a good fit, we both agree and they join our team and they're willing to put on the work and they bring their passion, they bring their motivation, they're going to succeed. Our sample set is large enough to say confidently that our system works, our team works, our culture works, and what we bring as a value proposition works.

Speaker 1 (00:15:37):
Yeah, two key messages, clear on your value prop, what are we offering here? And really I think that's important for two reasons. One, the way that we've really communicated it here is that so that we're setting realistic expectations for the other party in particular. We know what the value is on our side, but then it's also this, I think about it in terms of cost benefit. I think one of the reasons that a lot of solo agents are resistant to teams is that they look at the cost without really considering all of the benefits. And I think a well-crafted and well-communicated value prop speaks to both of those. And it also helps that with that conversation of maybe this is for you, maybe this isn't for you. I mean, in addition, I think it was in our previous part of our conversation in the first episode where you said you never want to hear that someone got into this business to make a ton of money. Likewise, what I hear from people in a recruiting context is I never want to hear, tell me about the splits, either A, ever or B as the most important. And first question from an agent, because again, it's just really only looking at one side of a true value proposition in a really good fit with an agent.

Speaker 4 (00:16:44):
I have a 15 minute conversation with anyone that's shown interest, and within that conversation, I basically try to determine if they truly understand what team is and what their current commission split is. And many of them are coming from a much higher commission split a much higher favoring them. In other words, little to no commission split. And if there is, it's very small, they start negotiating that right off the bat without even understanding what our value prop is. Hey, hey Jill, would you guys consider this amount over what you're, and it's like, well, I haven't even gotten into our value prop. How can we even discuss that? And so they may allow to get into that value prop. And that by the way, doesn't get shared in that 15 minute conversation. I just want to understand where they're coming from and what their true intentions are and what their motivation is. I ask 'em this question, are you looking to optimize your commission split or are you looking to optimize your net income?

Speaker 1 (00:17:44):
That's it. I mean, you're paying for this stuff one way or another. You're either paying because you're not doing the things that you could do if you had the type of leverage and systems we have behind you, or you're not counting the costs of the costs you are incurring to do your current level of production. Correct. So it always should go to the bottom line first.

Speaker 4 (00:18:00):
Absolutely. And those that say, no, I'm looking to optimize my commission split right then and there, I'll say, listen, I appreciate you, but we're not the right team. There's a lot of teams that will simply apply a small transaction fee to every transaction or a smaller percentage, but just ask yourself what they're providing in return. That's it. And if it's enough, then you've found the solution. If it's not, then perhaps you may want to reconsider your position and we can maybe have a chat at some point in the future. We need to really understand their motivation on the front end. That's why it's a 15 minute process for me. It's let's vet this through, is it a potentially good fit or not? And if it's not, it's okay. We stay as friends and we move on.

Speaker 1 (00:18:41):
They may be back in one year with three more deals under their belt. Absolutely. What's available?

Speaker 3 (00:18:47):
Tell me about that again, sorry. No, a hundred percent. No, you're good. I was just curious for recruiting for you guys, do you have a page on your website or how is it that agents are getting ahold of you when it comes to having those conversations?

Speaker 4 (00:18:59):
Most of them will obviously establish a level of interest and they'll go to our website and we have a career tab there. And then in that career tab they'll drop their resume and a cover a letter perhaps. But many times agents won't even go to the website. They'll just make the call, Hey, who do I need to speak to because I'm interested in joining your team. And so generally speaking, someone in the office will answer the phone and then I'll get a message through Slack, Hey, this person just called. They're interested. Before we initiate any conversation, I need to understand a little bit about their background. So for us it's always a resume or a LinkedIn profile. And if they don't have either, I've had agents say to me, you need a resume, you need a LinkedIn profile. No one's ever asked me of that. I said, yeah, but I don't know you and you don't know me. I just need to understand if there's a generally good fit, are you capable of selling yourself? Right. So I try not to make a big deal of it, but I'm surprised when that comes across. It's like where else in any other industry can you get a job without a resume and ironically,

Speaker 1 (00:20:00):
Or a cover letter, you are the product you're selling.

Speaker 4 (00:20:03):
Right? Right. That's true. So I just help them understand that this is just an introduction to each other.

Speaker 3 (00:20:09):
I love that. Thanks for answering that. I was just thinking about if I'm listening into this conversation and I'm trying to build this recruiting path, what are the practicals of how I get someone in touch? I realized we had a gap on, I was tired of having the same 27 point conversation over and over again. And so we built a career magazine that lives on our website, so when someone goes to our career page, they can quickly flip through it and read about everything that you just talked about. The splits are in there, they're covered. The culture, how we expect folks to operate on the team, how we operate on the team, and then we ask them to fill out a form on the website to come in. I won't even take a call unless they fill out the form

Speaker 5 (00:20:45):
Because

Speaker 3 (00:20:46):
I want the information. What you just named, I want them to give us a resume is on there too. We ask for them to take a disc test. We ask for them to upload their production from the previous year. And part of what I'm trying to see is can they follow instructions? Correct. That's it. Can they? Because to survive on a team, you have to be able to follow instructions. And so for certain agents that are like, I hated your interview process, you're going to hate working in this team environment. A hundred percent.

Speaker 4 (00:21:10):
A hundred percent, absolutely. And we have something similar as well, and we're evolving with our process as it relates to a lot of front end information that we'll request in advance. But what I find, and I'm not sure if you come across this is that although you present the information, it's obviously either not read or comprehended. So they're asking you the same questions that you have, does it resolve? It doesn't always resolve. So there's always that people component

Speaker 1 (00:21:34):
That has to be there, but that also closes one of your unasked questions, which how plugged in are how much do you want this exactly that much? Do you

Speaker 3 (00:21:41):
Know about us?

Speaker 1 (00:21:41):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (00:21:42):
Did you actually do, I mean we forced you basically to go to the site to fill out the form. Did you take the time to actually read about who we are? My favorite is we'll sit down and I always ask about there are so many ways to do personality

Speaker 5 (00:21:54):
Profiles.

Speaker 3 (00:21:55):
Disc for us is a little bit of a, it gives me a baseline. I want to see if they'll do the work on it, number one. And then when you sit at the table and you say, did you read it over and do you agree with it? That tells me a lot about that person. My eyes don't read it. They scan it, they're all, I sort of looked at it, I scanned it, and then your Caesar, I read every bit and I didn't agree with this part and this part. You're like, okay. It just tells me a lot about that person right away. So

Speaker 4 (00:22:21):
Yeah, for sure. They're like, id They're going to scan, right? They're, it's

Speaker 1 (00:22:27):
Funny, when I was doing a lot of hiring, I built marketing teams inside local TV stations. So I did a lot of hiring and I would always have people do an assignment. It was like a writing exercise who were writing, producing, and editing spots and campaigns and things, and I would give an assignment and I would not give a deadline. And part of it was that like a, are you going to ask me about the deadline? Or B, are you going to turn it around quickly and when I'm not going to remind you to do it. So if I haven't seen it in a week, I'm like, I figure you just dropped out because it shouldn't take you a week to do this hour long assignment. A hundred percent.

Speaker 4 (00:22:58):
Yeah. I operate very similarly as well. There's a certain level of responsibility that has to come from me candidate,

Speaker 1 (00:23:04):
And that's part of the process.

Speaker 4 (00:23:05):
Yeah, it is. Because we are in a role that requires us to manage responsibility. Going back to the transactions we manage, it's big money. If responsibility is not part of that process, then maybe that person's not meant to be in the business that we're in.

Speaker 1 (00:23:21):
However you think about the first 30, 60, 90 day experience, an agent who's made it through the recruiting process, where do they go next?

Speaker 4 (00:23:27):
We do call it a 90 day onboarding. For us, it's done in 30 day cycles. When an agent first joins us, what we ask them to do is upload their sphere of influence and all their contacts into the CRM. It'll always remain with them, but we leverage the CRM and marketing initiatives around it so we can announce them to the world basically. So once they've done that, they will not get leads. So we start them off as associate agent partners. An associate agent partner has to achieve basically three contracts within the first 90 days and some tasks that go along that assimilate them with the way we do things because we know the secret formula works, right? The secret sauce works. And so we help them assimilate with that. But in those first 30 days, they're also opened up to what we call a pool account, a pool accounts made up of leads that we have generated over the last four or five, six years. And so there's a lot of gold in there.

Speaker 4 (00:24:21):
And so that's how many of them will get through their initial objective of getting three contracts. It may seem daunting, but we've had agents have done it in six weeks. We had an agent that had less than one year of experience and she was like, perplexed, how can this happen? And she was very open about sharing that thought. And again, the belief system was there. We just kept encouraging her and kept helping her through elements of the business, and in six weeks she got it done. For many, they will need the full 90 days and we will look at their situation after 90 days, but in the first 30 days it's all about them acclimating through the CRM and then diving into the pool, understanding who we are and how we do things, introducing themselves to other partners on the team, transaction coordinators, ISA marketing production.

Speaker 4 (00:25:14):
And then we evaluate where they are at 30 days with their pod layer. So every week we meet with every agent partner as a pod leader for 30 minutes, and we're there for them throughout the week and we evaluate over the first four weeks if they're showing what they claim to be doing. We measure in many different ways along the way. We always like to encourage and motivate and celebrate with them, but we're also bringing the other side of gaps that may be existing things they may not be doing. And we build that 30 day into 60 days, and we again, hopefully in that 30 to 60 day period, they've got at least one contract under their belt and we build that up again between 60 to 90 days. And at 90 days we have a passport that they have to complete. That passport will outline for them exactly what's required, including the three contracts and if they've achieved it all, we celebrate. And if they haven't, then we'll talk through from their perspective how they think of where they are. And we've measured every week along the way. So we as PO leaders have a really good idea of where they are in the process, aligning what they're sharing with what we are seeing, making sure that there's reasons

Speaker 1 (00:26:27):
In terms of activity and effort and

Speaker 4 (00:26:29):
Activity, effort, work, passion, motivation.

Speaker 1 (00:26:31):
Sure. Illusions about the effort that they're putting in,

Speaker 4 (00:26:34):
Absolutely communicating well within the team because culture is really important. A lot of people will show them their best self and then become who they really are Now. Fortunately, we haven't had a lot of that, and so we get to 90 days and there's always a discretionary call. So if they've got at least one or two contracts completed, we generally, if the work is there, the passion is there, the motivation is there and they're being authentic about it all. We will continue to work with them. But that first 90 days is our way and their way to make sure that the alignment and the relationship and the expectation are all that they were looking for and all that we are looking for. And for the most part, we do a pretty good job on the front end, which means that they tend to continue with us beyond 90 days and they become agent partners at that point, once the three contracts and all of the other expectations are met.

Speaker 1 (00:27:26):
Is there a formal, and feel free to ask your own questions too. I feel like you might have a couple.

Speaker 3 (00:27:31):
I was just going to ask the question. I think you're about to ask.

Speaker 1 (00:27:33):
Well, for me it was like if they don't fill out the whole passport within the 90 days, I definitely hear it's a discretionary call. Some people maybe have an illusion that's going to be difficult to break about their own effort and achievement, and maybe that's a departure point, but it sounds like you're working with people that are showing promise and going through the steps in a sincere and earnest and effortful way. Is there something formal there? Is it like another 30 day probationary period or is it like, what does that look like?

Speaker 4 (00:28:05):
Yeah, we pour into them as pod leaders as a team, and if they follow 80% of what is being presented to them, they're going to succeed.

Speaker 1 (00:28:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (00:28:15):
We work through those that may not be following 80% and help them understand why it's important. But to your point, if they get to 90 days and either the work is not being put in, the motivation is waned, then we have to ask ourselves the question, is this for you? And if it's not, it's okay,

Speaker 1 (00:28:34):
Or are you for

Speaker 4 (00:28:35):
Us? Well, the first question is this for you?

Speaker 1 (00:28:38):
And

Speaker 4 (00:28:38):
Then are you for us? So fortunately, we haven't had a lot of those situations and because of the pre-work and a lot of the work we do on the front end, we get to that 90 day point and not everyone achieves their

Speaker 5 (00:28:48):
Three,

Speaker 4 (00:28:49):
But they achieve enough that we want to continue to pour into them. And in a short time after, they're generally through their associate agent partner process and full fledged. And what's the difference between the two? Once they become an agent partner, they're now opened up to leads. That's the difference. Otherwise, they get all the same resources, all the same, all the same support as an associate agent partner just earning in to receiving leads. But let's not forget we have thousands of leads sitting in this pool of which those who want to work into the pool and understand how to work it efficiently, we make that available to them as well. There's best practices about this as well. It's not just diving in and calling in person. There's ways you can filter and ways you can draw that gold out of it.

Speaker 3 (00:29:33):
That graduation process from being an associate part of the team into being a full-fledged part of the team, is that public facing too or do you just call your teammates realtors, or does the public understand that there not is a title change at

Speaker 4 (00:29:46):
All? They're agent partners. I mean they're agent partners. It's just that, again, the only difference an agent partner on our team, whether they're associate or full fledge agent partner, the only difference is them being open to leads. We don't really hype titles too much in our culture. We don't do that. We are people that are there to serve as best as we possibly can.

Speaker 3 (00:30:05):
Yeah, us too. Do you have the same onboarding process for an experienced agent like experienced versus not experienced? Are they going through the same process, same task forward, same

Speaker 4 (00:30:13):
Process, just less tasks. They still need to do three contracts, but less tasks because some of the tasks that we have is you've got to shadow some agents with buyer consultations, with listing appointments and other things. And so for someone who's seasoned, we'll have much less for them to do. Just learning how we do it

Speaker 1 (00:30:33):
Around

Speaker 4 (00:30:34):
Just learning how we do,

Speaker 1 (00:30:35):
What's what.

Speaker 4 (00:30:36):
That's right, exactly. It's an assimilation process more than anything else. Whereas for those who are relatively newer to the business, it's just allowing them to put more time into a certain task that helps them as an agent first and foremost. Does that make

Speaker 1 (00:30:51):
Sense? Yeah, makes sense.

Speaker 3 (00:30:52):
Of

Speaker 4 (00:30:52):
Course.

Speaker 1 (00:30:52):
What's the experience for new agent, not new agent, but an agent joining Weaver Crew Realty new team? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:30:58):
What's that look like? Yeah, so in a perfect world, I have a two week onboarding experience and I say that because bringing on experienced agents means they're coming in busy and they're coming in most of the time with deals in the pipeline already, or listings that may or may not need to be moved from another brokerage or are staying in it. So there's complications off the start that make it not as clean as would feel pretty on a piece of paper if you're trying to organize your onboarding process.

Speaker 1 (00:31:23):
And that's common,

Speaker 3 (00:31:24):
Very common I think

Speaker 1 (00:31:25):
For you all.

Speaker 3 (00:31:26):
For us, yes, it's very common. Almost every agent that we onboard is like that, but in a perfect world, it's a two week experience. They're usually about half days of training. We've built out modules mostly around how to exist in our universe, how we use technology, how we think about it, or what are your resources here. So by your presentation, we have a super successful agent that runs a $10 million business that has their own version of doing buyer presentation, but they still kind of need to know what their tools are or what it is that wemert offers so that when they're with a buyer, they're speaking about those tools that we offer. So one of our modules is on buyer presentation, and it's not because we don't think they know how to do it, it's because we think they kind of need to know how to talk like we do, and they need to know what tools exist, but it's introducing the technology to them.

Speaker 3 (00:32:13):
Day one for us is culture. Right out of the gate, we do a session where we invite a couple of agents that have been with us for a long time and a couple of agents that are newer to the team. And I mix it up on purpose because I want the newer folks to still be getting to know the older folks that have been around for a while. And I want the folks that have been there for a while to meet the newer people. So those walls come down a little faster and so that they want to build relationships and help the newer people on the team, whether that be you're someone that's been there six months or your new person that's sitting at the table today, it's usually five or six of us. And we go through the history of the company and the story.

Speaker 3 (00:32:46):
And part of why we do that is from the start, I want them to be able, when a client says, tell me about Weer Group Realty, it's a boutique brokerage. And so they need to have a little bit a way to speak about that. It also lets us tell Jenny's story of how did we get here? Why are you person number, name a number? And it also lets us say, Hey, you're person number 89. We're building this really awesome story and we've built an awesome story to get here. We're already successful. We want to keep building story, but now you have a chance to participate in that with us. And so that first session, as fluffy as it sounds, team leaders that are like, hi dear, like, oh, I hate that you're saying you need to do a culture session first. But it lays the groundwork for this is how we do real estate.

Speaker 3 (00:33:28):
So in our world, we call each other, we mates instead of teammates, but that's it. That's our mission statement. Go be a mates. We never, I masters of our craft, we're going to be accountable, teachable, we're going to elevate others and we're going to be solution-based. And we cover that in the interview portion. Do you align with us? Do you want to be like this? But that first session goes back over that, and I ask people at the table to tell stories about that. What did that mean to you? How do you see that play out in your business? And we start there and then it's like an office tour. And then that same day we give them an independent checklist that is transparent. It's built in the backend of Monday for us, so we can see when they're checking things off,

Speaker 5 (00:34:05):
But

Speaker 3 (00:34:05):
It's built out as here's the item you would need to check off. You click the stat if it's done or not done. But on the other side of it, it's if you needed a login for that, the login's right there for them, or a video tutorial or even a written tutorial. I love a scribe these days. That's a tool. If you're not using it, just a little widget you can pop on your computer that takes directions for you so you don't have to retype everything. But having those things right there lets them function a little more independently from the start. So they don't have to have a person going over every individual checklist item that they need to do. I think teams miss all of the weird checklist items sometimes, unless you have them in an organized spot. And I am talking down to is your email address and MLS your new email address, does all of your social media match your new brokerage or have you thought through, I need to change my central lock to weir or whatever it is.

Speaker 3 (00:34:58):
And so we've tried to do everything in groups. Again, our modules cover everything from how to use our tech to how do we think about our tech? It takes about two weeks to get through it. They don't have access to leads for the first week. By the end of that first week, they also have access to a pond, kind of like what you've said. I'll be blunt, most of the time they're overwhelmed and they're still trying to keep their other pipelines going. So most of the time they're not in the pond on the first week. By the end of the second week, if they're eligible for real leads program, we've started training them because we have to keep that wheel going for them. And that's part of the value of coming into the team. So we don't follow a 30 60 day protocol. A lot of other big teams do.

Speaker 3 (00:35:38):
We're hiring well at the table. We're trying to ask ourselves upfront, will this be a good partner for us? Do we feel like they have the capability to step into our systems and just get going? And then we're asking the TCS to watch the contract to close process and mitigate and coach and help. We're asking our leads manager to watch on her side and say, did they get this? Did they get a handle on this? Do they understand how to convert a lead? And if they don't, we put the coaching in under them at that point. For the most part, we don't have to have a lot of big conversations because we've hired, well, like Gio was saying from the start, we're super, we're lucky, but a lot of that is we do a lot of upfront work on putting them through the right hiring process out of the gate. And I think that matters a lot when you're talking about this process. So we don't take them through some big crazy checkpoint system. They do have to complete their onboarding checklist. If they don't have that whole list checked off, they can't have leads

Speaker 3 (00:36:28):
Because you can't service a lead if you're ML address and your MLS email address takes you to the wrong spot. Yeah, you have to be a weemer. So

Speaker 1 (00:36:37):
That first day of culture, I hear you on, some people are going to bristle at that. I mean, frankly, there are a lot of people, and you mentioned Heidi, I would agree like this a lot. So I'll just, whatever.

Speaker 1 (00:36:48):
The way that I heard you talk about it made me think about this is a huge transition in their career, whether they've been in the business for six months or six years, whatever. It's a big transition. It's a timely and relevant reason to reach out to the best people in their network, whether they're past clients or family and friends. I've made this change. And why not do it in a way that reflects the spirit and the values of the organization that they've chosen to join at the same time that has chosen to welcome them in, therefore, it's a reflection of their own values at some point because, and we help them with

Speaker 4 (00:37:22):
That. So it's easy for them to do. It's easy for them to reach out to their 300

Speaker 1 (00:37:26):
Plus, but having that story is

Speaker 4 (00:37:28):
Is massive.

Speaker 1 (00:37:29):
They're going to bring it into every buyer consult. They're going to bring in every listing presentation, and again, go to their database with

Speaker 4 (00:37:35):
Ideally. And so part of the process that I didn't mention, our senior transaction coordinator will spend anywhere upwards of two hours with each agent partner as a onboard the very first day. And that will go through a lot of the rudimentary stuff, MLS alignment, lockbox alignments, whatever. But it also conveys who we are and what we are. It speaks to culture right away. A person that's doing this, she's phenomenal. She comes from a Disney background, there's a whole lot of pixie dust that goes on within the two hours. They know something about culture experience. Oh my God. Right? Exactly. And so she brings all that to the table, and our pod leaders then take over and make sure that the level of communication is there, not just in the 30 minutes that they meet, but always you've got someone, you're not doing this alone. And besides that person that we call a pod leader, you've got a whole team that's there to support you. So for us, it's very intentional. We even have spend an hour, hour and a half with our eyes say so they understand how leads are generated, how they are redirected and how we work with leads. And then we have them spend some time with our marketing and production team so they can understand on the production side of things what they can expect and how they will align their social media activity to the brand. As we spoke in episode one,

Speaker 3 (00:38:59):
I think you hit on something that I feel is super important for us. It's introducing the people to other people in the organization. So they have resource and it's a purposeful choice. So doing a culture session with five people, we don't have to, I could sit at the table alone or Jenny Weemer could sit at the table alone and start that session with them, but there's power in making the introduction so that when they need help, they're not just calling me. They're like, oh, I met so-and-so at that thing. And they seem knowledgeable about whatever module maybe they were teaching. So we bring in agent partners to teach the buy-side part of the process, and they're also working with their transaction manager to learn rotary stop and start and who just got what part. But there's a people element to that that really matters. And if you're a small team and you're listening to this and you're like, we don't have all the people, look at the other people in your organization. It doesn't have to be somebody on staff. We ask agents to teach MLS and carts and all the pieces to go, you may know all of this and you might teach me something, but I've got some tips and tricks because I'm an agent every day in the field using those pieces. Well, now they have an agent partner to call on that.

Speaker 4 (00:39:59):
But if you think about what we're saying, we work with agent partners, there's a partnership there. Many brokerages call them simply agents. And I think that's the subtlety and the difference between our businesses

Speaker 3 (00:40:12):
Or bodies.

Speaker 4 (00:40:14):
We truly are partners. I think that's a big, big part of what we do of what we both do. It seems like,

Speaker 3 (00:40:20):
Right? And it's a language change that can start at the top. I really feel like culture gets going when it gets down to the middle and the people, no matter what seat they live in, own it and live it and start behaving that way. A lot of what you're talking about is your team spending time with the new people leading from their seats so that the new person feels like they're already in the fold as they get started.

Speaker 4 (00:40:42):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (00:40:42):
That's where culture is built.

Speaker 4 (00:40:43):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (00:40:44):
It's not saying, Hey, we're going to be this way or we're going to live into this thing.

Speaker 4 (00:40:47):
Because by definition, what is culture? How would you define culture? What it feels

Speaker 1 (00:40:50):
Like to work with us? That's how I would define it or how we do it around here.

Speaker 3 (00:40:56):
How we do real estate is yeah, who we're going to be in this

Speaker 1 (00:40:58):
And

Speaker 4 (00:40:58):
It's in the action, not the words you can tell someone, we've got a great culture. Oh wow, that's awesome. And then they get in there, it's like,

Speaker 3 (00:41:06):
I actually feel like that makes people nervous these days. It's not trust. They're like, don't tell me you have a good culture. Show me

Speaker 1 (00:41:13):
The word I used to always use to make that point. Is the word classy? The more someone insists that they're classy, but it's at all these things. I'm very trustworthy. Am I really, the more trustworthy I tell you I am. Probably the less you believe in the same thing with this. And that's why we use the words experience, client experience, customer experience, whatever. It's something they need to experience from you feel maybe feel it consciously or subconsciously in thought and feeling, but it's that realized experience

Speaker 4 (00:41:48):
That what we have found as well, we spoke about community in the first episode and what we are there to help a client through if they're a buyers, helping 'em find community. Well, we find the same with agents. They're simply trying to find their community if they're looking for a team. And so part of that is understanding what they mean by community and what they're expecting that community to provide for

Speaker 5 (00:42:11):
Them

Speaker 4 (00:42:11):
As part of that fit. And that brings in culture, it brings in all the resources, tech or otherwise,

Speaker 1 (00:42:17):
And what participation is required of them to enjoy those benefits, which comes to some level of standards and

Speaker 4 (00:42:23):
Accountability. So we're applying community on both sides of the coin.

Speaker 1 (00:42:27):
So I think we're already kind of bleeding into this topic, but retention, I mean certainly in staff, but also in agents. I know both of you are in organizations that have very good tenure and consistency in folks. What are a few keys to retaining really good people, whether it's staff or agents? Obviously it's engagement. Obviously they need to feel like they're in a place where they belong. Obviously the math needs to work from a financial standpoint, both for the organization and for the person. But when you think about engagement, loyalty, retention, what are the things you're either working on or what are some of the things that you all feel like have been key to your success in that area?

Speaker 3 (00:43:07):
I think for us, first and foremost, the leaders of our company are really just wonderful people. Mike and Jenny Weemer are some of the most down to earth, stable. Amazing. I say stable because this was a weird, I heard you on that work. I was like, that's a big choice. Well, but they are mean. They're just like down to earth people. And so when you build your brokerage around this very down to earth idea of let's be good humans, let's take care of other good humans and the money will take care of itself, it changes the natural flow of how the organization is built from the start. And when you're kind of filtering everything you're doing through that lens of does this take care of our people and I mean our people that work for us, our agents that choose to be a part of us, and then on the outset layers of that, the clients or the title companies or the lender, when you put everything through the lens of are we doing this to make a great experience for everyone or is this fair to every party involved?

Speaker 3 (00:44:01):
It changes how the whole thing is built. And so Jenny was a teacher before she came to real estate and that servant heart piece, again, it sounds fluffy for some people, but we talk about it openly in our world, that you've got to have some grit and you got to want to serve people, be on our team. That's a part of the avatar. And if you'll do that, then you'll fit in around here. And that I think is what keeps people on the team for a long time because they align with that from the start at the table, and then they watch leadership behave that way. They also were given the space to lead that way. In our world, we don't have a lot of titles. We don't have a lot of levels on purpose because we want everyone leading from their seat, which gives them freedom to feel like they can grow in our world.

Speaker 3 (00:44:39):
So things have to be fair. The money has to make sense, like you said, but do they just feel enough space to grow the kind of business they might want to grow? And do they feel like they've got leadership looking around corners for them? I think that's a big part of it too, is leadership looking for other tech opportunities so they don't have to what's going on in the industry so they don't have to, they can sort of start to stay focused on the client, not pay attention to what's going on out here. And then when it gets brought to them, they're like, oh, yeah, I should probably pay attention to that. And I think that's what keeps people

Speaker 1 (00:45:07):
Quick follow up and then we'll hear how you all think about it or how you personally think about it. Sometimes I hear the language of re-recruiting. The way that I think about it is really this experiential piece, which is you're selling and then you're reselling. Marketing is at some level making some promises and creating some hopes and expectations. Sales kind closes the gap on whether or not that's a real thing. Are you actually going to get this Once you're in the product or service experience, you're realizing some of those benefits or not. But I think a gap that a lot of folks miss is the opportunity to remind people that, Hey, remember we made this promise. Remember we answered those questions. Remember you got this thing. Remember we delivered on this. We delivered on that. You're getting this, you're getting that. I think that there's an opportunity to remind people of the value they are getting so that they don't start entertaining this like, oh, well, this is a transaction fee only shop. And you're like, oh, tell me more. But it's like you are doing these things for agents and they might miss the fact that you are looking around the corners and they didn't because if I don't have to think about or worry about something, it's just taken care of. It's easy for me to not appreciate that.

Speaker 3 (00:46:16):
Of course. No, I think that's real. I think to acknowledge this is still a business, so we do need it to work, and that it does have to be sort of like, we did this. Does it make sense? Do you appreciate that we did that? There is some of that involved in a real estate business, so we want it to sound nice and fluffy, but there are some practical pieces behind that. I just think my agents are all recruitable at any time. So in my mind, I think about the systems that we build. I think about the help and support we're putting underneath of them, even down to the splits that we run at. We had to change our splits a few years ago in the midst of this conversation of, are we offering enough value? Are we going to be able to keep our top producers? Because every time something new comes into the market or a new model enters our world, we do have to think about those things from a business perspective, and we should be. I do think sometimes team leaders take for granted that these people are willing to stick their license and say, yes, I'm trusting you with this thing. Help me build. And we're like, great, I'm onto recruiting the next person. So I think there is a little bit of that that happens.

Speaker 3 (00:47:16):
But again, if you're looking at these people, like real people, real families, I feel like I'm on a broken record on that topic, but if you care about them and you care about seeing success through them, you're not going to forget about them, and you are going to care how your splits play out, and you are going to care about if your marketing is working to generate enough leads to feed that family and you are going to intrinsically create value to keep the people that are there because you do care about them. I want to acknowledge this. We get bigger. It gets harder.

Speaker 3 (00:47:44):
It gets a lot harder. When I was like team member, I don't know, 19, and so now we're 89 and last names don't come to me as quickly as they did. I know all the first names, but the last names are harder. And that's almost embarrassing to admit, but it's true. It's harder. And I don't know dogs' names or kids' names like I did when there were 25 of us running around. And it's a different wave of doing business. And it's not bad. It just means that you do have to lean on your middle layer to provide that value. As a team, you're like, we need the transaction managers. I need my listing director, I need our leads manager, anybody sitting in those seats to help carry the bulk of the weight of knowing our people well so that they can feel heard, they can feel valued, so they can feel like we're offering all the pieces, but ultimately I know they're not staying with us. If the splits aren't right, the leads stop coming and they can't build or grow, or if the systems get too frustrating or cumbersome, they're not going to stay. Even if we say the culture is amazing, that's not it. Culture is those things that

Speaker 4 (00:48:42):
Culture is important, but their level of production has to also meet or exceed their expectations, and that level of production is going to be a product of their own initiatives, a product of the support they're receiving. So one of the things I like to do, one of the things I encourage our pod leaders to do is always evaluate that on a frequent basis. So every quarter or so, there's going to be a one-on-one session that's going to speak to, Hey, how are we doing? Are we meeting your expectations? Is there anything we could be doing better to help you in growing your business? And we want them to be honest about it. That conversation leads to a whole lot more, and that's where you take the temperature of where you truly are. Even in the first 90 days, you've built enough rapport with that individual that they're going to start to share. If they're not going to share, then you haven't built that rapport and that's shame on the pod leader. This is 360 degrees. This is not us expecting of you. This is you expecting of us. And if we meet your expectations and you're productive and you're making more than you did before you joined us, and it's coming from a good culture and it's coming from a good level of support, they're not going to leave. I truly believe that and we've seen it. So it's incumbent on us to work together as partners.

Speaker 1 (00:49:54):
For you as a producing agent, even today, what was it about your experience in the earliest days of the Poit group that kept you plugged in?

Speaker 4 (00:50:06):
Well, the first reason I joined the Poit group outside of the fact that Ken and I aligned in many ways was that he allowed agent partners to represent both buyers and sellers. Back when I was doing my due diligence with teams, most of them had a very defined role and that defined role for a new agent on the team, not, they didn't take into effect experience or how seasoned they were just new for them. You were asked to be a buyer's agent

Speaker 5 (00:50:37):
And

Speaker 4 (00:50:38):
Very common. To me that was restrictive. I didn't want that. I wanted to do both because how was I going to optimize my business if I couldn't serve both sides? And so Ken was very open about that. It's like, Nope, you can create your own listing opportunities and you can work with your own buyers. So what kept me with the organization was the ability to increase my business through my own initiatives and with the support of the team. So Ken and I collaborated quite a bit when it was just him and I and a few other agents, and he did that with everyone that helped me grow my business, helped me understand the growth of the business, helped me understand all the things I was doing that I wasn't before. Ken's an awesome agent. I mean, as much as he is an awesome leader, he's great at what he does.

Speaker 4 (00:51:25):
Learn from that. And then as we grew and I started to take on more of a leadership role, I try to impart the same on others. I get asked quite a bit, Joe, you've been with Ken, how long? Why would you want to be on a team when you can do this on your own? And my answer is real simple. I see the value. I'm happy with my level of production. The other thing I've always heard from people is, well, if you want to be a top a hundred agent, you can't be on a team. Well, yes you can. I am. We have others. We're top a hundred on a team, can you imagine? So the opportunities are there. And so retention for us is in maintaining the value proposition that we present in the front end, supporting and celebrating their successes, keeping them accountable as necessary, being true partners in the process, measuring each other in that partnership and holding each other accountable as we work through the process of success. As

Speaker 1 (00:52:23):
You said with regard to retention, the proof of efficacy is my business growing the way that I hoped and expected

Speaker 4 (00:52:31):
It would. Absolutely. And that's the key to it. We do this for a reason, we're there to serve, but at the same time, we need to also receive fair compensation for it.

Speaker 3 (00:52:39):
As I sit across from people in hiring, they're considering, do I want to join that team or should I do this myself? Because they're being pushed to do it in certain worlds. It's like, well, your next step, now that you've been a successful agent and you've hit a certain, let's say eight to $10 million, they're like, you need an assistant or you need to start building your team. And I'm like, that is a huge distraction.

Speaker 1 (00:52:59):
Totally

Speaker 3 (00:53:00):
Huge distraction.

Speaker 1 (00:53:01):
How many times have you talked to an agent who hired an assistant, didn't work out, hired an assistant, didn't work out? Yeah,

Speaker 3 (00:53:06):
I mean, it is the cycle of life. I am in that conversation probably every other week really, and sitting at the table and going, I feel your pain. I know what you're talking. It's a much different conversation. But to be able to say to them, of course, because you tried to hire them and then you couldn't sit next to them. You were too busy, you were out with a thing, so they failed out. I mean, it's literally a cycle.

Speaker 4 (00:53:25):
When you look at the value proposition, right, and you speak to someone who is hesitating on team because of cost, I ask them, okay, so if you went out and bought your leads or nurtured opportunities that became leads, well that provide what you're looking for. And then you have to hire a transaction coordinator. You have to go out and buy a CRM because how else are you going to stay organized? An Excel sheet won't help you when you want to do a lot of business. It'll help you if you want to do a certain amount of business, but an Excel sheet by itself is not going to help you. There's

Speaker 1 (00:53:56):
Just inherent in that decision.

Speaker 4 (00:53:58):
Absolutely. And then you wouldn't hired as your business is scaling people to oversee each element of this, right? Oh, by the way, social media, you want to be a big social media celebrity. Great. You know what that takes? It takes time. It takes content. You're going to have to hire someone to manage that for you as well. Well, guess what we provide? And so if you monetize all of that, you're over a hundred thousand dollars. So do you want something turnkey that's worth over a hundred thousand dollars that you can just jump right into and start succeeding? Or do you want to take the years that it's going to take and the monetary resources, the ebbs and flows of the learning process? That's up to you. And if it's the latter, then again, we're not the right fit. But if it's the former, my goodness, let's go.

Speaker 1 (00:54:46):
Yeah, it's a classic builder by decision. That's it.

Speaker 3 (00:54:49):
Joe, do you want to come do all my recruiting appointment? You talk to all the, I'm just kidding. Sure. Absolutely. Why not? You're talking like this sounds great. Geo should come.

Speaker 4 (00:54:57):
Yeah, no, I just believe in what we're doing, and I have the utmost respect for your organization because I come from a Keller Williams world and Jenny was highly, highly revered in Keller, Keller Williams. I mean, that's the first one of the first people I heard actually in a process they called Ignite where they're training their new agents. And so Jenny came up a lot, and then having met her, I've had a couple of opportunities to meet her and just a quality person. And I think we both feel of our leaders in a very similar way.

Speaker 3 (00:55:32):
I think who you follow matters.

Speaker 4 (00:55:34):
It does

Speaker 3 (00:55:35):
In any level of this conversation, whether it be in seats like we have, where we're next to leaders that have built something really amazing. I think there's a humility for me in the fact that I didn't start this story. Jenny did, and she gets the credit for that, and Jenny still comes to work every day. Ken is still working every day. They get the credit for that. And I'm perfectly willing to share that credit because guess what? There's enough credit to go around. There's enough room in our story at Wemert to have success for every agent that wants to join us, and we're not going to hire every person because it's not the right fit or it's not the right whatever. We've been talking about this in this whole conversation, so getting clear on your leader has value, who they are, how they started this thing that matters, and the respect level for that matters, but them respecting the person who's lowest on the totem pole matters too. And the person who's just starting and understanding what it takes to say, yes, I'm going to trust you with this business that I really care about. I'm going to trust you to come in and be an agent partner that deserves the other side of the respect. And I think sometimes team leaders don't have enough respect for the guy who's grinding it out on the other side where like, oh, they're just a body. Oh, we'll find another one. I'm like, no, these real people,

Speaker 4 (00:56:44):
Real people,

Speaker 3 (00:56:45):
Real people.

Speaker 4 (00:56:46):
And I think the one thing that makes it all work is that there's no ego here. We can all bring that to the table. We're humans, but we don't.

Speaker 3 (00:56:54):
Yeah. To that ego piece, part of what has kept me in my seat as long as it has been watching a leader like Jenny, honestly, she's the smartest person in the room when she speaks real estate. I learn something every time. I've been sitting next to her for 10 years and I still learn something. But watching her not have an ego and watching her be the learner in the room gives permission for everybody else in the organization to also be that I'm a little bit of a perfectionist by nature. I like things to be kind of perfectly in their spot. And growing up in this business with her has taught me, done is better than perfect. Sometimes let go. It's okay. We teach our own people through Jenny's modeling that in real estate, there's not a lot that money or time or an apology can't fix.

Speaker 3 (00:57:35):
So there are big things sometimes that happen, but none of it's fatal. And so when you can build an organization where you can say, listen, we're doing really well at this, but also we are horrible at this. There's such a freedom in that to be able to have an honest conversation, whether it be in a room like this or on a stage or with someone at a table where you're promising in the hiring process to be like, I'm so sorry. If you come into this organization, we actually really lack in this area. I think people are afraid to do that. I watch Jenny model that every day, and it reminds me to be a real leader and to be humble and to speak truthfully about where we're at and not try to show off that we've built something that we haven't or highlight a system that we're like, we are building this thing, but we haven't actually tried it. That's not, we're

Speaker 1 (00:58:17):
Building this thing in our mind right now.

Speaker 3 (00:58:19):
Correct. Right. I hear a lot of that out there, and I want to talk with agents about the realness of what is proven, what works, what will help you actually get to your goal? Where do we think we're going to fall short on that for you so you can decide yes or no, this is for you or it isn't, or else they can say, Hey, let's call Geo. We're at the table and let's make an introduction because maybe Poat Group would be better than Weimer Group Realty for you.

Speaker 4 (00:58:42):
And we feel the same way. Leadership as you define it is exactly that. It's not, again, having any ego. I don't need to impress people on the car I drive. I need to impress people on what I do for them as an agent, as a consultant, as someone who's looking to achieve. And we try to impart that through our team. It's not about the show. It's not about the suit you wear, the shoes you wear. It's about just showing up and doing what is expected of you and the best way you possibly can.

Speaker 1 (00:59:11):
That's

Speaker 4 (00:59:11):
What it's about.

Speaker 1 (00:59:12):
It's about what it feels like to work with us. That's it. I appreciate you both so much for all the time that we were able to spend together. This has been an absolute full respect for what each of you has added to Ken's story and Jenny's story respectively, because their story wouldn't be the same without you, and I'm sure they would both say the same thing. So thank you so much for this. I've enjoyed both parts of our conversation. I appreciate you investing all this time in it.

Speaker 4 (00:59:38):
Thank you for the opportunity. It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 1 (00:59:40):
Thank

Speaker 3 (00:59:40):
You.

Speaker 1 (00:59:41):
I hope you enjoyed both conversations with Gio and Emily as much as I did. If you've missed any of our episodes in this summit series, they're all linked up right down below in the description. All of these panel style mastermind style summit style conversations are available to you right down below. Our final episode in the summit series is up next, and it features our four real estate agents breaking down seller communication strategies that are helping them in today's market and video and social media strategies that are really working for them right now. If you haven't done so already, sign up@realestateteamos.com slash subscribe. It's totally free. It's easy to do. You get instant access to eight subscriber only episodes and you get updates in your inbox every single week, and I would love your reply to one of those emails. Thanks again for checking out this episode and be sure to see our final one up next.

Speaker 2 (01:00:36):
Thanks for checking out this episode of Team Os. Get quick insights all the time by checking out real estate team Os on Instagram and on TikTok.