Organizing Your Team

Hiring the right person can be a tremendous boon. The right hire will likely be a complementary personality, someone with whom the agent feels he or she can easily interact and trust.

“I find people through referrals,” said Sissy Lappin of Lappin Properties. “I am obsessed with efficiency, and my office is like a war room. Anyone on my team will have to feel very comfortable with chaos. One minute you will need to show a property, the next you will be designing a Facebook ad for a home.”

Determining the right size for the team is really up to the agent and what his or her needs might be. Technically, a team could consist of just the Realtor and a personal assistant. Many agent teams hire marketing professionals to take care of their social media presence as well as their traditional advertising. Designated staff members may handle the details of openings and closings.

“You need to identify what it is you you want, why it is important and how it is going to affect you in a positive way,” Parodi said. “I had a bit of success as a solo agent and wanted to expand my model to the next level by sharing my concept with more agents.

“As a single agent, 50 percent of your day needs to be spent prospecting,” Parodi said. “At a team CEO level, it’s the same commitment to growing your business. You need to prospect for new members and new business 50 percent of the day through networking events, open houses, seminars, Houston Association of Realtors events and marketing. You must be profitable like in any other business model. How do you track that? You should know where every penny comes from, how it is spent, lead sources, production per agent, fees per agent and more. Every detail needs to be tracked, as well as time off.”

Pay structures vary, as well. Many firms handle it by giving agents a set percentage of each sale. Some offer a package that consists of salary plus commission. Front end office staff is typically salaried, while temporary and part-time workers might work at an hourly rate, with or without commission.

For Lappin, however, focusing too much on pay structures and commissions can miss the bigger picture. “Our team is a culture, and not everything we do is for a commission. That is a huge problem in real estate. Everyone is focusing on the money, not the result. Everyone is so concerned with keeping all of the commission pie. That horse has left the barn, and you better learn how to ride. It is not about the money. It is about balance and making sure your customer is taken care of.”