Should You Join a Team?

Whether you are considering a career in Real Estate or considering a change in your career, you might be wondering what a team is or if you should join one. Sheldon Johnston and Sara MacLennan were live across our social channels yesterday discussing the pros and cons of joining a team, what you can expect from a team, important considerations when choosing a team or brokerage to work with as well as our approach here at Liv Real Estate®. We break it all down for you in this blog post, and the video is linked at the end for those interested in catching the replay.

What are some of the pros of joining a team?

Teams have a system for generating leads for team members
They have the structures and processes in place to help agents capitalize on leads/clients
Team leaders have a vested interest in agent’s success

What type of services and support will a team typically provide?

Leads
Coaching
Preparation with scripts
Customer Relationship Management

What is a “super team” and what additional services might they offer?

A super team fairly new and is generally a team that has 15 or more agents that work inside their team which works inside of a brokerage. They may offer additional administrative supports as well as 'in-house' services such as; photographer, stager, handyperson, assistants, marketing manager, social media manager, SEO team, client service manager and specialist, etc. Ultimately the services offered vary from team to team, and you will want to discuss the services included with any team you are considering joining.

What are the cons of joining a team?

Fees and split - agents need to pay the brokerage fees and splits as well as the team fees and splits.
Long term profitability
Lack of business growth potential - leads stay with the team, even if they are a return client.
Buyer’s agent/seller’s agent - often teams will break agents up by specialty, which does not necessarily foster client/agent relationships.

What other considerations should be discussed ahead of joining any team or brokerage?

Mentoring
Philosophy, Culture and Vision
- Is it about their business growth or yours?
- Are they a good fit for your goals and values?
The Package
- Training and Support, Fees, etc.
Leads
- Do they deliver business to you?
- Where do they get their leads?
- Not all leads are equal, and we share more about this later in this post.

The decision is whether or not the experience gained is worth the internship. Now that we have looked at the pros and cons of joining a team, it's clear that while it could be a great way to learn the business and gain valuable experience, it does come at a cost. So, many new and experienced agents find themselves with a dilemma - get the training, support and expense of a team, or, figure it out yourself at a brokerage. The good news is, there is another option available if an agent needs training and support, and help finding clients to work with. There are companies like us that take a hybrid approach. We intentionally built a hybrid team/brokerage model that many agents have found great success with.

Our Approach:

At Liv Real Estate, we offer the support, leads and training you would get on a team AND we help you build your business, for less than it costs on a typical team.

How do we do this?

First, we have one of the most if not most popular real estate websites in the Edmonton area and it generates a lot of leads. It's important to note that not all leads are equal. For example, we do not force registrations on our sites and we don’t count website registrations as leads which is what most teams categorize as leads, we only deliver actual inquiries and showing requests to our agents. We only charge a lead fee the first time you do a transaction with a lead. We prefer that you invest in nurturing that relationship. We encourage our agents to develop relationships with their clients and build their own repeat and referral business. Over time, our agents become less dependent on leads and enjoy working with more past clients and referrals. The truly successful ones manage the growth of their past clients and sustain their stream of revenue from leads Second, we have an extensive training program for new agents that includes one-on-one mentoring with one of our experienced agents in combination with Sheldon Johnson, broker, owner of Liv Real Estate®. Small group training where we discuss many aspects of the business. Most people are surprised how much there is to know about working as a real estate agent. We do this in a collaborative environment where knowledge of processes and problem solving common issues are shared. Third, we have awesome in-house training sessions to keep everyone up to date, and we bring in amazing guest speakers. In the past year alone we have had guest speakers discuss Building a Relationship-Based Business, the Science of Personalities, Mastering Client Negotiations, Fitness & Lifestyle, Virtual Sales & Marketing, and more. Next week we have a psychologist presenting the first of a series of sessions on performance, that will focus on dealing with anxiety through to productivity. We also have ongoing level appropriate one-on-one coaching with our agents. Fourth, our in-house marketing team develops extensive marketing materials including personalized buyer guides and pre-listing packages, buyer and seller presentations, marketing templates, and single property websites, and they help promote our agents and their listings on social media. They will also provide advice and assistance with your personal marketing efforts. Additionally, we believe that you are what you measure; if you measure sales then you are a salesperson. At Liv, we are a customer service focused real estate brokerage, so when other brokerages and teams host sales awards, we celebrate customer service achievements. And lastly, we don’t take everyone that walks in the door. Many super teams treat new agents like lemons squeezing them for all they are worth causing a significant amount of churn, or turnover. We simply do not operate this way - we believe that alignment between agent and brokerage is crucial to success and we work to maintain lasting relationships. We have many agents that have been with our brokerage for their entire careers, and, over half of our agents have been with us for 5 or more years. Our commitment to excellent customer service has lead to our brokerage receiving the Consumer choice award as Edmonton and Northern Alberta’s best real estate brokerage.

Final Thoughts:

If you’re thinking about a career in real estate or thinking about a change in your real estate career, I encourage you to consider all your options and determine the best route for you. Our model focuses on the growth of our individual agents and fostering their ability to transfer from dealing with leads to growing other revenue channels so that they can grow their business while having a steady supply of leads. Our focus hasn't been about growing Sheldon's name on every deal or sign but growing organically through the growth of our agent's businesses and our customer-centric approach. While our approach may be a little different, there is no question that new business models and super teams give people entering the industry a lot more options to choose from beyond the traditional brokerage. If you’re considering joining a team, I encourage you to talk to other agents that work there to get a better sense of what is offered; the reality is often disappointing compared to the picture painted. Click here to visit our career page for more information about joining Liv in helping our clients Love Where They Liv™ Posted by Liv Real Estate on February 2nd, 2021