We get into sales to create an opportunity to make a wonderful life for ourselves and our families. Creating that life is much easier when we end up in an environment conducive to high performance. In this blog, I'll give you the four pillars you need to implement as a real estate brokerage firm owner or team leader to get on the right track building a team of elite performers.
01 — Set the Standard. High performance starts with clarity. The first step is defining what your parameters need to look like to hit the numbers you want your team to achieve, then making sure you clearly communicate those parameters. Example: call volume, prospecting hours, pipeline size, follow-up cadence. Whatever you tolerate becomes your standard, so set it deliberately and communicate it from day one.
02 — Build Accountability. Expectations without accountability are just wishes. There are a lot of moving parts in the real estate business, so systems are a must. Get systems in place for weekly pipeline reviews, production scoreboards, and one-on-ones tied to numbers. When performance is visible, people self-regulate — the scoreboard does half the managing for you. At our brokerage, we created a BOS (Board of Success) that hung in the kitchen, listing each agent and their monthly transactions. The top producers loved it; a few who were struggling weren't as keen. In the end, it was a win-win for the company and the agents. When we moved offices, our new kitchen didn't have room for the BOS — but if it did, we'd still be doing it.
03 — Develop People Relentlessly. This is one I see a lot of real estate brokerages and teams miss. The brokerages that win long-term treat training as infrastructure, not an event. Role plays, deal debriefs, market knowledge sessions, guest experts — if your agents aren't growing every month, they're drifting. Make agent development a non-negotiable part of the calendar. (I recently wrote a free booklet that serves as the foundation for an Agent Development Program — feel free to grab it, customize it for your team, and use it consistently.)
04 — Create a Culture of Winning. Recognition is rocket fuel. Celebrate closed deals publicly, shout out prospecting milestones, and create healthy internal competition. When producers see others succeeding inside your shop, it raises everyone's floor. Culture is contagious — make sure what's spreading is momentum. These things don't need to be big, expensive gestures; the key is to find what works well for your team and stay consistent with it.
Following these 4 steps will get you on the path to running an elite team, implement each of them and watch your revenue grow.
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