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Creating a positive company culture in your organization might seem like an easy task, but it is actually much more than providing a good salary and having a decent HR department. It’s about fostering a space where people feel safe and able to grow.

In this Team Building Podcast episode, Jeff will share with us the five strategies that you can implement today to build a company culture that lasts a lifetime and produces revenue.

The five strategies for positive company culture

Creating a positive company culture goes beyond just motivating your workforce. It is about creating an environment where your team not only knows how to grow your business but also strives to generate more sales and attract more clients.

The Culture

In today’s competitive business landscape, attracting and retaining top talent is crucial for the success of any organization. But how do you stand out from the crowd? The answer lies in cultivating a positive company culture that not only supports the well-being of your employees but also ignites their passion and drive.

Your company needs to be a place where people can develop their talent and learn, not a place for stagnation and conformity.

Lead Culture

In a thriving lead culture, admins, salespeople, and all the staff need to be wired to focus on one the same thing: selling and generating leads.

This focus ensures that every team member is aligned toward the common goal of driving business growth. By providing the necessary tools, training, and support, you empower your sales team to tackle lead generation head-on and achieve remarkable results.

The ERS team has identified three types of  team members:

  • Dependent salesperson: Needs mentoring
  • Interdependent: They have been in the business for a few years and don´t need constant mentoring.
  • Independent- don’t need to come into the office; they can work without supervision.

The overall goal is to create independent agents. By empowering your sales culture, your team can excel in their roles with minimal supervision.

Lead Conversion Culture

Once you have the leads, make sure your team culture includes the conversion process.

Start with cultivating a mindset that views lead conversion as a collective responsibility and an opportunity for growth.

By instilling a sense of ownership and commitment to conversion goals, your team becomes a cohesive force working towards shared success.

To fuel the drive for lead conversion, it’s crucial to motivate and empower your team. Celebrate the milestones and successes along the conversion journey by creating a culture that values recognition. Consider implementing dynamic gestures like applause or other forms of acknowledgment to show appreciation for the hard work put in by your team members.

Culture of Systems

Having systems and software that make management and lead conversion easier is essential to have effective results. Your team deserves the best of the best.

And an efficient CRM (customer relationship management) will make processes faster for your team.

Jeff recommends BoomTown, a leading real estate software provider that is used in ERS and that has proven to be an effective tool. Having a system offers perks and time savings for the company because it streamlines the lead conversion process.

By doing this, you enable your agents to make more money in less time and less energy.

Strategies

In order to optimize lead conversion and drive success, it is essential to establish clear processes and build an effective strategy.

Moreover, having clear procedures is crucial for effectively generating and converting leads; this way, agents know how many calls, emails, texts, and visits need to be made to generate a lead or close a sale.

Automation tools can make strategies more effective, allowing you to automate repetitive tasks such as email campaigns, lead scoring, and lead nurturing. By implementing a culture that revolves around these activities and using the right tools, businesses can improve their lead conversion rates and achieve greater success.

Start Implementing a Positive Company Culture Today

The benefits of improving your company culture are paramount because investing in your team’s well-being and professional growth means investing in your own business growth.

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What is the number one way to build team culture? What strategy can you implement that will make all of the difference? Keeping culture at the core is essential for your business to thrive and succeed because, at the end of the day, people are what makes an organization work.

In this Team Building Podcast episode, Jeff reveals how he made culture his compass and propelled his company to new heights.

He shares the key step he took to grow his company culture to become the fastest-growing real estate company in 2018! Learn how you can implement this strategy in your organization.

Jeff Story: Finding Business Success through Team Culture

Jeff’s story began in 2009 when he started his career as a full-time real estate agent; here is where he learned all the basics of the real estate world and grew a passion for it.

He got his own team together in 2011 and catapulted from 70 to a staggering 700 sales in just six years. But the story of Jeff’s success is not merely a tale of the hard work of a solo man. It’s a masterclass in building a winning team culture.

In 2018, Jeff’s team occupied the top spot in the world at Berkshire Hathaway as the fastest-growing real estate company. This wasn’t a stroke of luck or a twist of fate. It was the result of a carefully crafted team culture of success and relentless team-building efforts.

If it weren’t for his role and active steps in building a company culture and leadership in real estate, ERS would not be the company it is today.

Strategies To Build A Dominant Team

After reading The Dream Manager, Jeff understood what he needed to do in order to scale his team and grow his business: let his team dream far and wild.

But why is dreaming big so crucial within an organization? It’s simple. Dreaming big is what will keep your team happy, focused, and with a goal in mind; it will give intention to what they do. When people do things intentionally, the outcome is always better than when they are not.

However, it’s essential to understand that building a dominant team goes beyond providing cool office space or hefty paychecks. While these are attractive perks, they aren’t the bedrock of a thriving work environment. Instead, a positive work culture thrives on the happiness and fulfillment of its people.

After a lot of teamwork and team building culture, Jeff came to the realization that any company or business, especially in Real Estate, is not the final destination but a stepping stone that propels your team members toward their individual dreams and aspirations. 

This is why having a Success Manager, Dream Manager, Leader, or whatever title you want to give this role is essential. Because this role, whether it would be you or someone else, will make sure people keep dreaming big and having goals in mind.

The Success Manager

In this context, the success manager isn’t just a coach focused on performance metrics but rather a mentor who helps nurture personal and professional growth. Whether it’s offering life advice or financial coaching, the goal is to support your team in all facets of their lives,

A key aspect of being a successful manager is the desire to help individuals evolve into better versions of themselves. This involves fostering self-awareness and helping them reflect on their strengths, weaknesses, and aspirations.

Ultimately, your role as a success manager is to serve as a vehicle for your team members to reach their goals. You’re not just a leader driving the company forward but a facilitator, aiding your team in their journey. This way, your Team will make intentional choices and perform better at their job.

Have Vision Boards

So how do you make your team have goals and aspirations? How do you push them to be intentional in their job role?

A well-crafted vision board serves as a constant reminder of the steps needed to reach those goals. It keeps aspirations at the forefront, providing a source of inspiration and motivation whenever team members need it.

Vision boards are a powerful, tangible manifestation of your team’s goals and aspirations, so try to categorize them into different areas, such as business goals, personal hobbies, or career aspirations. This helps provide a clear, organized view of the various facets of their lives.

Have KPIs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are more than just numeric goals. They serve as a tangible measure of your team’s progress toward the company and personal goals. Setting quantifiable targets creates a sense of accountability in your team members, ensuring each individual is fully aware of their responsibilities and contributions.

However, if you see a team member struggling to achieve a particular goal on their vision board, it’s crucial to pause and reassess. As a success manager, it’s your responsibility to facilitate this process. You could ask team members, “Which goal do you want to accomplish and remove from your vision board?” This question encourages them to focus on achievable targets and work towards accomplishing them.

Have Clear Growth Processes

In the journey of team growth, having clear systems and processes in place is necessary. These act as a roadmap, guiding your team toward their goals while ensuring consistency and efficiency in the business.

However, it’s essential to remember that these processes are reflective of your company’s vision and values. If a team member struggles to align with these processes, it may indicate a deeper issue. It could suggest that they’re either unprepared for the growth trajectory or perhaps not fully invested in the company’s vision.

This process can help identify individuals who may not be a good fit for your organization.

Start Growing Your Team

Now that you understand the importance of clear processes, it’s time to put this knowledge into action. Building a more robust company culture and growing your team doesn’t have to be an uphill battle.

Contact us today to learn how we can support you in this journey. Together, we can create an environment that nurtures growth, fosters shared aspirations and propels your team towards their goals. Want to learn how? Contact Elite Real Estate and start making your dreams come true.

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There are a lot of types of teams in the business world, and for real estate, community teams, rainmaker teams, CEO teams, and Navy Seal teams are the most common. Do you know which type of team you lead?

In this Team Building Podcast episode, our host, Jeff Cohn, dives deep into the top four types of teams and types of team members in the real estate business. Are you curious to know which team structure is most suitable for you? And, more importantly, how can you ensure a profitable business?

Community

In a community team, you typically find three or four individuals who come together to share overhead expenses and form a small, cohesive unit; these are usually small family businesses. While this model may seem appealing at first glance, it lacks long-term sustainability.

Jeff himself has personal experience with this team model as he started his real estate journey alongside his mom and family. Together, they divided their tasks and embarked on their entrepreneurial adventure.

However, it’s important to note that this team doesn’t hold much value if any member decides to leave the business.

While the community team model can function without a designated CEO or leader and allow team members to contribute equally, it may lack the necessary structure and direction needed to excel in the competitive real estate industry.

Rainmaker

In this team structure, the rainmaker takes center stage and handles the majority of the business and income-generating activities. They are the driving force behind the team’s success, handling the biggest deals and usually securing the highest income as well.

The other people are there as support team members and handle non-critical or less important tasks, which can lead to an imbalance in workload and responsibilities. This lack of equal distribution usually results in a less sustainable team dynamic.

As a consequence of the work dynamic, the team may experience a higher turnover rate as others feel undervalued or lack opportunities for growth.

One of the main shortcomings of the rainmaker team model is its heavy dependence on one individual. If the rainmaker is absent or unavailable, it becomes challenging for the team to maintain its sales momentum. So it is not a very sustainable or saleable business in the long run.

CEO

In this business model, the person who otherwise would be the rainmaker, becomes the leader or CEO. They shift their focus from working in the business to working on it, overseeing the operations, and guiding the team toward success.

In the CEO team, the leader’s presence is not essential for the business’s operation and success; this basically means that the company becomes sustainable and can grow without having the CEO there. The leader’s role becomes strategic and plans for the company’s future.

The team can be sold easily and seems more appealing to potential buyers since they don’t need to spend time working in the business.  If you aspire to implement this model and retire as a CEO, it’s crucial to consider the position you need to hire to ensure a smooth transition. Identifying the right individual to take over your role requires careful consideration of their skills.

After reading The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, Jeff successfully applied this model, retiring from his sales position and transitioning into a team leadership role.

Navy Seal

In this model, you have the freedom to choose your desired income level and charge clients accordingly for your expertise. By prospecting for leads 80% of the time and attending to those leads the remaining 20%, you can focus on generating high-quality leads and nurturing client relationships.

One of the key principles of the Navy Seal team model is delegation. You can distribute the rest of the deals and sales among your team members; they will do most of the work anyway, allowing them to take the lead and showcase their talents.

While you can decide what business to make and how to work with, the rest of your team keeps leveraging their skills and expertise, resulting in increased productivity and overall success.

Hybrid: CEO and Navy

In this model, you combine the roles of CEO and Navy in your real estate business. You basically take on 10 or 15 high-value clients per year, focusing on deals that are not only financially advantageous but also align with your strategic goals. By dedicating just a few hours a month to these select clients, you maintain your position as the leader of the company, prioritizing CEO tasks over your real estate agent responsibilities.

The hybrid CEO and Navy model allows you to strike a balance between working on real estate deals and fulfilling your overarching role as a visionary leader. This will maintain the company’s sustainability and saleability while still making some room for you to close deals and make some extra revenue.

Start Building a Strategic Team for Your Business

Imagine yourself in the future, outside the confines of the job market, where you have successfully built a thriving real estate team and are reaping the rewards of your hard work and strategic decisions. This is the vision we want you to embrace when deciding what type of team you want to work on.

By leveraging your existing client database and expanding your real estate team, you can position yourself for exponential growth and profitability. Want to learn how? Contact Elite Real Estate and start making your dreams come true.

The best team cultures are so great, new recruits just naturally soak up what they need to succeed. That type of culture doesn’t just happen on its own though. It requires accountability, growth, and extreme ownership on the part of the leader.

How did Brandon Oot go from disillusioned bartender to running a $15 million team in 3 years? What kind of culture does he work hard to create?

In this episode, entrepreneur and broker/owner of the Core Real Estate Team, Brandon Oot talks about his journey and how he actively runs a culture of success.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Gain self-awareness through activity
    How does stepping out of the many roles on our teams help us identify what we’re good at?
  • Make everything your fault
    Extreme ownership can be scary, but incredibly liberating. How can we use it to make our teams better?
  • If you want the best, become the best
    Many leaders are frustrated by the quality of recruits they attract. Could this be self-inflicted?

Guest Bio 

Brandon Oot is an entrepreneur and broker/owner of the Core Real Estate Team. For more information, follow @boot4186 and @corerealestateteam on Instagram. You can also call 315-450-0674 or send an email to brandon@coreteamny.com.

To Download two free PDF’s: Jeff’s Business Plan and his Lead Generation Guide, Click Here.And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with Jeff, follow @jeffmcohn on Instagram.

When you leverage real estate the right way, it opens doors and provides a life most can only dream about. By going beyond selling real estate to investing in it, you create opportunities to level up quickly.

Megan Ahern and her husband went from living in a travel trailer to buying over 60 properties and running a successful staging business. Now they are moving to Maui while still maintaining their large portfolio in Nebraska.

How did her story begin, and how has she used real estate to build her dream life and make an impact? In this episode, the real estate entrepreneur tells her story and how she grew a successful investing operation.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • A great ancillary business
    Why does staging work so well as a vertical to add to your real estate operation?
  • The challenge (and opportunity) of investing remotely
    When you live far away from your properties, solving problems isn’t as easy as driving there. How do you make this easier?
  • Real estate meets impact
    How is Megan using her real estate investing operation to contribute to a meaningful cause?

Guest Bio 

Megan Ahern is a real estate entrepreneur and investor. She’s the co-owner of Acorn Properties, a company that flips houses, holds rentals, and has sober living houses. Megan and her husband have bought over 60 properties in (and around) Lincoln Nebraska since 2018. They also own a home staging company Acorn Home Staging and they hope to start opening more locations across the US by the end of 2023! For more information, follow Megan on Instagram and head to https://www.acornhomestaging.com/.

To Download two free PDF’s: Jeff’s Business Plan and his Lead Generation Guide, Click Here.

And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with Jeff, follow @jeffmcohn on Instagram.

Business leaders want the freedom to focus on their zone of genius. Unfortunately, they delay that by holding onto every activity in the organization. To build a 7-figure operation, we must relinquish a lot of the functions in our businesses.

Why do so many people struggle to take this step? How do we let go of the urge to micromanage?

In this episode, Matt Johnson returns and we talk about what holds people back from the freedom they seek.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Bad advice for business
    Micromanaging may work in running a successful comedy show. Does it hurt us in business though?
  • The Good Samaritan mentality
    We don’t take things off our plates so we can do nothing. How does leverage allow us to provide more value?
  • A winner never thinks they’ve won
    How do we raise our ceiling for success so we can fire ourselves in many roles in our businesses?

To Download two free PDF’s: Jeff’s Business Plan and his Lead Generation Guide, Click Here.And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with Jeff, follow @jeffmcohn on Instagram.

As leaders, we always want to present the best version of ourselves to the world. However, the opposite can happen when we don’t show who we truly are and instead try to mask our natural selves.

Where does the journey to authenticity begin and how does it tie in with removing the “mask” we often wear in public? Can this also help others become the best version of themselves?

In this episode, best-selling author, coach, and philanthropist Ray Higdon joins me to talk about becoming a better version of yourself, how to recognize if who you are is congruent with who you want to be, and how to address inconsistencies. He also shares his insight on pivotal points in his life and how he’s used them to grow and help others.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Just be yourself.
    Not everyone is going to love us or even the version of ourselves that we present to the world. It’s better just to be yourself.
  • What holds us back from growth?
    What are some factors holding us back from growing and how can we better identify them?
  • Using obstacles to move forward.
    How do we remove or overcome obstacles so that we can take steps forward?

Guest Bio

Ray Higdon is a best-selling author, coach, high-energy speaker, and philanthropist. Going from foreclosure to multimillion-dollar success in a few short years, Ray’s journey to excellence has been fueled by an unrelenting passion for teaching people how to find their voice and understand their worth.

Ray’s latest best-selling book, TIME MONEY FREEDOM, coauthored with his wife Jessica, (Hay House Publishing 2020) is Ray and Jess’ guide to creating the life you’ve always dreamed of, including very specific action steps to get you there. The Higdon Group reality show Play to Win (Season 2) was released in October 2020. A top keynote speaker, Ray has shared the stage with world-renowned thought leaders, including Tony Robbins, Rachel Hollis, Les Brown, Brendon Burchard, Robert Kiyosaki, Bob Proctor, Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, Magic Johnson, and many more. As a philanthropist, Ray has helped raise over $600,000 for March of Dimes and Adaptive Ops, and he is currently working on a program to help kids in foster care.

Ray is the founder and CEO of Higdon Group, an Inc. 5000 company, an award-winning leader in the sales training and coaching arena. He resides in Florida with his wife and four children.

Visit https://higdongroup.com/

Find Ray on Instagram @rayhigdon

Find Ray on LinkedIn @rayhigdon

To Download two free PDF’s: Jeff’s Business Plan and his Lead Generation Guide, Click Here.

And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with Jeff, follow @jeffmcohn on Instagram.

Short-term rentals are a great source of income but many people overlook them. It can bring a lot of value and growth, so why aren’t more people investing in it?

Short-term rentals can be much easier than traditional long-term rentals if you have the right tools.

Why should we look at investing in short-term rentals and how can we get started? Is self-management too much of a headache?

CEO of The Short Term Shop, Avery Carl joins me for this episode to talk about how she got started with short-term rentals, how it works, and how she’s now helping other people buy and manage their properties.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • The opportunity in short-term rentals
    Learning property management by ourselves can help increase the income that short-term rentals bring in.
  • Piquing potential clients’ interest
    By simply answering questions, we can pique the interest of our clients.
  • Property management tools you can use
    There are many property management tools out there but which ones provide value?

Guest Bio

Avery Carl is the author of Amazon’s best-seller, “Short Term Rental, Long Term Wealth: Your Guide to Analyzing, Buying, and Managing Vacation Properties,” and the host of “The Short Term Show” Podcast!

Avery is also the CEO of The Short Term Shop, the country’s TOP short-term rental, and Airbnb real estate agency. The Short Term Shop has connected investors with over 5,000 cash-flowing short-term rental properties since 2018. Avery went from a 37k salary to a real estate portfolio of over 220 doors in 5 years through strategically investing in short-term and vacation rentals. This strategy allowed her to grow her portfolio much more quickly than starting with traditional long-term rentals. It’s her goal to help as many investors reach financial independence through short-term rental investing as possible.

Visit https://theshorttermshop.com/

Find Avery on Instagram @theshorttermshop

Find Avery on LinkedIn @averycarl

To Download two free PDF’s: Jeff’s Business Plan and his Lead Generation Guide, Click Here.

And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with Jeff, follow @jeffmcohn on Instagram.

For business owners, finding high-performing employees is always a struggle. Tapping into the wider talent pool through remote work is a highly effective strategy. Most people associate virtual staffing with basic, rudimentary tasks, but there’s a lot more to it.

How do we access a pool of A+ talent, how do we train them and set them up for success?

In this episode, the founder and CEO of Anequim, Gwenn Aspen shares how to overcome the talent pain point in our businesses.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • How to build a super productive team
    How do we find professionals who can help us run whole business units?
  • The power of the job description
    How do we set up a high standard before someone even starts the job?
  • How to make your life easier through leverage
    Do we need to have perfect processes and procedures before we make a hire?

Guest Bio

Gwenn Aspen is a speaker, the founder and CEO of Anequim, and co-host of the Bootstrappers Podcast. In 2008, Gwenn and Jeremy Aspen hired their first remote employee — a friend and past colleague from Mexico — to help with calls via VOIP phone for their property management business. The support from this first virtual assistant helped them provide better customer service, allowing them to grow faster than ever before. By 2015, they had 26 remote professionals on board and were inspired to help more businesses like theirs.

This led to the birth of Anequim in 2016. With direct experience in hiring, training, and developing remote professionals, they crafted processes and procedures for virtual assistant programs that now provide services to businesses in the US & Canada. Anequim has become one of the largest remote professional employers in Mexico with employees helping customers across various industries.

For more information, head to https://anequim.net/ and find Gwenn on LinkedIn.

To Download two free PDF’s: Jeff’s Business Plan and his Lead Generation Guide, Click Here.

And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with Jeff, follow @jeffmcohn on Instagram.

When the real estate market softens, the people who invest in relationships survive. Going it alone is a sure way to have a harder time, but that’s avoidable.

If we take the time to set up partnerships and joint ventures, growing our businesses becomes easier.

What are companies missing when it comes to growth? Why do some companies still struggle? What is the value of symbiotic relationships and how do we create them?

In this episode, the CEO of Windsor Mortgage, Chris Vinson joins me to discuss how partnerships are beneficial in any industry, how it’s helped his team grow, and what exactly it is that consumers want.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

  • Keep it local
    Before expanding, how do we ensure we’ve explored every local option?
  • Focus on growing slowly
    As visionaries, we want all our implementers to keep up but we also don’t want them to break. How can growing slowly aid with this?
  • How a personal touch can make a world of difference
    How does a personal touch help us to stand out with clients?

Guest Bio

Chris Vinson is the mastermind behind the Mortgage Division at Plains Commerce Bank. From humble beginnings in 2001 to coaching mortgage professionals across the country, Chris has an undeniable passion to help others succeed. With two decades of experience, Chris has developed a team that produces over 5.6 billion in originations a year, focusing on customer experience and state-of-the-art technology.

Having a vision, drive, and passion for growing the mortgage industry, Chris, along with his mortgage team, has surpassed 25% regional market share and has been voted the Sioux Falls Local Best Mortgage Company for eight years running.

Sharing his success, Chris inspires and coaches his team of Mortgage Bankers along with CEOs and Loan Originators across the U.S. to ensure his team, along with the clients and community banks they serve have the tools needed to succeed.

Find Chris on LinkedIn @Chris Vinson

Find Chris on Facebook @Chris Vinson

To Download two free PDF’s: Jeff’s Business Plan and his Lead Generation Guide, Click Here.And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with Jeff, follow @jeffmcohn on Instagram.