The challenges of profitably operating a brokerage firm in today’s market are many, but key to doing so requires first and foremost the right leadership skills and accountability systems.
This was the message delivered to 200 leading industry brokers and executives by Gino Blefari, incoming CEO for HSF Affiliates and former founder, President and CEO of Intero Real Estate, Tuesday as he opened RISMedia’s exclusive CEO Exchange with a detailed blueprint of how he led Intero to become one of the fastest organically growing companies in the history of real estate and the No. 1 real estate company in Silicon Valley today.
RISMedia’s 2014 Real Estate CEO Exchange is taking place at New York City’s Yale Club on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Blefari’s 30-minute presentation was fast-moving and effectively offered a to-do list for brokers wanting to increase agent productivity, recruiting efforts and ultimately their bottom line. Key to his approach at Intero was creating a culture of accountability through a series of systems that continually track and measure managers’ and agents’ most important goals as well as their “small wins,” or daily and weekly commitments. These may include, for example how many agents they were going to recruit per week, or how many open houses they attended, and then a wrap-up call at the end of the week to report on their accomplishments.
“Most of us resist accountability because we don’t want to add any extra pressure to our already busy lives,” Blefari said. “We’ve also had experiences in the past where we failed, let someone down, or had a negative experience with accountability. However, accountability can be magic. Accountability is a great support and motivator for us when we want to make positive changes or reach new heights. By making regular commitments about what you’ll do and what you want to manifest in your lives, you are able to produce breakthrough results and expand yourself in ways you didn’t think you could.”
As an example, Blefari shared that when he started the company in 2002, he and his core team would meet every morning at 7 a.m. and share their business goals for the day, and then meet back at 5 p.m. to report on what they’ve done. “We did this every day and it worked exceptionally well. If you think about it, the great ideas we have will just stay ideas if we don’t have accountability systems in place.”
More recently, he said a recruiting contest the company held earlier this year produced 380 new hires over just a four-month period.
The ‘wow’ moment came however when revealing the company’s projected profits over last year, based on the “small wins” he had explained. By increasing per person productivity, recruiting efforts and more detailed budgeting, the company’s projected profit is expected to jump from $11 million in 2013 to more than $26.5 million.
“No one could argue that we even had very conservative goals too,” he said. “That’s the power of a small win. It’s those little things, the small wins that ultimately have a huge impact.”
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Providing brokers with great take-home information, Blefari also outlined systems for working together as a team, creating a positive company culture, detailed budgeting, and more, which we will break out in additional upcoming articles and coverage of the event.
Blefari is the incoming Chief Executive Officer for HSF Affiliates LLC,which operates the real estate brokerage networks of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Prudential Real Estate and Real Living Real Estate. Prior to this (late 2002 to June 2014), he was the Founder, President and CEO of Intero Real Estate Services, Inc., a leading U.S. real estate brokerage headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley. Blefari has led Intero through discipline, constant innovation, and a cadence of accounting, to become one of the fastest organically growing companies in the history of real estate. Today, Intero is the No. 1 real estate company in Silicon Valley and has extended their reach across the U.S. and around the globe.
RISMedia’s Real Estate CEO Exchange is open to select, leading broker/owners and their respective leadership team members. To see this year’s full agenda, click here.
Stay tuned to RISMedia for more in-depth coverage of the CEO Exchange. Watch our social media channels on Facebook and Twitter for live event updates and videos.
