Tales of a New Expansion – Part 3
Welcome back to my tale and journey of entering a new market with an expansion team. By now, if you’ve been following, you know the overall “plan.” We’re now moving to Charlotte, N.C., so I can be hands-on to grow the expansion team the best way I know how: with daily huddles, a clear set of roles and responsibilities, core values, carefully chosen team members, etc.
Now is the time to begin implementing! Thank goodness for my coach and the Workman Success Systems team. That was single-handedly the best decision I could’ve made for my business—signing up early in my career for their coaching. I’ve been in the business four years and 11 months and have been coaching with Workman Success now for about three years and 11 months. Before joining their program, my self-proclaimed OCD was going batty. I was (and am) blessed to have my phone ringing off the hook since I got into the business. When I first started, I was writing notes and to-dos everywhere. (Let me tell you, I had sticky notes, gum wrappers, the back of my checkbook and even my handful of notes taken while on calls with prospective buyers and sellers.) I couldn’t even tell you how people had heard about me or what was “working” with any of my marketing.
As I enter this new market, I can’t even begin to tell you what it’s like to have the Workman tools at my fingertips, from the training videos for my new hires, to the trackers for our leads, transactions, team projects, and more, we are set up for success with these duplicatable systems. How cool is that?
Now, as I’m working closely with my admin team to develop the expansion plan and to ensure all our details are covered (and well-documented in case we want to do this again), I’m also still very much involved in working in the daily business.
You heard that right—I love the real estate business and the life that it offers, but I also am a high “I” on the DISC profile assessment. On a side note, including DISC assessments in your hiring process can be a fantastic asset to your business. Learn whether the person applying is naturally attracted to people or systems or processes, etc. We also screen for a potential hires’ motivators. Are they motivated by money, being a leader, being creative, etc.? This not only helps you be a great team leader in accountability and pushing for their “why,” but also personalizing how you incentivize your team (based on their personal motivators).
Being a high “I” on the DISC profile assessment means that I like people. I’m a “social butterfly,” as my husband calls it. I personally even think that’s an understatement. I look forward to not only working with and getting to know our clients and their friends/family we’re blessed to be referred to, but I also enjoy the relationships formed in the business with other REALTORS®, lenders, title reps, insurance agents, inspectors, appraisers and the like. We, as REALTORS®, have a really cool job.
In saying all of that, I just wanted to be clear here that this expansion team doesn’t mean I’m removing myself from the business. I average personally selling about 35 homes per year, and I’m always striving to grow. As I said in the beginning of my journey, I thrive on the “sky is the limit” mentality. In my mind, sometimes this can be a blessing and a curse. I’m constantly on the go. You won’t find me sitting much—and certainly not for long. In fact, when I do finally sit for a minute at the end of the day, I usually fall right to sleep. Ha! I’m an early riser and love seeing my kids each day for as long as possible. I know at their ages now, 10 and 7, they’ll be grown before I know it. I just adore their laughs, smiles, empathy, playfulness and innocence.
These things are what led me to start a team in the first place. I needed more time for and with my family. I needed that work-life balance. I’m sure many of you do too. We can all easily get sucked into this 24/7 business. My next couple of posts will be a myriad of several challenges thus far along the way. Look for more coming soon!
Follow Brooke on her journey at www.ExpansionTeamMom.com.
Brooke A. Sines is a Workman Success Systems coach and full-time REALTOR® with RE/MAX in West Michigan and Charlotte, N.C., who has been in the business of working with people all her life. She is a mom, wife, real estate coach, team leader and broker. Contact her at Brooke@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com. For more information, please visit www.WorkmanSuccessSystems.com.
