It is perhaps the most important business principle of all, and Anthony Lamacchia embraces it fully. That’s because as the Lamacchia Realty CEO looks to expand out of New England into the Florida market, he knows what must be done to succeed.
The key principle is that in order to grow and prosper, a company needs to employ outstanding people. Find them, hire them, compensate them, trust them and then allow them to use their skills in your favor. Lamacchia spoke with RISMedia about the challenges faced when entering a new, competitive market, and how he’s strategizing to ensure long-term success.
Michael Catarevas: What was the genesis in deciding to establish your company in a distant state after concentrating in the New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire?
Anthony Lamacchia: We began in Fort Lauderdale in October 2020 and then opened a brick-and-mortar office there in January 2022. This year we’ve been growing the office a bit. Not as much as I’d like, but a bit. And we brought on a great agent this year, Michael Valencia. We needed a leader there. We have an office manager and a business development person and someone doing photography and covering for agents and providing various field services. But we needed an executive-level person who knows the business inside out. Somebody to walk into recruiting meetings, talk to agents face to face and convince them that we’re for real.
MC: How did you decide as the broker/owner/CEO of the company to expand to Florida?
AL: South Florida has been our No. 1 outgoing referral market for probably the last five years. We do a good amount of relocation business, and it has been growing substantially. We were always referring people to South Florida. Some of them would go with the companies we recommended, but some would say, ‘Hey, you know what? If I can’t work with Lamacchia, I’ll just find my own agency.’
To remedy that situation, Lamacchia recently promoted Shane Bronson to regional vice president of Florida, a position he has stepped into while maintaining his current title of VP of relocation. It comes five years after Bronson first joined Lamacchia Realty.
AL: Shane was in Michigan when I recruited him over to our company. He knows the brokerage business inside out. He was a broker/owner, he was a REALTOR®, he was a team leader and a branch office manager at a large company in Michigan. Sarah Hatch is now taking over the relocation department as our new relocation director. She was more than ready to take that over. She was doing more and more. Shane wanted to get to Florida, and I needed an executive there, so it was the right fit.
MC: What are some of the challenges associated with trying to break into a market like Florida that’s so established with so many other brokerages?
AL: It’s challenging. I mean the fact is, no matter how much we like to think it, we’re not there (yet) what we are up here. It takes time. It takes years. So there are challenges that come along with that. And that’s the reason I want Shane down there, because we need somebody of his caliber beating the street every day, getting involved with the communities, being a leader, being the face for our organization, for the whole South Florida region and, frankly, all of Florida. We want to be all over the place, and he’s going to be the leader down there for that effort.
MC: I would imagine that Shane isn’t just trying to find clients to buy and sell houses. What are his specific duties?
AL: His goal is to grow the company down there. Grow the office, identify opportunities for other offices, acquisitions and what companies we can buy there. Also, the day-to-day management. We need a senior level-manager creating relationships with other brokerages that perhaps we could buy in the future. Training the agents, being there in person, all the things that go into growing a brokerage. He’s going to wear all those hats.
MC: Will it be difficult to try to recruit agents who are already working for other companies that are bigger than your company right now in Florida?
AL: Yes, but that’s the case everywhere. Recruiting is a very difficult game. Here’s the key: When agents realize how much more they get with our company, we have a motto with a trademark on it: Get More. When they realize that they truly do get more with Lamacchia, they end up moving over, and once they move over, they don’t leave.
MC: Are you going back and forth to Florida yourself?
AL: Here and there, every couple of months.
MC: Is it a major financial outlay at the beginning to get up and running? I would imagine that the ROI isn’t great right now.
AL: It’s not, but we’re in it for the long haul, and we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to grow down there.
MC: Right now you’re in Fort Lauderdale. What’s the plan after that?
AL: I suspect that we will probably go a bit north to Jupiter at some point in the next year or two. I think that will be our next second branch office town.
