Above: Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson
President/Broker in Charge
Wilson Associates, a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®
Greenville, South Carolina
https://wilsonassociates.net
Region served: Upstate South Carolina
Years in real estate: 40
Number of offices: 1
Number of agents: 37
Favorite part of your job: The people
How does your company work to make its agents’ jobs easier?
Our company culture is really important to me. It’s not built on just the number of people, but rather, the type of people we hire. Another thing we do that’s a little bit different is recognize agents who have bettered themselves and increased their business based on sales volume or number of transactions instead of ranking them based on production. This allows agents to compete against themselves, not one another.
Tell us about your experience co-founding Wilson Associates back in 2014.
While it was the scariest day of my life, I’ll also say that I’ve never worked as hard—and I’ve never had as much fun doing it. When you take this on, you take on the responsibility for everything. Having worked as a salesperson prior to co-founding Wilson Associates, the thing that surprised me most was the fact that experienced agents were coming to me so that we could problem-solve together. Stepping into this role taught me that agents may put what you’re telling them into their own words, but when you’re watching them succeed and grow, it’s clear that they’re listening.
Is now the time to pursue expansion—in terms of offices and/or number of agents? Why or why not?
For us, I would say no to office expansion because COVID taught us to pivot and do things a bit differently. I don’t think we need brick and mortar because we’re pretty much paperless. That said, it would be foolish to not want to grow and keep up with the market if the right person came along. We’re not looking to be one of the big companies. Our goal is to be a mid-sized company, potentially increasing our agent count in order to expand our presence into other regions and communities.
What is your best piece of advice for agents looking to grow into leadership roles or open a brokerage?
If you want to open a brokerage, you have to be able to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week—and if you want to grow from an agent to managing or owning a brokerage, you need to network with people who are doing that. You need to take some leadership courses and be involved with your local boards and associations to see how it works.
Being an agent is different than being a broker/owner, and while there’s some crossover, you need to be networking and connecting with the right people. Being part of the industry and volunteering on committees and boards is a great way to stay informed about what’s going on at the local and state level.
What attracted you to Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE)?
In addition to being a fabulous global network, I like that the companies affiliated with LeadingRE are very kind to us. In fact, I can call a company and either speak to their relocation person or the agent I’m going to refer a client to. A lot of referral networks are just online portals, and that doesn’t work for me. When you get to have a conversation, you’re setting the stage for a successful referral. Beyond their big conference in Las Vegas, I also enjoy LeadingRE’s regional events, which are great for networking and sharing best practices.
For more information, please visit https://www.leadingre.com.
