To grow a city you need infrastructure. To grow a Real Estate team you need the same thing.

I say this because my wife Donna and I tried to grow a team before we were ready. I see other Realtors do the same thing we did. They are successful right out of the gate so they want to duplicate that success with a team. The problem is that they do not have the systems and other key growth factors in place to make a “team” successful.

A team needs 4 key items in place before they will be able to grow successfully.

1) A team needs systems in place to handle leads, client care, and all the problems that are inevitable in Real Estate. Without systems the ball will get dropped a lot and everyone will get frustrated. One agent may do very well without systems because of their force of personality or their contact base but this is not something that is easily duplicated. To grow a team you need systems that will allow everyone to duplicate success if they just follow the system!

2) The team needs an adequate amount of leads to keep everyone busy. Without leads Realtors die on the vine. Again, they will get frustrated and begin to drift. Your team needs leads and/or the tools to acquire leads or they will become a group with a bad attitude and it is downhill from there.

3) A team needs a cheerleader. Celebrate all wins! Salespeople in general are motivated by money but they are also motivated by the endorphins released when they make a great sale!

4) A team needs a leader or leaders. They need someone who has paid the dues, learned the skills, knows the direction, and can instill confidence in the team that if they stay the course they will be rewarded!

I say all this because I think it is very common to have a successful Realtor who branches out too early. To grow a team I think you need to go through all the stages. The Realtor needs to grow his own business until he or she can’t handle it anymore and then bring on an assistant.

Together the Realtor and assistant can create systems that can be duplicated by other Realtors.  At this point you may be able to bring on one Buyer’s Agent. Again, you will work through issues until you have a system in place that will allow you to grow further.

All the while -– I think you should not grow until you have a sustainable growth in lead sources that will allow your new agents to immediately be successful. Success causes more success and momentum!

With this model the team growth is natural and sustainable. Growing before you are ready is a deadly mistake that will kill your momentum in my opinion. I am not a guru on this subject but just sharing mine and my wife’s experiences, as we have grown our team of Realtors in Columbus GA, in hopes that everyone will learn on our dime.

Speaking of learning on someone else’s dime we have learned from others and sought their advice like Mitch Ribak, Cal Carter, and others who have blazed a trail before us. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. You may put your own spin on the wheel but starting from scratch is just not necessary!