Because our company has grown to over 20,000 agents worldwide in only five short years, I’m often asked questions about our company’s growth strategy. One question that seems to come up again and again is, “Why are you so focused on recruiting agents?” Because we get that same question so often, I’d like to take a few minutes and share our company’s growth strategy with you, and then once you’ve had a chance to understand it, I think you’ll agree that there is a “method” to what you may initially see as our “madness”.
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First, we see our growth strategy in two separate phases: Phase One is QUANTITY. Phase Two is QUALITY. Here’s what I mean by that. You have to have the agents (in other words, QUANTITY), before you can set out to improve them (or QUALITY). Don’t get me wrong. Both are important, but they have to be done in the proper sequence. First comes QUANTITY. Then comes QUALITY.
So first, let’s talk about QUANTITY. The fastest-growing national real estate companies all have one thing in common — their national emphasis is on recruiting agents. Now why is that? I’m going to let you in on a secret. It’s because COMPANIES don’t produce transaction volume. Neither do BROKERS. It’s the AGENTS who produce the volume. Now as a company, our goal is to increase our market share to 5%, so that means that we have to increase our number of agents.
Let me explain it this way. The S&P 500 has consistently out performed all of the other major indexes and even most mutual funds, year after year. Why? Because it’s built on a large number of companies — 500 to be specific. Sure, some mutual funds, or other indexes may have better one-year results, but for consistent, year-after-year results, nothing else comes close. Of those 500 companies, some are top producers, while others under-perform. But at the end of the day, the average of all 500 yields consistent, steady growth.
Well, our growth is based on this very same principle — the principle of diversification. We don’t recruit only super stars. We want all types of agents. Full-time and part-time. Top-producers as well as lower and average producers. Here’s why we’re able to take them all: Our Team Leaders don’t have to provide brick and mortar office space to house the agents, so they’re able to hire as many as they want. Sure, our corporate office makes a huge technology investment for each new agent, but we’re willing to make that investment because we see the big picture.
Now, let’s talk actual numbers and I’ll show you exactly what I mean. Last year the average agent in America closed 7 transactions. The typical office had 23 agents. The average sale price was $206,500. That means the average company production volume was $33.25 million dollars.
If your goal was to double that volume, you could use two different strategies: First, you could recruit twice as many agents. No big deal. Hire one agent every other week. Even skip a few weeks. That’s by focusing on QUANTITY. On the other hand, you could double your volume by focusing on QUALITY. But for that to happen, you would have to bring every single agent’s production from 7 deals a year to 14! Now I ask you: which is easier to do? To recruit 23 average agents or to double the production of every single agent in your company? Exactly.
And that’s why we focus on QUANTITY first. So, our Phase One growth strategy is to rapidly recruit agents until we have 5% of the agents in any local market. But why 5%? Because, historically, it’s been proven that a company can grow to that size in a very short period, without any real market resistance. Sure, we’d love to have more, and some offices have well over 20%, but we have a very conservative one-year target of only 5% market share. That means if there are 1000 agents in a market, we expect to recruit at least 50 of them, and the production volume will take care of itself.
OK. Why so fast? Why only one-year? Because of another principle: momentum. The faster you grow, the easier it is to grow. Growth begets growth. Our strategy is to create a “buzz” among the agents in any given market, making the recruiting that much easier. It’s as simple as that. Think of a popular restaurant. Everybody wants to go there. Meanwhile, people will drive right by another restaurant with an empty parking lot, so they can go to the newest hot spot and stand in line.
That’s our strategy. So how do we intend to implement it? Very simple. Like all the fastest growing companies in the world, we require performance from our key people. Our Regional Vice Presidents are required to obtain no less than 5% market share in their first year. In order to meet that 5% milestone, they, in turn, require their Team Leaders to recruit 10 agents per month for the first 90 days, and then another 20 agents over the next 90 days. That’s a total of only 50 agents in six full months.
If a Regional Vice President fails to hit his recruiting targets, he will very likely lose his position. It’s nothing personal, but his job depends on his fulfilling the company’s growth objectives, and everyone knows what’s required when he accepts the position. Now, in the exact same way, any Team Leader who fails to hit HIS recruiting targets, will likely lose his position. He or she might be a great agent and even a great person, but just not the right person for the job.
Well, the good news is, that as a Regional Vice President or as a Team Leader, you are “vested” once you reach your 5% milestone. Then you can relax and enjoy your income, and focus on Phase Two — QUALITY. But before you focus on QUALITY, we expect you to build your required QUANTITY. If you’ll do that, you’ll make a lot of money. But more importantly, you’ll have the respect of your team and they’ll trust you when you begin to start focusing on improving their QUALITY.
And here’s some more good news: we at the corporate office are committed to helping you achieve your recruiting milestones. We continue to develop new recruiting tools and we continue to advertise for agents that we can then refer to you. We want you to hit your milestones. We want you to earn a ton of money. And we want you to enjoy being part of this real estate revolution! Real estate the NEW way! The FavoriteAgent.com way! So focus on building your QUANTITY first, and the rest will take care of itself.
Posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago at 9:26 am. Add a comment
How to Know the Odds of Selling Any Home…
What if you could actually know the odds of selling a client’s home in 30 days… or 60 days… or 90 days? Wouldn’t that make advising that client a lot easier? Well now you can! And it’s easy. Continue Reading…
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago at 5:50 am. 1 comment
As a Regional Vice President of Business Development, you share in the Company Dollar with the Virtual Office Team Leaders that you’ve recruited. The more Team Leaders you recruit, and the more Virtual Offices you open, the more money you’ll make. Of course, you’ll also be responsible for managing the Team Leaders you recruit, and from time to time you may need to relieve a Virtual Office Team Leader while you find his or her replacement.
With FavoriteAgent.com, your only limitation is your dream. We’d like to see you open 50 Virtual Offices but you may not be that ambitious. Nevertheless, you’ll make seven figures with only 20 average Virtual Offices. Even with a handful of Team Leaders recruited, you’ll make a lot of money!
Try out our RVP Compensation Calculator to see just how great this opportunity might be! Click here to launch the calculator. While you’re at it, go ahead and check out our company’s growth strategy as well.
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago at 11:51 am. Add a comment
Nationally, the average brokerage size was 23 agents in 2008. The primary limiting factor in brokerage size is the high cost of real estate. In FavoriteAgent.com’s virtual model, there are no limitations! Sign as many agents to your team as you can manage effectively.
As a Virtual Office Team Leader with FavoriteAgent.com, you make much more than your traditional model counterparts and you have effectively no overhead to be concerned with. Our Virtual Office Team Leader compensation plan is very simple:
Start with 50% of Company Dollar.
Recruit 10 agents and you get 55% of Company Dollar.
Recruit 20 agents and you get 60% of Company Dollar.
Recruit 30 agents and you get 65% of Company Dollar.
Recruit 50 agents and you get 70% of Company Dollar.
All this and the company pays for all the technology and agent accounting. In a typical office of 30 agents that amounts to about $35,000 per month! That means you get to keep your entire split and focus on simply building your team by recruiting. Now how cool is that?!
Go ahead and check out our compensation plan and see just how great our opportunity can be. Click here to launch our Virtual Office Team Leader Compensation Calculator. For most Team Leaders it is like night and day compared to their old-school brokerage experience. And while you’re at it, check out our company’s growth strategy too.
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago at 11:13 am. Add a comment
Make your own leads and stop depending on lead vendors, your broker, or your friends! A recent survey of nearly half a million veteran agents revealed that the number one concern facing agents today is having enough customers. This is further compounded by the recent decline in the national housing market. Meanwhile some agents are having their best days ever, making more in a month than most agents make in a year. So what is so different about these agents? Simple — they’ve quit depending on everyone else.
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Pipeline-i® Virtual Office is an innovative technology designed by agents, for agents that empowers you to generate more customers than you can possibly handle, all for less than a cup of Starbucks a day. The Pipeline-i® Virtual Office technology package includes integrated lead capture with our LCM® Web Gateway, our LCM® Phone Gateway technologies, our Agent SimpleSite®, and unlimited personal business coaching.
Check out what you get with Pipeline-i® Virtual Office…
We became a leader in the technology industry by making simple tools for real estate professionals. Our tools are unique because they’re designed by agents, for agents. That means they meet agents’ practical needs, but more importantly, they’re also simple - designed to learn in five minutes or less. Our core technology package Pipeline Virtual Office includes exactly what every agent needs to thrive in real estate.
So what are agents saying?
Agent Tom Bruno says…
“FavoriteAgent Rocks! I have been with them for a little over three years. No problems- no downtime- and they are there if you need them! I stopped doing floor duty, open houses (unless the seller wants me to) and farming to capture buyers and sellers because this program works!”
Tom Bruno
Albuquerque, NM
Agent Randy Roach says…
“Favorite Agent is the reason that I am where I am today. Without hearing about FavoriteAgent.com, I would still be using the old traditional ways of doing business that aren’t very efficient. It has enlightened me on the importance of the internet and has drastically changed the way I have been doing business over the last two years for the better. Everything is internet based and has been very good for our business. Pipeline Virtual Office is an exceptionally cost effective way to make and manage leads. We have been very happy with our results. If you’re looking to increase your business, I would definitely recommend FavoriteAgent.com.”
Randy Roach
Phoenix, AZ
Agent Jason Jarstfer says…
“As a new agent, I was broke and ready to quit real estate after 4 months due to the lack of business. Then I found the FavoriteAgent.com lead capture technology [Pipeline Virtual Office], and my business has never been the same. (I’ve used their systems for the past two years.) When I started with them, I was a rookie agent and had only sold one home. After my first full year with them, I was named the top producer in my company of 21 agents (for 2006 and again in 2007), and was ranked in the top 3% of all the agents in my MLS. All the other agents in our region are saying 2007 was the slowest year they’ve seen, but I’ve had more business than I could handle. So much that I recently hired a full time administrative assistant and started my own team. FavoriteAgent.com helped me solve the “no-business” problem! Thanks guys!”
Jason Jarstfer
Radcliff, KY
Agent Joseph Ignat says…
“I actually came across Favorite Agent while doing floor duty reading Broker Agent News, and it had an article Matt Jones wrote for the magazine telling how he was able to do 100+ listings in his first calendar year. Whoa! That got my attention. I found out he used a lead capture gateway [now called Pipeline Virtual Office] and that he was continually studying and changing it to make it work better.
So I had to at least give it a try. I found out you didn’t just join a company you joined a family. At Favorite Agent, all the way from the President to Customer Service, they actually cared about my success. They really take the time to give an agent that’s stuck some coaching advice. This is so good because you get a chance to talk with someone who’s actually done it and is talking with many agents from around the world daily, so you get ideas that others are just not doing. With Favorite Agent I’ve been able to make it through the slowing real estate market because I have the one problem every agent wished they had: TOO MANY LEADS! (Help! I can’t keep up! ;-).
Joseph Ignat, P.A.
Tampa, FL
P.S. If you want some stats, I personally give Favorite Agent credit for 22 transactions in the year and a half I’ve been with them.”
Agent Kyle Wilson says…
“Before I was introduced to the FavoriteAgent.com technology I was a struggling agent closing, on average, one deal a month. I was driving some pay per click traffic to a standard, template real estate website and closing a few deals as a result. At the time this was the best marketing system I had found because I could at least generate leads somewhat consistently. Little did I know that I was paying way too much per lead and per deal because I didn’t understand how important it was too have a lead capture system in place. As a result I was spending a lot to make a little.
When I heard about the FavoriteAgent.com lead capture technology and integrated database [Pipeline Virtual Office] I was skeptical. They told me if I replaced my current website technology with their LCM Gateway, that I would increase my capture rate from 1 customer out of 100 visitors to 25-30 out of 100! After several phone calls with the helpful staff, I took the leap of faith and purchased the system. Within two days of directing Internet traffic to my FavoriteAgent.com LCM Gateway, my lead count exploded. I was spending the same ad dollars but now I was generating 25-30 times more leads than before. After cutting my ad dollars way back so I could keep up with the leads, I decided to start building a team of agents to multiply myself.
With our team, we closed 126 transactions in 2006 and 130 in 2007, which was a “slow market” according to the so-called experts. And we did it at a fraction of the advertising dollars we would have spent using traditional marketing methods. In fact, 7 of the 10 top producers in our company of 150 agents used this system to build their successful businesses. When I started, I knew nothing about Internet marketing, lead generation, lead capture, pay per click, Google AdWords or anything before I began to research it myself. FavoriteAgent.com made it so simple with their systems, training and customer service that anyone can learn the concepts and get their Internet business up and running within a few days. Needless to say, I highly recommend this system to anyone serious about increasing their transaction volume while decreasing their current marketing budget.”
Kyle Wilson
Boise, Idaho
Agent Terry Richards says…
“Pipeline Virtual Office is the number one reason I have had success in real estate. I was able to jump feet first into a competitive market and not only write deals for customers immediately but shorten the real estate learning curve that cripples most agents. FavoriteAgent.com is for any agent who is serious about success!”
Terry Richards
Boise, Idaho
Agent Matt Jones says…
“That’s right I’m an agent, but I’m also the President and CEO of FavoriteAgent.com. We have agents all over the world using Pipeline Virtual Office to make their own leads for as little as $3 each. Our typical agent spends only about $250 in advertising and makes between 80-90 leads. Sign up today and I’ll pay your $1,000 activation fee for you. How cool is that? So go ahead and sign up today and start making your own leads tomorrow!”
Matt Jones
President/CEO
FavoriteAgent.com
Common Questions
How much does Pipeline Virtual Office cost? The complete Pipeline Virtual Office technology package costs only $550/month, with a 2-year contract. To learn more about our pricing, click here.
Why is Pipeline Virtual Office so cheap? Good question. For a slick website, a state-of-the-art lead capture, a contact manager, and personal business training, agents might expect to pay up to $1500/month.
Today an agent can get our full technology package for less than the price of your lunch each day! You’ll have to agree that any agent that’s truly serious about his or her career can make that size of an investment, especially considering you can save 50% by committing to a two-year contract.
Online marketing? What’s that?
It’s the wave of the future, but don’t worry, you don’t need to be an expert. The average online marketing campaign takes about 15 minutes to set up. It’s so easy your mom could do it. So why is it important? Because even armed with the best lead capture technology on the market, if nobody visits your website, you can’t capture them.
How much does advertising cost? The best part is online marketing is scalable to your budget. You can spend as much or as little as you want. And there are no lengthy contracts, so you can stop and start your campaign when you want. Our average agent spends only $250/month on advertising.
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago at 1:15 pm. Add a comment
Let’s be honest: my approach to real estate — the FavoriteAgent.com approach — is way outside the traditional box. So much so that it’s attracted the attention of CNN who identified our company as “changing the face of real estate in America”. (Watch the video below.) But believe me, it needs changing.
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The fact is that traditional real estate is adrift today. Realogy Corporation, the largest and most traditional real estate company in America and parent company of Century 21, ERA, Coldwell Banker, and Sotheby’s International Realty, posted operating losses of over $2 billion for the 12 month period ending in March 2009! In almost every market, large traditional companies are closing their doors forever. Why?
Because real estate is not changing — real estate has already changed. Sure, people are still buying and selling homes more than ever before, but the methodology for attracting customers and delivering real estate brokerage services to the public has changed. The undeniable fact is that technology has changed our industry just like it has every other industry.
But, change is good! Old-school real estate must give way to real estate the new way. It’s the natural evolution of our industry. And I believe our company has identified this new direction and we’re already training and empowering agents to succeed in this new age of real estate.
So if you find yourself identifying with my outlook on our industry and with real estate the new way — the FavoriteAgent.com way, and you’d like to explore a closer relationship, there are several ways you can take that next step:
License Our Virtual Office Technology
Join a Virtual Real Estate Office
Help Us Open a Virtual Real Estate Office
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago at 10:16 am. Add a comment
The following is excerpted from a NewsGeni.us featured article, September 10, 2008.
Twice a year, Matt Jones — broker, coach, and author — opens his doors to a small group of agents for the FavoriteAgent.com National Training Summit, a free two-day crash course on his company’s “new way” of doing real estate. Anyone who has attended this seminar before can tell you that Matt Jones’ unique outlook on the business can radically transform your practice.
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The Summit is for agents who are working harder, only to achieve fewer results, or agents who thought they knew the business, but are realizing that it has changed. Whether you are struggling to survive in the “Internet age” of real estate, or are simply looking for a fresh approach, The Summit is for you.
Unlike most real estate training, the seminar is provided for agents at no cost. Not everyone can afford to shell out hundreds of dollars, leave their businesses, and go to a high-priced conference so that “experts” can sell them their latest line of products. A conference doesn’t have to cost several thousand dollars for agents to take away something valuable.
The Summit will cover topics like strategic planning, virtual office technology, Internet marketing, and Matt’s unique listing strategy that he has taught to over 80,000 agents across the world. Here are some of the things agents have said about the training:
“Great Presentation! Informative, Entertaining, the CMA Section alone was worth sitting here all day.” - Linda Smith, Rose and Womble Real Estate
“Of all the course I have attended and books that I have read, this is by far the most sensible, different, and hands-on information that I have received. I’ve already mentioned it to several persons that I know, as it’s truly creative and gives information that no one else is using. It’s amazing!” - Janet Beddoe, Cape Coral, FL
“I am learning a lot from your presentation, and I have received ideas that are foreign to me. I do believe that this information will make a difference in my business. I have been considering leaving real estate, but I will stay another year with your new ideas to implement. Your presentation is a blessing.” - Cindy Merz, Medina, OH
So why are we telling you about this? We’re telling you because this year Matt has agreed to extend that invitation to our readers! Offering this two-day seminar free of charge is a mind-blowing value. Those who are able to get a seat are truly in for something special:
Everyone is invited. However, attendance is limited so that the sessions can be more intimate, and the slots are filled on a first-come-first-served basis. Reserve your seat as soon as possible! We are currently planning the following Summit events.
Hickory, NC (Coming in Spring 2010)
Take a moment to fill out this quick, 1-minute registration. Our event staff will contact you to confirm your seat and to send you some advance information. Thanks.
Matt Jones
President/CEO
FavoriteAgent.com
Register Now!
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago at 9:22 am. Add a comment
LCM: The Secret to Success in the New Age of Real Estate - ©2005, Book. Matt Jones describes the secrets that made him one of the top producing agents in the country in just a few years. This book is an overview of the technology and the methods that grew FavoriteAgent.com from a single agent practice to the largest company in Matt’s home town of Fayetteville, NC. Available in e-Book format for $9.95.
The Ultimate Listing Presentation - ©2006, Book. Matt follows up his debut release with an expansion on his listing presentation — the very presentation that won him over 114 listings in his first year in the business, all at 8% or more, in a market that typically lists for 6% or less. This is probably the most unique listing presentation you’ve ever seen, and it works every single time! You’ll have your clients begging you to list at a premium! Available in e-Book format for $9.95.
Traffic: How to Sell Fast and Net More - ©2007, Book. In Traffic, Matt takes his listing presentation — the very presentation that won him over 114 listings in his first year in the business , all at 8% or more, (see The Ultimate Listing Presentation, above), and presents it to the “non-professional” general public. In it he discusses when selling their home FSBO is a good strategy for a seller and how to find a good agent. Available in e-Book format for $9.95.
Becoming a Mega-Producer - ©2008, Book. Becoming a Mega-Producer moves from the listing side of the business and speaks directly to the buyer side. This powerful edition is a step-by-step walk in the shoes of Matt Jones, as he shares his secrets to becoming one of the top agents in the country in less than 5 years. Available in e-Book format for $9.95.
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago at 3:42 pm. Add a comment
Hi. My name is Matt Jones, and I’m the president and CEO of FavoriteAgent.com… but I’m also the managing broker of our local real estate firm, and I personally manage about 70 agents every day. Joining a real estate company, whether you are considering a move, or joining for your first time, is a very important decision and one that you should make carefully and deliberately. So why should you join FavoriteAgent.com (or any company for that matter)? What a great question!
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To be perfectly honest, we didn’t know the answer so we conducted a survey. And after asking nearly half a million real estate professionals, we discovered that it really comes down to just five reasons why agents choose one brokerage over another, and we believe that our company excels in all five. See what you think.
Customers
Join FavoriteAgent.com and you’ll immediately solve the number one problem facing agents today: not enough customers. Our agents have exclusive access to our lead capture technology, enabling them to produce as many customer leads as they want to work. Our typical agent only spends about $250 in advertising and yet generates about 80-90 customer leads ever month!
Tools
Today most agents spend a small fortune on tools. Not at FavoriteAgent.com. Our agents get their very own state-of-the-art LCM Web Gateway lead capture technology, their own LCM Phone Gateway lead capture technology, their own personal Agent SimpleSite website, their own integrated client management software, and Virtual Assistant application. They also get the most powerful Virtual Office real estate platform available today, complete with hundreds of training articles, videos, calculators, business planning modules and much, much more. Our technology bundle costs over $1,100 per month to license it directly, and yet our agents get it all for free!
Training
Many companies talk about training. FavoriteAgent.com actually does training. I’m a nationally syndicated author of real estate training material with well over a hundred articles and four books to my credit. More than 90,000 agents have taken my training either online or at one of our National Agent Summit training events, learning how to succeed in this new age of real estate, and I’m personally active in coaching and training our agents.
Freedom
At the end of the day, the only thing you have to sell is your time. That’s why FavoriteAgent.com doesn’t waste it with useless sales meetings, caravans, floor duty, or non-productive company meetings. Our company empowers our agents to be productive while maintaining the support, community, and structure that many agents crave.
Money
Ask most agents how much they make and they won’t have a clue. It depends on whether it’s a cross-sale or in-house sale. New or existing. January or December. Most company commission plans are a virtual shell game. The FavoriteAgent.com Agent Compensation Plan is probably the simplest and most generous you’ve ever seen. Here it is: Every single agent pays a 50% split on their first transaction with the company. That’s to offset all the administrative costs in adding a new agent to the company. But after that, all agents keep a minimum of 80%.
Now, there are two ways any agent can make 90%! First, by being a top producer. If any agent completes four or more transactions in a thirty-day period, he is paid 90%. Or make 90% by recruiting. If any agent recruits five other agents to join your company, his commission is increased to 90%. And that’s 90% commission with with no office rent, no transaction fees, no administrative fees, no nickel and dime fees, period.
Interested in learning more or arranging a discreet interview? Click here and fill out the simple online application and someone will contact you.
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago at 11:20 am. Add a comment
Imagine starting your very own real estate brokerage. I know what you’re thinking:
“But I don’t have the $20,000 for a franchise fee, or the $10,000 for a lease deposit and and first month’s lease payment. For that matter, I don’t have the $50,000 it will cost me to buy the desks, tables, chairs, fax machine, copy machine, and all the endless stuff that I need to get things started. And even if I had the $80,000 in hard start-up costs, and another $100,000 available for operating capital, I can’t begin to afford the advertising campaign that will be required to recruit agents and to let the public know I exist.”
So instead, you resign yourself to continue to schlep houses until you drop. Riding in cars with buyers. One frustrating transaction after another. Not that you mind making new friends, but enduring the daily grind of chasing from deal to deal gets old. Let’s be honest. You have ambitions to get out of the trenches and you have vision for how things might be. There has to be more than this. Right?
Well I have some great news! There is more! So much more! I’m going to show you how you can own your own Virtual Office brokerage, and how you can do it inexpensively. I’ll show you how you can recruit agents, train them, and manage them better than in a traditional model company. Most importantly, I’m going to show you how you can make more money in the process — a lot more money.
What’s more, in this model you can be up and running in days, not weeks or even months. You don’t have to be able to ride out a long start-up period with yet another big slice of your hard-earned savings. And what’s even better is that this model is thriving during the current depressed housing market. Sounds too good to be true, right? It’s not.
You could open your own Virtual Office brokerage with us and never miss a transaction. I want you to imagine being the person in the plan I’m about to lay out for you. It could very well be you, and the entire transition could take place in a few days. You’ll see. I know you have your doubts, so we’ll just call you Thomas (as in doubting Thomas). Okay, Tom. Here is your plan:
Day 1. Getting everything in place. A building, a managing broker, and your Virtual Office technology platform.
- First, your building. Some states require you to have a physical brick-and-mortar location for your company (at least for another few years). Legally, that can be your house, but I’m not suggesting for an instant that you use your house to meet clients. Here is our model. I’m assuming you are a working agent, so you have been using both a lender and a closing attorney. Start there.Go and ask either of them — no ask both of them — if they’ll allow you and your agents to use a conference room to meet clients, if you continue to send them your business. If they won’t, then find another who will. Believe me, this will be the simplest negotiation of your life. I’ve never heard of an agent being turned down when they asked for the ongoing use of a conference room. Remember, they want your business, and what better way to get it than to let you and your agents use a conference room that sits empty most of the day.
- OK, now your Broker. If you are not legally qualified to manage yourself or other agents, don’t panic. The beauty of our industry is that we have lots of agents who are qualified and yet leaving the business. Find a qualifying broker and make him or her a deal to pay them so much per deal to be the “legal oversight”, and to review your work. It shouldn’t take more than a few phone calls to set that up. Remember, this arrangement can always be changed as you expand your business.
- Finally, Get your Virtual Office technology in place. That one’s simple. Call FavoriteAgent.com and we handle the rest. In a typical office of 30 agents, we cover the the cost of roughly $35,000 per month for the agent’s technology. How easy was that?! No big checks. No first and last month’s rent. No deposits. If you qualify to open an office, we pay the technology bills.
Now it’s been a pretty busy morning, so go ahead and treat yourself to a nice relaxing lunch. While you’re having lunch, let’s think about your company name. Have you decided on a name yet? Well, with our Virtual Office license, you get to use the FavoriteAgent.com nationally recognized trade name, and immediately associate with nearly 20,000 other real estate professionals across the globe. We have agents in all 50 states, in every province of Canada, as well as Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Let’s see: “FavoriteAgent.com Premier Properties” has a nice ring to it. Perfect!
OK. Lunch is over. It’s time to think about a few logistics. You need to order some business cards and yard signs. No big deal. Our corporate office has all the art work ready to send to the printer and sign company. Oh, and don’t forget to make sure your voice mail has your new company name on the recording. Now log into your MLS and download the email addresses for all the area agents and start focusing on a list of possible recruits. Don’t worry, recruiting will be easy.
Here’s what I mean: Recruiting always comes down to your value proposition to the agent. And what you have to offer them is so much better than everything else out there, hiring agents will be a snap. Here is your value proposition in a nutshell. You give them freedom, better tools, and more money. What more could they possibly want?
Freedom because your agents don’t have to waste half their productive time pulling floor duty, sitting in sales meetings, driving to caravan houses, or any of the other traditional agent busy-work. With FavoriteAgent.com they have none of that. Freedom is huge to a productive agent.
Like any of the national franchises, your agents will each pay 10% of gross commission to FavoriteAgent.com corporate. But unlike those other national companies, with FavoriteAgent.com they actually get something tangible for their money. Instead of paying a franchise royalty to use a national name, they are paying a technology license fee. That technology license fee buys them everything they need to operate a Virtual Office real estate practice. Here’s what I mean.
Each agent gets his very own LCM web gateway, his own LCM phone gateway (both are state-of-the-art lead capture technologies), his own personal website, his own integrated contact management software, his own virtual assistant and mobile applications. They also get the most powerful Virtual Office real estate platform available today, complete with hundreds of training articles, videos, calculators, business planning modules and much, much more. Our technology bundle would cost each agent over $1,100 per month if they were to license it directly.
Now remember, as the broker-owner, running a typical 30-agent office, FavoriteAgent.com will be providing your company with nearly $35,000 per month in Virtual Office technology. You’ll also be happy to know that all of your agent accounting is included in that licensing fee, so you won’t have to spend your money to hire a bookkeeper to run your brokerage, or shut the office down the entire office for the month of January to get all the agent 1099’s sent out.
But besides all the freedom and all the tools, you’re going to attract your agents the old fashioned way — you’re going to pay them well! The FavoriteAgent.com Agent Compensation Plan is probably the simplest and most generous you’ve ever seen. Here it is: Every single agent pays a 50% split on their first transaction with the company. That’s to offset all the administrative costs in adding a new agent to the company. But after that, all active agents keep a minimum of 80%. To remain active with the company, an agent only has to complete one transaction a quarter, or, they can work full-time in real estate. Now, there are two ways an agent can make 90%! First, by being a top producer. If an agent completes four or more transactions in a thirty-day period, he is paid 90%. Or they can make 90% by recruiting. If an agent recruits five other agents to join your company, his commission is increased to 90%.
And that’s 90% commission with with no office rent, no transaction fees, no administrative fees, no nickel and dime fees, period. So, how easy do you think it is to attract agents when you can give them freedom, you can give them a state-of-the-art technology platform and the ability to forever solve their lead problems, and you can pay them 90%?
Believe me, it can’t get any easier. OK, enough about recruiting. It’s been a tough day but well worth the time invested. Go ahead and take the evening off and get some sleep. You’re going to need it. Tomorrow’s going to be really busy!
Day 2. Today you have your initial coaching session with FavoriteAgent.com. It will take about an hour, and during that hour you’re going to learn how to set up and manage your online advertising. By the end of the day, you’ll have a steady supply of new leads coming into your own Virtual Office contact manager. Don’t worry, if you forget something, the coaching staff is always there to answer any questions you may have. Now it’s time to do your homework.
The coaching staff is going to suggest that you take an hour to make sure that everything is set up just like you want it, and to learn your way around the Virtual Office software. They’ll also tell you to import all your contacts into your software. While you’re at it, why don’t you go ahead and email the customer service department your list of local real estate agents, complete with the phone numbers, fax numbers, and email addresses. You know, the ones that you downloaded yesterday. Within an hour or so, they’ll have them all in your contact manager and ready to use. Was that easy or what?!
Day 3. Now it’s time to actually start recruiting agents. Better check your Pipeline. Oh my! You have seven new leads waiting to be called. Sure, you continue to practice real estate while you build your team, but now you get to keep 90% of your commissions instead of giving over a third to your old broker. Now you can spend less time drumming up business too, because it is coming to you faster than you can handle it. Now you can actually think about building your business by recruiting. Maybe you already are a broker and have agents working for you, or maybe you are just starting from scratch. Either way, using techniques we’ll show you, you should be able to recruit 30 agents in less than 90 days.
Now let’s look at a realistic scenario comparing this model to the traditional model. Let’s say you recruit 30 agents over the next few months, and those agents average one single transaction per month. Here is how your income looks:
- Traditional Model. With 30 agents and 30 transactions per month, using a typical traditional model broker split of 38% (or in other words, you pay your agents an average of 62%), and using an average GCI or gross commission income of $6,000 per transaction, you would have a franchise fee of $14,400. That plus any note payments you might have, and any mandatory signs and supplies you had to purchase. If you run your brokerage like the typical traditional brokerage, then you will bring about 2% to the bottom line or about $3,600! Don’t forget, you might not have that much business coming in, and your expenses will still march on, but for purposes of this illustration let’s say your agents come through and business is good.
- Virtual Model. With the same 30 agents and 30 transactions, using the national average company dollar of 15%, and the same 30 agents and 30 transactions per month, you’ll make $17,901. In other words, your Virtual Office company makes about five times as much money and has virtually no risk. No rent. No utility bills. No accounting. No company advertising bills. No additional staff. The very picture of simplicity. And you have lots of time available to actually do some production, if you decide you want to.
Remember, in the traditional model, your cash outlay is nearly $200,000 and your risk is very high. At that level, your return on investment is minimal and you have basically bought a job. Unless you can live on a $43,200 income, you are going to have no choice but to sell houses every day and compete with your agents.
In the virtual model, you’d make $214,812 on the revenue produced by one virtual office of 30 agents. Let’s say you continued to grow that office, adding 30 agents a year for the next five years. You’d be making $1,388,016, and it would all be profit! Your company will be a virtual real estate money-making machine and you’ll have very little, if any, stress. Your agents will make more money, and your customers will be better served. You’ll have the benefit of a national brand and state-of-the-art technology, and you’ll own a business valued at roughly seven times EBITDA, Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization, or nearly $10 million.
Contrast that to the traditional alternative where you would likely still be leveraged to the hilt in your one brokerage of 30 agents, taking on a huge risk of capital, and working with diminishing margins as agents continue to demand more and more money and brokerage commissions continue to erode. Suppose you wanted to expand. You’d have to reinvest more capital to get and equip a larger facility. And you’d have to add staff. Your risk would continue to escalate with every expansion, and unless you’re a rare agent, you’d still be selling houses and own a business nobody would buy.
Day 4. Now comes the fun part… all you do from your fourth day on is make money. Now how cool is that! To view our Virtual Office Team Leader Compensation Plan, click here.
Well I hope that helps you understand exactly how I’d recommend you open your own virtual office. It’s simple, and our company pays all the Virtual Office expenses for those qualifying agents who have big dreams but small balances. We’ll hold your hand every step of the way, and help you become successful. The only thing standing between you and a very enjoyable and rewarding life is your own fear to act.
Interested in learning more or arranging a discreet interview? Click here and fill out the simple online application and someone will contact you.So, contact us, and we’ll help you get started doing real estate this new way!
Posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago at 12:46 pm. Add a comment