Creating a Collaborative Culture

The fundamental responsibility of a managing broker is to ensure the success of his or her Realtors, or as Lancaster puts it, “I’m here to protect their license.” Brining on quality agents is an important step to success, but the job doesn’t end there. Retaining agents is an equally challenging and crucial task; if Realtors do not like the office they work for, they will look elsewhere. Therefore, managing brokers must establish a culture that excites Realtors and makes them feel important and welcome. Managing brokers achieve this by doing something that sounds easier than it is: listening.

Millman takes advantage of the fact that West Avenue Realty seeks to be a boutique firm. With just seven agents on board, Millman has the ability to implement valid suggestions from his agents at a company-wide level. For instance, his agents suggested rebranding West Avenue Realty’s logo. Agents thought moving away from the palm tree/South Beach style and conjuring an image that better represents Brickell and downtown – where a large portion of their business is – would benefit the company. This input brought not only a new logo, but also an entirely new website. Managing brokers who demonstrate such responsiveness and inclusiveness make the agent aware that they are valued.

“Our agents have a say in what goes on and their input is calculated,” Millman says. “They feel like it’s their company.”
Real estate offices come in all sizes; Millman and two other broker-principals lead seven agents, Hernandez manages 10 Realtors, and Lancaster works with 45. But regardless of the number of agents, managing brokers work to create a culture that is collaborative at its core. Whether managing brokers receive feedback about logos or step in and advise during transactions, the goal is to position themselves as partners.

“In this business, managing brokers need to understand that agents are partners in the business, and the better they do, the better the brokerages do,” Hernandez says.

Many managing brokers believe such a relationship cannot be fostered if they are busy worrying about their own transactions; therefore, many managing brokers, like Lancaster, are non-competing.

Even if managing brokers never go after their agents’ clients, Lancaster says being a managing broker and a Realtor are two full-time jobs, and there simply isn’t enough time to be successful in both roles simultaneously. However, some managing brokers do take on their own clients; the trick is to make your business a second priority to the wellbeing of the office. Hernandez, for example, tends to collaborate with her agents on deals.

“I’m at the point where I’m actually partnering up with my clients so that I can help them build their business,” Hernandez says. “So for most of my clients, I’m teamed up with my agent.”

Millman also maintains his own client base, though he does so in a calculated – and collaborative – manner.

“If I feel I have more leads than I can handle, or if leads are for specific areas that aren’t my expertise, then I refer those leads to our agents,” he says, adding that he had never competed with his agents for the same listing and sustaining his career as a Realtor has helped land leads for his agents that they otherwise would not have received. Managing brokers can indeed continue to practice their business, but it’s a fine line to walk. The instant when personal interests distract managing brokers from the interests of their agents is when they’ve failed to do their job. Teaming up with agents, like Hernandez and Millman do, is a genuine way to remain active and generate a sense of togetherness within the office.