Step Up to the Plate and Recruit a World-Class Team

"To be a team leader," according to James Colburn, "you need to be a rainmaker, a haymaker, a leader." Your team "can be as little as you and your assistant," or include a full roster of players. Discover who to recruit for your team with tips shared by Jim Remley and James Colburn in a recent Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinar taken from their upcoming book, Teamify. As you start planning, keep in mind that, according to Remley, "This isn't going to start from day one; of course, this is going to be a build-out."

Team Leader (You)

Every team needs its heavy hitter, and in most cases, that's going to be you, the team leader. Your team's success starts with you, so when building your team, Remley suggests you "Start saying to yourself, 'If I was going to pay myself $500,000 a year, what would I have to do? How do I have to look? What do I have to dress like? What do I do every day?' and hold yourself to that high standard."

Create a "team leader" job description for yourself that takes into account "what you would require of someone you're paying that kind of money to." If you would want your team leader to be at the office at 8:00 a.m., hold listing and buyer presentations, and actively use the CRM to incubate and follow up with leads, add it to your job description and hold yourself accountable to it.

Team Administrator

The first player you'll likely recruit to your team is an assistant. As you team grows, your assistant's role can shift to that of the team administrator.

"The way I look at a team administrator, it's just like a medical office," said Remley. "When you have a medical office, you usually have a front-office manager who manages every aspect except the patients...a great administrator is just like that; they're running a whole ship and kind of making sure that the doctor is doing what they should be doing...that the administrator is putting you in position to be operating at your highest and best use."