Hey guys, when you look at every real estate market in America as a broker-owner leader, you can probably agree with me that there's only one #1 brokerage in every market.

Now, today, it may be you, or it might not. Odds are it's not. So if we're not number one, sometimes we can say to ourselves, "Geez, how am I going to attract agents if I'm not the top dog in the market?"

We need to change the narrative.

What do we do to change the narrative? We got to reframe what people are looking at.

So I'm going to give you an example of that:

When we are talking about our firm, instead of just focusing on who sold the most, who listed the most, who painted the most, which is what agents get caught up in, brokerages get caught up in reframing the narrative.

For example, by saying, "Hey, let's look at a couple of other metrics of how we can evaluate companies in the marketplace."

Maybe it's the number of years the broker has been a broker. I'm 36 years in the business. Not a lot of people ...

When I got into the real estate business, and I bet you're like me, when you walked into your real estate office in the beginning, there was a leaderboard. Some people call it a brag board in the office, right?

It had the listings and the sales. You'd write your name down when you took a listing and write your name down when you took a sale.

And we liked it, man. We're ego-driven people. As real estate agents, we all want to see our name on the board.

So when you open your company, some of you brokerage owners and team leaders might have done the same thing. You thought, "Well, I'm going to do the same thing. I'm going to have a big brag board, and I'm going to fire people up about getting on that brag board every month."

Is that a good idea, though?

Here's why it may backfire on you:

The reason it may backfire on you is, who are the same people that are going to be on that board every single month, month after month after month? They'll be your top producers.

And you might say,...

Brokerage owners, team leaders—I know that you're recruiting every day because you're supposed to do that to build your business. I know you're doing it.

And when you're doing this, and you're setting aside one hour a day for recruiting, who are you targeting? Well, who you should be targeting is the people that are going to be the most receptive to your message.

And often, we just target the top producers in the market, or we target a certain group of people that has done this much production over this number of years.

But let me give you another target: “Gap Agents.”

What's a gap agent?

This is an agent who has not closed a deal in the last 90 days.

They have closed deals in the past. Maybe they've been a top performer. Maybe they were a consistent 3 or 4 or 5, 6, 8, 9 top producer.

But for whatever reason, in the last 90 days, they have not closed a transaction.

These folks will be much more receptive to having a conversation with you because they're looking to be rescued. T...

As an office leader, a brokerage owner, is having teams in your building, teams on your roster, a good idea or a bad idea?

So when you look at this from the outside perspective, and I'm somebody that's been in the business for 36 years, I've owned a network of 17 offices, I've run billion-dollar companies, and so I've had a lot of teams working for me over those years.

And I will tell you that teams overall can add a lot to your company because they help you with market share. There's going to be a tremendous amount of market share growth that they're going to bring to the table.

So do you make a lot of money on a team? Usually not. Usually they're on the lowest splits coming to the company. They take up a lot of resources. They can actually take up a lot of real estate in your office.

So on a profitability scale, not great. But on a market share scale, fantastic.

So we have to ask ourselves—we need to have the right mix. We have to run a lawnmower or a piece of equipment that req...

Hey guys, if you’re a brokerage owner or team leader, one thing we tend to do this time of year is say, “Okay, what are our production goals for 2026?”

And you should do this. You should know what you’re shooting for in terms of Gross Commission Income (GCI) and closed volume.

But one thing we often forget is what’s actually going to produce those goals—those transactions closed, that volume closed, that GCI. What is it going to take to create that?

Often, we get lost in this idea that all we need to do is motivate our current crew enough for them to create the production goals we’ve set for the team or the company.

But the reality is, that almost never works.

As someone who coaches brokerage owners, franchises, and team leaders across the country at the highest levels, I can tell you that almost never works.

Why?

Because what’s going to create higher production and higher GCI isn’t motivating your current team to produce more. Now, we want to do that—that’s absolutely a goal.

Brokerage owners, I want you to think about the last agent you lost. I know it’s tough — I’ve been there. Losing an agent feels like a gut punch, like getting kicked by a donkey. It hurts.

When you think about that last agent who left, I want you to answer a tougher question: why did they leave? What caused them to go to another firm?

Sometimes they get led down a garden path and think the grass is greener. But often, and this is hard to admit because our emotions get in the way, the real reason they leave is because we didn’t have a close enough relationship with them.

And I’ll tell you something: Friends don’t leave friends.

That’s the reality.

You need a closer bond with your agents individually. And then you need to help them grow transactionally. Start with the relationship, then move to helping them grow their transaction count.

The only reason people leave is because they’ve been promised a path to more transactions. It’s rarely about the commission plan. Sure, that can sp...

As a real estate agent, you're probably looking for ways to generate leads in a unique or different way.

I'm going to give you one of those strategies right now. It’s completely outside the box, and I hope it gets your wheels turning and inspires a fresh perspective on your business.

Let me start with a fascinating statistic I first came across in The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley. I’ve researched it myself over the years, and it consistently holds true:

90% of all millionaires—and people who will become millionaires—have volunteered or are actively volunteering in a charitable organization within their local community.

So, ask yourself:

Are you modeling that behavior by getting involved in local charities?

If not, what would happen if you started?

Here’s what happens when you do:

You begin networking with great people—people who are already successful or on their way to success. You’re also giving back to your community in a way that aligns with your passions.

If you’re ...