Real Estate Team OS

Chase Whitney is doing geographic farming activities today that he was doing as a pre-teen to support his parents' real estate business. After more than a dozen years as an agent himself, Chase still does many hands-on, in-person, face-to-face, and human-to-human activities that can’t be scaled or leveraged.
 
But he’s also passionate about tech and improving The Whitney Team’s marketing and finances through that passion.

Learn how they expanded from a father-mother-son trio to an 8-person team, the 5 pillars of their tech stack (and his preferred vendors for each), what he learned using 7 different CRMs in 7 years, how he overcame shiny object syndrome, and much more!

Watch or listen to this Techtember episode with Chase Whitney to learn:
 - The when-you-know-you-know aspect of team culture

- Moving from a father-mother-son real estate business to the fits and starts of building out their real estate team

- Why old-school, manual, hands-on, and human-to-human marketing is so valuable in a tech-enabled age

- Overcoming the challenge of being drawn toward shiny objects

- The five core pillars of your real estate tech stack and the two rules that support them all

- What he learned by migrating their database through seven CRMs in a seven-year period

- Tips for improving your retargeting ads and alleviating ad fatigue in your target audiences

- How their direct mail strategy is targeted and tracked with tech

- Why front-facing IDX is irrelevant and what to look for in a real estate website solution

- Ways to leverage your best asset - property! - to create more valuable conversations

- The two main problems or questions that agents and team leaders reach out to him with

At the end, learn about bleeding red and gold, hours of research to save $2, and the problems with audiobooks.

Connect with Chase Whitney:

- https://consultwithchase.com/

- https://4realestatehelp.com

- https://www.instagram.com/chasewhitney_re/

Check out the book we talked about but couldn’t remember the title of:

- https://www.amazon.com/Oversubscribed-How-People-Lining-Business/dp/0857086197

Check out Real Estate Team OS episodes with people Chase mentioned:

- Ep Elena Kee https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/real-estate-crm-elena-kee-technology

- Ep 043 Chelly Herren https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/techtember-operations-real-estate-tech-stack-chelly-herren

- Ep 028 Jeffery McGonigle https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/real-estate-agent-proficiency-jose-samano-jeffery-mcgonigle

- Ep 041 Justin Benson https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/techtember-shaping-tech-to-your-way-of-doing-business-with-justin-benson

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Deep experience with transaction coordination and operations.

Roles on mega teams and small teams alike.

A passion for and understanding of technology.

Lisa Vo brings more than a dozen years of industry experience and specific strengths and insights to this Techtember conversation.

Watch or listen to this Techtember episode of Real Estate Team OS to learn:

- The need to challenge flexibility with standardization

- A 13-year journey into real estate through multiple roles and teams, including four of the main roles she takes on now

- The key questions she asks to diagnose a team’s tech stack and CRM

- How to know if you’re using too little tech or too much tech in your business - and advice for both types of people

- How to untangle a Franken-stack of too much real estate tech

- Specific tools you can use for efficiency and convenience … even if you don’t know how to write code

- Benefits of joining a real estate team, including a done-for-you tech stack

- Keys to a great TC function

- Distinct stages of tech implementation for transaction coordination - and which tools you need as you progress

- Trends toward real estate teams and teamerages

- Advice for someone who fears or hates tech in general and AI in particular

- Why she’s most excited about industry-specific solutions when it comes to AI

At the end, get fun stories about YouTube, a MacBook Pro, and Astros.

Follow Up Boss Success Community:

- https://www.facebook.com/groups/followupbosscommunity

Lisa Vo:

- https://lisalovesfub.com

- https://simplyclosed.house

- https://huzi.ai

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

From studying supply chain management to running operations for a team from 0 to 100 agents to becoming COO of a real estate team committed to per-agent productivity, Chelly Herren’s seen, tried, learned, and achieved a lot - especially in the zones of real estate tech and real estate ops.

And she’s here to share it with you.

- How to simplify your tech stack for more efficiency and less redundancy. 
- A disciplined approach to evaluating the true cost and true benefits of new technology.

- Specific tactics to increase agent understanding, buy-in, and adoption.
 
It’s all here in one helpful and engaging conversation!

Listen to this Techtember episode with Chelly Herren to learn:

- 3 reasons people join team leaders (not just join teams)

- Her path to COO of The Hyland Group, including helping build a team from 0 to 100 agents in a couple of years and a couple of markets

- The profile and structure of a highly productive team, including a leader closing 100+ transactions per year

- Her two-step process for evaluating the tech the team had in place and redesigning it to reduce redundancy and increase per-agent productivity

- Transparency and efficiency gains from managing transactions inside Follow Up Boss

- The most common tech theme, question, or problem she encounters (consolidation / simplification)

- The 3 main questions she asks when evaluating whether, when, and how to add new tech to their operation

- A caution and question to help you consider the full cost of new tech and weighing it against the benefits

- Specific tactics for better agent buy-in and adoption of new tools and tech (including an SOP library and agent tools website)

- How she keeps up with trends in real estate operations and technology

At the end, learn about Swifties, Zonies, leftovers, designer purses and wallets, information saturation, and pilates vs beaches.

Connect with Chelly Herren:
- https://chellyherren.com/

- https://www.prescottareaproperty.com/

Guests mentioned in this episode:

- Ep 016 with Emily Smith https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/emily-smith-intrapreneur-entrepreneur-teamerage

- Ep 023 Christy Belt Grossman https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/operations-leadership-real-estate-assistant-coo-christy-belt-grossman-ops-boss

- Ep 041 Justin Benson https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/techtember-shaping-tech-to-your-way-of-doing-business-with-justin-benson

- FUBCON Session with Jon Cheplak https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/jon-cheplak-real-estate-teams-traditional-brokerages

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Real estate agent. 
Operations leader for a real estate team. 
Partner in a real estate brokerage. 
Real estate tech consultant.

These are just a few of the roles Lee Adkins has played and seats he’s been in over the past couple of decades in the industry.
 
 He’s the Co-Founder and Chief Partnership Officer of Amplified Solutions, a team that designs, implements, and manages your team’s Follow Up Boss leads and systems.
 
 We invited him into this Techtember episode to help you assess and audit your real estate tech in general and your real estate CRM in particular.
 
 And many of the insights are simpler and more analog than you’d expect.
 
 Watch or listen to this Techtember episode to learn:

- The fundamental and often overlooked importance of a plan

- How he went from touring musician in a band to real estate tech consultant

- The two most common problems he encounters when assessing the tech stack of a team or brokerage (with a nod to the “I didn’t know it could do that” problem)

- Specific questions to help you find and implement new tech effectively

- Using a pencil and a piece of paper for your business plan, operations manual, or tech stack

- Why to click through all the Admin tabs of your CRM

- Setting, forgetting, and benefitting from the Follow Up Boss pixel

- Why to set all your reporting to the same time frame

- Knowing who to talk to, getting to Smart List Zero, then getting out to connect with people and earn commissions

- Where to get hours of in-account, on-screen, show-and-tell training on Follow Up Boss

At the end, learn how a rock band is like a real estate team, how fast $9.95/month racks up, and how to help your team unplug.

Follow Up Boss resources:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDmR8fGtgojAuhaYlB6n8xn8yJwkPCLPU
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/followupbosscommunity

Amplified Solutions:
- https://AmplifiedSolutions.com
- https://www.instagram.com/amplifiedsolutions/

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

When set up properly, your technology should be shaped to your real estate team’s way of doing things. It should support your vision and your dreams. It should enhance and improve your SOPs.

But often we get things turned around and allow our tech to dictate how we operate. Instead of adding efficiency and profitability, our tech can add unnecessary cost and frustration.

For advice on turning this around and to kick off Techtember, we bring you this incredibly helpful conversation with Justin Benson, Founder and CEO of Bara Agency and of Shilo.ai.

Before starting Bara, a fraction Chief Technology Officer agency, he helped build Gluch Group, helped expand it to three states, sold hundreds of homes himself, and created their tech stack.

Justin shares the three pieces of tech every team needs, ways to think about your tech budget, the most important question to ask when evaluating new and existing tech, and much more!

Listen to this Techtember episode with Justin Benson to learn:

- Why great salespeople are the bedrock of your team

- His path from med school to tech startups to real estate agent and team leader operating in 3 states to fractional Chief Technology Officer

- Where many ops leaders get stuck or reach their limit with technology

- The most important question to ask as you’re evaluating your tech

- How to plan your tech budget

- The three key elements of every tech stack, no matter your size

- Avoiding the danger of changing too much tech too quickly

- Specific ways to increase agent adoption of new tech

- The promise of AI while it’s still in its infancy

- How to find the right person to lead your tech initiatives

- Places he goes to keep up on tech trends and announcements

At the end, learn about the enduring value of underdogs, chartering a jet, struggling to relax, and predicting the future based on the past.

Connect with Justin Benson:

- https://baraagency.com

- https://shilo.ai

- https://www.instagram.com/justinbenson

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Your customer is your North Star. They're the reason you're in business. They're the source of revenue and referrals.
 
You may have personal motivations and goals for yourself and your team, but none are achieved if you don’t attract the right people and deliver exceptional customer experience.

So how do you build a customer-centric culture, then sustain and protect it for years to come?

Go inside the company and culture that brings Real Estate Team OS to life every week!

Get warmed up for the Techtember series that kicks off next week!

Learn about tech, teams, customer centricity, and customer-led education with Follow Up Boss Co-Founder and CEO Dan Corkill!

Watch or listen to Ep 040 with Dan Corkill for insights into:

- Attracting agents, staff, and consumers alike to your experience by being thoughtful and intentional

- The self-enforcing dynamics of a strong company culture

- Ways to decide - as your business is growing - who to hire and when (in short: look for where the pain or bottleneck is)

- How Dan decided to focus and niche down to serve the real estate community 

- How the puzzle of online leads became an opportunity for teams and a problem to solve

- The big difference between AI and automation (and how both are useful)

- A quick preview of who and what is ahead in the Techtember series of this show

- Staying focused on your customer, not your product, by investing in customer-led education

For Dan’s responses to our three pairs of closing questions, check out this Fireside Chat at FUBCON 2023: https://youtu.be/ad-_sgeko6s?feature=shared&t=2315

Follow Up Boss:

- https://followupboss.com

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

In recent years, The Duncan Duo Team has been twice the size and done twice the transactions. Today, they’re in a healthy spot between a small SEAL team and a mega team - and Owner Andrew Duncan is back in, hands-on, every day.

Leadership changes. Marketing changes. Buyer agency changes. Andrew speaks to them all in this conversation. He shares how and why he’s serving as Sales President, diversifying revenue streams, and shifting agents to be more listing-based.

Be sure to listen for their shifts to a more listing-based business, including things “every smart real estate team leader” should be doing and how brokerages will operate more like car dealerships over the next five years.

Listen to Episode 039 with Andrew Duncan to learn:
- The path from top salesperson in a Fortune 500 company to a real estate agent who sold one house in his first year (kinda)
- Why building a team was necessary and why - years later - he chose to get hands-on “blow some things up” in the business
- Playing to your strengths and core competencies
- Their 12-month production goals as they sit between SEAL team and mega team
- How and why they’re shifting resources to help agents be more listing-based
- Why more teams and brokerages will look like car dealerships five years from today
- The origin and benefits of their Guaranteed Sale program
- Tips for profitably leveraging mass media and advertising
- Their leadership structure and his role as Sales President
- What he’s doing Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm
- Why teams will grow more aggressively over the next couple of years and why more agents should consider them

At the end, learn what the Lightning, Warriors, and Lakers have in common, the threshold for coupon code hunting, and next-level networking at real estate conferences and masterminds.

Connect with Andrew Duncan:
- https://www.instagram.com/theduncanduo/
- https://www.instagram.com/theandrewduncan/
- https://duovermovement.com/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe
- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

An incredibly valuable part of your team operating system: the ISA function, your ISA team, and your Inside Sales Manager.
 
Here in Episode 38, Lisa Ryan, Director of Opportunities at Exquisite Properties LLC, an independent teamerage in San Antonio, Texas, shares her path from ISA and Inside Sales Manager into her current role.
 
You’ll learn how they build trusting partnerships with agents, how they compensate ISAs, which daily activities are expected, what metrics they track, how they manage handoffs to agents, when ISAs take opportunities back from agents, the role of AI in opportunity development, their training cadence for agents and ISAs, and much more!

Watch or listen to Episode 038 with Lisa Ryan to learn:
- The benefits of modeling behavior in-office and in-person

- The path in and out of ISA and Showing Assistant positions and why the ISA position isn’t “entry level”
- The language and mindset of opportunity
- Keys to a healthy agent-ISA relationship
- How they compensate ISAs on buyer and seller transactions and with bonuses and incentives

- Core activities in the role, including 1,000 calls per week

- How they manage handoffs from ISA to agent (and exactly when and why ISAs are empowered to take those opportunities back)

- Key metrics they pay attention to besides calls and appointments

- What their training schedule looks like

- The pros and cons of AI in lead engagement

At the end, you’ll hear about fantasy football, ramen noodles, family walks, and “adult cartoons.”

Connect with Lisa Ryan:
 - https://www.instagram.com/exquisitepropertiessa/

- https://www.tiktok.com/@isasofsa

- Email: Lisa @ ExquisiteSA . com

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
 - https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Prospecting to set up listing appointments. 

It was foundational to a successful real estate business 30 years ago.
It remains so today.

Greg Harrelson got his start prospecting. And growth from appointment setter, to a small real estate team, to a teamerage with 9 offices and 5 markets in the Carolinas that closed nearly 4,000 transactions last year all happened through … prospecting for listings.

Greg, who prospects alongside his agents for 3 hours every day, describes his approach as “developing talent and amplifying wealth.” In this wide-ranging conversation, he welcomes us into the philosophy and practices behind his success.

Listen to this Real Estate Team OS episode with Greg Harrelson to learn:
 - The 3 must-have characteristics of your next real estate team member

- How to find the right coach, how to become more coachable, and why he’s always sought coaching

- The brokerage challenges from which teams emerged, how online buyer leads accelerated teams, and the future of real estate teams

- The four things every brokerage or team must provide (and what they all have in common)

- Why culture is more about agent retention than attraction

- How he built and then disbanded his real estate team

- Insights into acquiring agents, developing agents, and recruiting agents 

- The org structure for their 9-office, 5-market team and his place and role in it (including his 10-80-10 approach)

- What’s been lost in the real estate industry and how easy it is to correct (spoiler: talk to more people)

- Coaching an acquired agent from 40 transactions per year (mostly buyers) to 90 transactions per year (all listings)

- Why he’s coaching pricing presentations, price reduction presentations, and listing extension presentations “religiously” right now

- Very specific advice for the leader of a small real estate team

Connect with Greg Harrelson:

- https://realestatesalessolutions.com/agent-success-academy/

- https://www.facebook.com/groups/235977313258813

- https://www.instagram.com/gregharrelsonrealestate/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Don’t confuse a robot for a cyborg. The latter is simply a living organism augmented by an artificial component or technology.

So, a well-equipped human is a cyborg. For example: with a smartphone and a ton of texting shortcuts to save time or with a prompting process to write more personal emails or replies to reviews faster.

The future of real estate sales and services belongs to those moving in this direction.
 
Learn how and why - in a practical, approachable, no-hype way - with Taylor Hack, Owner of Hack&Co in Edmonton, Alberta.
 
Taylor shares why he built a team (but not a mega team), how guests of Real Estate Team OS like Veronica Figueroa, Justin Havre, and Kris Lindahl have helped him on his journey, how he’s leveraged his passion for marketing and technology, and specific ways he’s using AI to improve himself, his team members, and their results.

Get specific tips to increase speed and maintain quality in getting insights from spreadsheets, writing and replying to emails, responding to online reviews, and more!

Listen to Ep 036 with Taylor Hack for:

- A meaningful definition and clear benefits of synergy

- How high-end car sales, mortgages, and irritation helped him produce $1M in commission in his first 32 months in real estate

- Why he started his real estate team and how hard it is to learn to run a business

- Why his 10-person team is exactly the right size (and how to find your right size)

- Why “the future of real estate is cyborgs” delivering “awesome” and “now” five-star experiences

- How to find the balance of people and machines in your business (how to make sure clients can’t “see the wires” of your machines)

- How he learned about AI and a framework to better leverage Chat GPT (concluding with 3 critical questions)

- Places to turn for trustworthy AI guidance (a couple of links here: https://linktr.ee/taylorhack)

- Writing emails, replying to emails, and replying to reviews with AI

- The benefits of a voice paragraph (written by and for AI)

At the end, learn about earning a vintage 911, mowing the lawn, being present with dogs, and trading the two worst hours of your day for the two best.

Taylor Hack:

- https://www.instagram.com/taylorthehack/

- https://linktr.ee/taylorhack

- https://www.google.com/search?q=taylor+hack+follow+up+boss

- https://www.hackandco.ca/team-page

Real Estate Team OS:
- https://www.realestateteamos.com/subscribe

- https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos

- https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/