How to level up to team leader while still in production

Curious what it might look like to move into a team leader role but don’t want to give up the work you love as an agent? You’re not alone. 

The decision to stay in or leave production is ultimately a personal one. And many choose to stay.

Every day in active production, you get access to detailed client conversations, manage negotiations, drive the neighborhoods and learn the inventory. But how do you do all of that and still find time to lead a team?

As part of our mission to help real estate leaders learn, grow and scale, we've tackled this topic from multiple angles via the Real Estate Team OS podcast. Today, we’re rounding up some key expert insights to help you maximize your focus as a real estate leader, while still rocking it as an agent.

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5 tips to become a powerful leader while still in production

As a team leader who’s still in production, you are an incredible resource for your agents. But sharing your insights, motivating your agents, and keeping them accountable to their goals is easier said than done.

Here are five tips to help you become a powerful leader, while maintaining your active real estate business.

1. Know your numbers

As a team leader, your balance sheet will look a lot different.

Additional expenses (and hopefully more incoming commissions) are par for the course in the move from single-agent operation to team.

In the beginning, the goal is to make sure that growing a team while still providing the same (or more) income than you brought in as a solo agent. But knowing your numbers will also help you right-size your team based on how many deals you want to do individually and at the team level as you grow the business. 

Here are some tips to help you analyze your income and expenses:

• Create a detailed budget and analyze your margins. Continually review and update your budget as your business grows. There may be times where it makes sense to take reduced profits because you’re choosing to invest back in the business.
• Forecast future revenue. Look at your historical data over the past 1-2 years to identify patterns that can help you predict future revenue. You may want to account for a 30-60 day dip after hiring your first agent due to the time required for things like training and onboarding.
• Review financial statements regularly. Schedule a recurring task every month to look at your income and cash flow statements and keep your finger on the pulse of your financial health.

Suneet Agarwal always looks to the numbers to decide his next best move. 

The CEO and Owner of California based Big Block Realty North and Best Sac Homes Group is no longer in active production — but he’s still a firm believer of staying in until you’re really ready to make the switch.

Whether it’s steering your marketing investments or adjusting your splits, his best advice is to let the numbers be your guide

Here’s how Suneet explains it:

2. Decide what you will (and won't) spend your time on

As you build your team, you’ll need to get ruthless about where you focus your energy. 

For Renee Funk, Team Leader of The Funk Collection in Orlando, Florida, the key is to focus exclusively on the types of clients you most enjoy working with.

"Over the last two years, we've done about five-ish transactions a year, keeping our relevancy and being able to serve when dear friends and agent-to-agent referrals pop up," explains Renee Funk in a recent episode of the Real Estate Team OS podcast.

As a solo agent, you’re used to having your calendar revolve around your clients’ needs. But as you transition into the role of team leader, you’ll need to find time to support your team.

Here are some ideas to help you maximize your time:

• Prioritize high-value activities. Focus on tasks that directly contribute to revenue generation and delegate all administrative tasks.
• Set boundaries for your availability. Set specific times for client interactions and team meetings to free up more time for strategy. Clients tend to be available evenings and weekends, so you may want to block that for your client time, while focusing on early afternoon for weekly team meetings before your agents head out for showings.
• Automate with intention. Use your CRM and other automation tools to streamline routine tasks and get them off your plate.
• Outsource when possible. Identify tasks that can be easily outsourced, such as marketing and social media, or transaction coordination.

As you make the transition from full-time agent to agent and team leader, you’ll need to make more of an effort to spend your time on the right things. The beauty is, you now get to decide what those things are.

Every year,  Broker and Owner of Seaport Real Estate in Savannah, Georgia, Ben Bluemle, pulls back a little more on the markets and price points he’s active in. 

Here’s Ben on why he still sees incredible value in always being ‘active’ in some way:

3. Level up your recruitment process

Real estate teams are hot right now. So how do you stand out in a sea of other teams when recruiting new agents? 

Make no mistake: potential team members will compare you with other teams. Make sure you offer the best package possible in terms of both your agent compensation model and unique value prop.

The following steps will help you become more strategic with your agent recruitment.

• Define clear roles and expectations. Great agents want to know exactly what they can do to achieve your level of success. Attract candidates who are a good fit and reduce turnover by being crystal clear about your values and expectations.
• Leverage social media and online platforms. Highlight your team’s culture, shared wins and success stories to reach a wider audience and attract agents that “get it.”
• Offer competitive compensation. No matter how much someone loves real estate, they still want to make money. Create a package for team members that includes a clear commission structure, plus any additional perks and incentives.
• Implement a thorough interview process. Examine your candidates' skills and attitudes required for success.
• Invest in onboarding and training. A robust onboarding program will ensure that new team members are well-prepared and producing quickly.

Remember, it’s not always about the money. Agents also want to feel supported.

Melissa Sofia is the Broker at The Avenue Home Collective serving all of San Diego County. She’s also a huge proponent of staying in active production for the good of your agents and clients.

“If I can stay in active production and still talk to buyers and sellers, I can better guide my agents to understand what they need to do — how to shift your conversations, what's the temperature of the market, what do people need to hear to feel secure right now. As leaders, when we start to separate ourselves from understanding that, it can hurt our agents because we can’t guide them as closely,” Melissa explains.

Here’s how Melissa explains the importance of team values at every step of the agent training and onboarding experience:

4. Put the right systems in place

A great team happens by design. When stepping into the role of team leader, you need to think carefully about the systems you build in. 

"With a team our size, our needs are constantly changing," says Julia O’Buckley, Operations Manager with The Laughton Team in Phoenix, Arizona. “If I don't have the flexibility to go and find systems to plug in and have to work with an all-in-one system, it makes it not scalable for us long term.”

Even if you’re not already a top team like The Laughton Team, you’ll need plenty of room to experiment based on the needs of your agents and market.

Some of the key tools and systems you’ll need include:

• Standardized processes and procedures (SOPs). Create and document all processes for agent tasks, such as lead generation, transaction management, and lead communication to maintain a consistent client experience across the team.
• Integrated communication. Use tools like Slack, ClickUp, or Notion to make it easy to track and communicate over shared team projects.
• Centralized document management. Use a cloud-based document management system like Google Drive to store, organize and share important scripts, files and documents for easy access among the team.
• Real estate CRM. Choose a lead management platform that lets you customize your workflows how you need them, without forcing you to pay for features you might not need yet.

You got into this business for a better career and life. With the right systems in place, you can do more deals in less time while staying on top of high-impact team leader tasks.

Here’s Julia on why organized systems now means easy scaling later:

5. Show, don't tell

At the end of the day, being a team leader means showing people how you do what you do so well. Think of yourself as a mentor, not just a leader.

Here are some ways to showcase your leadership skills while still active in production.

• Lead by example. There’s a reason professional educators live by a “show, don’t tell” philosophy. By being active in the field each and every day, you’ll encourage your agents to mirror that behavior.
• Communicate effectively. Some of the most successful real estate leaders use a closed loop communication style, where each person repeats and confirms what they’ve heard before moving on.
• Share knowledge and resources. Often the best learning happens during a transaction. By sharing your process, insights about the market or industry, and even nuts-and-bolts productivity hacks, you organically improve the skillsets of your team.
• Foster a collaborative environment. By encouraging teamwork and promoting a culture of collaboration over competition, agents will be happy to share resources and best practices to lift each other up.

With the right mindset, systems and modeling, you can continue doing what you love while growing an amazing team. 

Phil Gerdes, Associate Broker and Team Leader of The Gerdes Team in Annapolis, Maryland, will be the first to tell you he left production way too early.

Here’s why he’s big on treating agents like clients:

Ready to make the leap?

You’ve got experience as an agent, the skills to lead a team, and the motivation to build a business. With the right mindset and systems, you can find your success as an agent and team leader.

“As soon as I got back into production, guess what my agents did? They got back into production,” says Phil. Like him, many of the best leaders have stayed in, left, and come back again.

So don’t be afraid to make the leap. Mastering the role of both agent and team leader is a skill that will help propel you forward, no matter what comes next.

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