To understand why we chose such a bold name for our brokerage we must start with our brokers. When we originally sat down to discuss opening a brokerage, we wanted to fix what we felt was broken. Full discretion – we were newer agents jumping into a highly saturated and competitive environment. Had bounced around to a few brokerages and while they each had their own perks and drawbacks; we knew there had to be a better way. Using our inexperience with brokerages to our advantage we were looking with a fresh set of eyes. What was working and what was broken from our perspective? What was hindering our progress and what was building success? Surprisingly enough, these were very easy questions to answer. When it’s blatantly obvious, you know there’s room for improvement.
So, we set out to build a brokerage we wanted to work for. Making decisions with the golden rule in mind – we will treat people (brokers AND clients) the way we want to be treated. This led to our deciding what our internal golden rules would be. RivalRules, if you will.
RivalRule #1: Ditch the hierarchy
As anyone who has ever walked into a real estate brokerage could tell you, they’re all pretty similar. Walls covered with happy agent faces. Likely the highest producing at the top. You might not even be placed on a wall if you didn’t hit your sales goals for the year. In some cases, the highest producing agents are given perks and specialty treatment. Internal emails circulating with production numbers and accolades to the broker topping the chart. Starting out, you know these as the “rainmakers”. We are in sales after all. There’s no real way to get around that. Or is there…?
Success is not defined the same for everyone. Additionally, not every year is going to look the same. Each year is filled with its fair share of challenges and opportunities. As people first, we understand life changes and we must adapt. As a broker, this is your business! You, and only you, decide what your goals are. For this reason, we don’t place expectations on you. You share with us what your goals are and we help figure out the best way to support you. We will never internally or externally rank RivalAgents by production. We are Rivals – in the marketplace. Save all your competitive energy for your clients! Our ultimate goal is to promote an environment of support amongst all agents. This leads to our next RivalRule.
RivalRule #2: Support
In our earlier real estate days, we were eager to begin. Ready to crush our 10-million-dollar goal for our inaugural year. Jumping in headfirst, it was anything but a soft landing. Adorable of us, really. Real Estate is, by nature, a high-pressure and highly competitive field. We love a challenge, and we love homes – we will do great! Whether it’s a sellers’ market, buyers’ market, slow market, or moving at warp speed the one thing you can count on is, that it’s stressful. Find client! Sell them a home! Repeat. Simple, right? No. You are now self-employed tasked with generating clients and then helping those clients with likely the largest investment many will ever make. You quickly realize, that you either strike gold and things come easy, or you’re left floundering trying to figure everything out. All at once. We lacked a point of contact. Yes, there’s a Principal Broker but, what about all the other things that come up? Every transaction comes with its own special set of circumstances. Every. Single. One. Our commitment to our agents is to be there. Answer questions, offer advice, open doors, help with paperwork, troubleshoot etc. If there’s a way we can help, we want to. The goal is to provide RivalAgents have ample support. Start to finish for every transaction.
RivalRule #3: Compensation
The last core component we felt would set Rival apart in the marketplace was compensation. At Rival, we set out to keep our operating expenses low. Given Rival was born out of a pandemic – we immediately opted for a virtual office. We believe our RivalAgents work hard for their commission. Therefore, we didn’t want to mirror our compensation structure the same ol’ way. Brokerage heavy split percentages, additional transaction fees, as well as monthly office dues. In some brokerages, you have to build up to a higher percentage based on your sales. Maybe you’re new and they justify taking a larger stake in your sale because of the level of support you require. As you can probably guess based on #1 and #2, we are not that brokerage. Everyone is given the same compensation split. Everyone has the same low office fees. Everyone receives a cap on commissions paid to the brokerage.
Why do any of these core principles matter to anyone who’s not a RivalAgent? Simple. We feel agents who are treated equally, supported, and well-compensated will translate to unrivaled service for clients and our community.
P.S. Photos are Murphy (blue shirt) and Ernie at our Savy meeting.