Spring Bengtzen runs one of the top-producing real estate teams in Utah. They sold almost 600 homes in 2022, positioning them to become of the top teams in the country, and they are on track to sell 900 homes in 2023.
Jerimiah Taylor: What are you noticing as you close out the first half of the year, and what is your mindset for the second half of the year?
Spring Bengtzen: The end of last year was brutal, which gave us momentum to start strong in 2023. Homes are selling, and there is more inventory. If we can keep our consistency on the team, we may get closer to 1,000 transactions before the end of this year.
Chris Heller: What's the biggest challenge to keep up the consistency and momentum with your agents?
SB: It's not about lead flow at all. At this point, it's summertime, and it's easy for agents to lose momentum. I remind my agents that I want them to be successful, but I also want them to enjoy their lives. I remind them why they got into this industry. I encourage them to be consistent in the mundane and to do the work now to have the life they want outside of the office.
JT: How do you recruit agents for your team?
SB: We do onboarding twice a month. The first week is Hello Week. The second week is onboarding. Most people getting their licenses don't know much about the industry and don't realize it's a sales profession. These two weeks are a bootcamp about what it looks like to be in production.
"I can teach real estate, but I can't teach grit. I help people self discover if they want to do real estate."
On day 2, I have agents call-call-text. I have about 30% of agents quit by day 3. After the second day, they have 10 leads a day. By day 90, only half of the agents from the first day of onboarding are still with me.
CH: How do you retain people?
SB: People don't leave companies; they leave leaders. People work for companies because they are proud to be in business with them. On my team, once an agent sells 24 homes, they can opt in for leadership and mentorship training. We do wealth programs with them, and we create value for them. I also have an open-book policy and create an environment with opportunities. I make sure my office feels good. It's important to recognize your agents in every single team meeting. Recognize who is excelling and acknowledge them. Think about what you would want, and then go create it.
JT: Where do you find immediate business?
SB: Put yourself in situations where people are looking to buy or sell. Contact FSBO and go to open houses. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Social media is also important. We are teaching agents to use social media and to create a relationship with their SOI, by providing value and making them feel special.
CH: What's your philosophy for training agents to work with online leads?
SB: At the end of the second week of onboarding, if the agent has passed everything, we will put them on lead flow, but we only give them 3 leads to start with. From there, we listen to phone calls and make sure they are updating the portal, the CRM and focusing on speed to lead. After that, we will turn on the additional lead flow.
JT: Any parting thoughts?
SB: The most important thing is to have a structure and framework for your business but understand that it can be constantly pivoting. A home is always going to sell; you have to decide if it is going to be you who sells it.