David Banks
Key Frustrations:
- Work- Life Balance
- Systems development
How Goodfellow Coaching Helped:
David worked with his coach at Goodfellow Coaching to create a structure in his business that allows him to take of the time he desires and not worry about the company. His coach helps him review the team and ensure that the right people are doing the right job.
Have you always been a selling broker?
For the past ten years I have been the number one Realtor in the state of Maine in terms of volume. It is important for me to continue to sell. It is something I really enjoy doing. I have a great network. I live in a wonderful community that allows me to be very active.
We did $61 million last year with gross commission sales just under $1.9 million. I could not do it without the support of the team. I have three unlicensed assistants, and three licensed assistants.
What percentage of time do you work on your brokerage versus your team?
I would say maybe 10% of my time is spent running the company however; there are days that it’s a little bit more. On an average day I may work on brokerage things for an hour or an hour and a half a day. In a typical day I work between 10-11 hours.
Who runs the brokerage?
My son runs the brokerage and we have another manager that runs the company. The agents are very good about going through these two people until they need more specific expert advice out in the marketplace on pricing or strategizing. I do allow myself to be available for that, and I feel that’s a big retention tool. I don’t mind doing that. The day-to-day operations of the company I really don’t get involved in.
It was a real struggle at first because a number of the agents would only want to talk to me. We ran into huge problems when these agents weren’t satisfied with someone else stepping in and helping them.
My son Michael worked and helped run a RE/MAX office in Bethesda, Maryland when he got out of college and spent a couple of years down there. When he came to the company he had some very good experience and brought some great technology and systems to the company. He was able, after a year or two, to build a strong credibility with the agents. They realized, unless they had a property issue that really needed my expertise, a lot of the day-to-day questions were details that Michael could handle better. It took a little time to build that credibility, but it has been amazing for me to be able to see him run the company. This has allowed me to do my selling, which I enjoy doing.
I used to pull Michael into some of the meetings and I would say to the agents, “Maybe I can help you with part of this, but really Michael is the expert on the systems or some of these strategies. I am more than happy to help you, but when you have questions about personal assistants, or labor issues, or if an administrative person isn’t doing their job, Michael is here on a day-to-day basis with that company, and I think he can probably help you a little bit more.” I don’t totally shut them off, but try to build Michael’s credibility up. I give him some advice before we go into meetings because I typically know what’s going on. I give him advice on how he can chime in so he builds that credibility.
What has the impact been?
Numbers are better in both categories. We are trying to do some recruiting, and we have some stiff competition. We are selective as to the type of people we want to recruit. We only want successful full time agents.
It’s tougher and tougher for recruiting. I think the most important thing right now is retaining our agents. If we can pick up four or five agents a year and retain the wonderful agents we have, that’s my number one goal of the management team.
Why do you want to do both jobs? What do you think the benefit is of having a brokerage and having a team?
I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping people. The financial piece is definitely second or third on my list. If I can put a deal together that works and is an opportunity for buyers or sellers that is what I enjoy doing and see everyday. It’s all about putting deals together and making connections.
Owning the company was not at the top of my list. The reason I started my own company was because at the time (sixteen years ago) there were really no companies out there that had teams. Everyone felt that they had to control their own business and touch every paper and make every phone call. That was not an environment that worked for me.
I said to my own team, “my goal is to have 15 agents, and a company that size.” Within thirty days I had 17 agents and had people lined up waiting to join the company, and I had no room for them. I didn’t have any desire to grow because I didn’t want to run a big company. I didn’t want to detract from my own business.
What was your key frustration before you started coaching with Goodfellow Coaching and Consulting?
It has always been a balance of personal life versus business.
I think what Goodfellow Coaching has done for me is really helped me structure my team. I now look at the mixture of people and not the number of people I have on my team. I ask myself the question “do I really have the right people on my team?” I have made some big changes in my team and its structure based on the guidelines and the ongoing coaching that I have received from Goodfellow Coaching. I ask myself the question, “Is this the right person for the job?”
It now allows me to get away more and feel more confident when I take the time off. I am not as scattered I would say as I used to be.
Why do you think with all of your success and experience you still need a coach?
I have two major appointments each week. My first one is a network group I run every Wednesday morning, and the second is my coaching call. My coaching call basically helps me to maintain balance. It keeps me on top of new trends and new ideas. All I need is one little pep talk and one little edge, and I can get from my coach.
It might be that I had a bad day yesterday and I am now frustrated with an assistant, or one of my agents, or it could be a company thing, and Ken is the person I can talk to about these issues. He is the person that can say, “Well, no big deal, just go on.” Or, “Here’s what you need to do,” Or, “You need to address it. You can’t let people walk over you. I know you’re busy, but you need to address this.”
It’s really all about having that person that will kind of check in each week. It’s not a heavy conversation either. It’s a very light conversation and that’s how I prefer it. It’s not structured; it’s more about what happened that week. “What are your issues? How can I help you?” With the other coach I had my calls were very structured; “How many calls did you make?” “Did you follow up with…” I don’t need that piece of it.
I think for me personally, I don’t need anyone to give me a rah-rah, “You do this, you do that. How did your appointments go?” It’s more about having someone be a voice, that can be an expert that can help in my business.
David Banks
Portland, Massachusetts
TheDavidBanksTeam.com