I have been with Five Star for about 90 days as I write this. I figured it would be a fair time to give a review of what my change was like and how I feel about changing brokerages now.
Why change brokerages? Everyone has a motivation for why they change anything. I like to consider myself loyal, and a team player. If I believe in the team, I will work hard to help that team succeed and grow. Eventually after 4 years, evidence lead me to look out for my family, my career, my future team, and I somewhere else. For me it is not easy to leave solid relationships that I have built and that I am comfortable with. The information I had collected from friends at different brokerages, other brokers, online, and through my own experience lead me to 3 companies. Of those three Five Star just stood out head and shoulders above the rest. I did the right thing in talking to my existing broker out of respect to them. They were open in communicating with me and tried to make things more appealing, but the two options were just miles apart and it was time to move on.
Why Five Star? After talking with another agent at one of the other two companies I was considering, they actually brought up Five Star as someone they had considered when switching companies and explained how torn they were between the two. Five Star was on my radar, but that conversation made me look closer at their compensation plans. As I explored their website and saw the plans, I knew I had to hear from someone who worked for them. A former employee of mine from back in college was running his own brokerage out near Kalamazoo. I asked him about Five Star, and his experience. That conversation jumped Five Star to the front of the line. As I continued to narrow my search it came down to Five Star and a local leader that had an office near me and my target area with good agents within their brand. I met with that broker/ owner. They are very well regarded and it was clear that they were great at their job, could guide people to get better, and cared about their business. This person was a strong entrepreneur and impressive. Overall though, for me I am a numbers person. Hearing their plans and pitch, all of the extra costs much like my previous brokerage were clearly there. I could see that Five Star was up front about expenses, gave you more of your earned income back, and had a clear cut plan to help you build a team and structure it properly.
Building a Team: At my previous brokerage there were multiple agents that I could see benefits of teaming up with. I just didn't see a system working there that would foster the team to grow organically, or for it to justify the work that it would take to make it. Immediately at Five Star I knew that there was a system, an incentive for teams, and a company that fostered the growth of teams. This made it easy for me to build a structure, help team members see the structure, and helped us to each be able to be successful within the team.
Why was now the time? I saw evidence that my growth was stunted at my current brokerage. Even clients were pointing this out to me. That lead me to look elsewhere. Without those events, I would not have opened my eyes to the possibilities.
How has changing brokerages to Five Star worked out? I am very happy with the change. My clients are more of a focus and taken care of properly. I have enjoyed the marketing, which showcases the agent instead of the brokerage. The people here have been great, they back up what they say they are going to do, and they have been responsive to work with. My family and I get taken care of better overall. I have built a team and our own professional website. The team members are excited and enjoying our environment. New additional benefits to my family, my business, and I are being explained where we can benefit even further.
I hope this helps someone to make an uncomfortable change more easy to make. There is a lot of upside in my business and life overall right now, and Five Star is one reason for that potential.
Written by Korey Rowlson, Associate Broker and Team Leader
Comments