After three stints at the Olympics in 1994, 2002, and 2006, Erik Schlopy came back to the States and leveraged his unique competitive spit to help build a $100M residential real estate powerhouse. Here are the lessons learned in building a $100 M team.
Contributor, Forbes.
November 8, 2023 5:50 am
Erik Schlopy knows more about finding your inner competitive spirit than any average team leader or broker does. For years, he was a member of the U.S. Ski Team at World Championships and the Olympics around the world. After three stints at the Olympics in 1994, 2002, and 2006, he came back to the States and leveraged his unique knowledge to work with Team Schlopy Real Estate, a performance-driven real estate team in Park City, Utah.
Now, as a licensed realtor, a partner at the firm, and a resident of Park City, he is a part of one of the most, if not the most, widely recognized real estate teams in the city. Here, he shares three concepts he considers key to success in this business:
1. Building a Sales Machine Through Your Competitive Edge
Nothing trumps a focused, patient and relentless attitude to work regardless of what and how much needs to be done. As a former professional athlete, Erik knows the price of hard work and the results that follow. Schlopy credits the success of his team to the mindset they foster at work. After having participated in the Olympics multiple times, he took interest in the real estate industry and kept the bar at an insanely high level with zero compromises in quality.
2. Turn everything into a game you can WIN
It’s important to turn everything into a competition and make a point system that makes sense for your team. The game should change monthly to improve different aspects of your business. For example, if your agents are struggling to set new appointments with people they haven’t met within the past 3 months, you may want to make that the main “game” for the next month. Whenever your agent shows a home or goes to a listing appointment with someone they haven’t met within the past 3 months get 100 points. Each contract signed is worth 1,000 points. Whoever gets the most points at the end of the month wins the month and is awarded a $300 dinner. The following month, create a new competition around another point of weakness amongst your agents.
3. Invest in The Right Technology
The most foolish thing a broker or an agent can possibly do is to fail to take advantage of myriads of technical tools at their disposal. Real estate teams are constantly in tight competition with each other due to the zero-sum nature of this business for middlemen. Real estate CRM applications are becoming more and more valuable, as they save resources in both time, money and opportunities. Erik shared with us some episodes of underperformance caused by a poorly designed real estate software.
Most technology and lead sources just don’t perform
We all know the statistics. 98% of all online leads don’t convert. The team used Tiger Leads and it was doing a great job in the beginning, but as time passed, the quality deteriorated dramatically and they had to dispose of it. Then there was BoomTown, the worst source experienced by their partner Lead Connect 365. Having replaced this solution with Zillow, they failed again because lead quality did not improve an inch. Leads were not disposed to commit, the percentage of actually interested people was unacceptably low. Most of them were just tire-kickers and ended up becoming a complete waste of time.
The winning technology solution for Team Schlopy’s $100 Million real estate business has been Great Agent’s sales and marketing platform, but what’s important is that you find the right technology and lead source for your team.
4. No excuse. Call leads when it’s the best time for them: 24/7, 365
After a series of “trial and error” having agents call the online leads, they found that it was just wasn’t working. Through mutual friends they found Lead Connect 365 who – according to this team – offers the best lead incubation service on the market today. This software does the tedious part of online lead harvesting that brokers and agents have no time and capacity to deal with themselves. First, they capture online leads, collect the information necessary for the further assessment and contact the lead. Then, they determine whether it should be forwarded to an agent or turned in their proprietary system to be incubated. Such a two-pronged approach has resulted in a conversion rate previously unheard of as far as online leads are concerned – 8%. Erik spoke of Lead Connect 365 with utmost admiration and mentioned it as one of the possible modifications Team Schlopy Real Estate is contemplating.
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