Ever wondered when it’s time to hire your first full-time recruiter? Or what it takes to lead the market in agent retention?

Tiffany Williamson, Owner and President of Navigate Realty, shares the hard lessons and successful steps that have driven their growth to hundreds of agents in multiple markets. From hiring a full-time recruiter (on the third try!) to running blind surveys after every onboarding, this conversation is packed with actionable insights to help you recruit and retain agents.

At the center of it all is culture. And at the center of culture are people, stories, and transformations. That’s because people don’t join value props. People join people.

Tiffany shares the strategies and tactics that have the team pacing for $1B in sales this year, including value prop and agent avatars, onboarding your recruiter and building out a department (no real estate experience required!), and lifting agent success and retention.

Watch or listen for Tiffany’s insights into:
- The central role consistency plays in success
- Backing away from buying a company to double down on Navigate
- Why they went the independent brokerage route
- How focusing on what agents need and leading the market in retention are driving a $1B pace
- Lessons learned in hiring a full-time recruiter
- What should be in place before hiring your recruiter and why it’s not as big a risk as you think
- What the first 90 days should look like for your recruiter and why stories of transformation should be their focus
- How they’ve evolved their onboarding program from version 1.0 to version 3.0 and how they run it
- Why the industry is going more toward big teams and brokerages (spoiler: it’s getting more agent-centric)

At the end, learn about a secondhand Chanel bag, 80% capacity for short-term rentals, and the Canyon Ranch experience.

Connect with Tiffany Williamson:
→ https://www.instagram.com/tiffany_williamson_/
→ https://www.navigaterealty.com/agents/tiffany-williamson/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
→ https://www.realestateteamos.com
→ https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
→ https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

The Agency Team is the #1 real estate team in Hawaii. They recently achieved their first 100-unit month. They recently expanded beyond the islands to the mainland. They’ve grown to 150 agents.

And they’ve done it all with zero recruiting.

How? Attraction.

On day one, team leader Dylan Nonaka created a “culture code” that focuses on family and relationships and emphasizes the abundance mindset and pay-it-forward practice.

Two channels that help attract agents and clients to them: video and social media.
Two concepts you’ll hear in this episode: “your vibe attracts your tribe” and “who not how.”

Watch or listen to this conversation with Dylan for insights into:

• The main elements of a strong team foundation
• How he developed his culture code and how it’s benefitted the team since day one
• How a few friends came together to create what’s become a 150-agent team
• A key expense that grows as the business grows
• The two cultural characteristics and two sources of agents that prevent him from having to do any outbound recruiting at all
• Why he’ll always do his social media himself
• When, why, and how he committed to consistently creating videos
• Why his videos aren’t about entertainment or even lead generation
• Why he looks at attribution, conversion rate, and ROI in a global way
• How team members get involved in the YouTube channel
• “Who Not How” as the philosophy for market expansion
• How he found the person who started in a role he didn’t know he needed and who’s become COO

At the end, learn about Javelin Squad with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, about never paying for a haircut, about being forced to be fully present, and why “the devil lives in the white space.”

Mentioned in this episode:
→ https://whonothow.com/
→ https://unlockconference.com

Connect with Dylan Nonaka:
→ https://www.instagram.com/konabroker/
→ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNtK6ItXmpLIPB7FWUSsyyw

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
→ https://www.realestateteamos.com
→ https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
→ https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

A common question among real estate team leaders: How do I find my first operations person?

Every visionary needs an integrator. Every people person needs a process person. Every team leader, at some point, needs an assistant or operations manager to continue growing their business efficiently and sustainably.

When is that point?

Where do I look?

What should I look for in terms of skills or characteristics?

How should I pay them?

Can’t I just use an overseas VA instead?

For answers to these questions and more, we're honored to bring you Camila Rivera, COO of Laurie Finkelstein Reader Real Estate. She has a decade of tenure there and started as a part-time, do-anything assistant. She also coaches operations for teams across North America.

When you find the right person and invest in them properly, they could be the Chief Operating Officer you'll need!

Watch or listen for Camila’s insights into:

• The practical value of positivity and optimism
• How someone studying to become a special education teacher joined the real estate team
• Why stuffing backpacks is the best day of the year for an 80-agent team pacing to close 700 transactions
• The most important factor in finding your first operations person
• Other steps to take to be ready when the right person emerges
• Tips to train up an operations person even though you’re not an operations person (“I can’t teach you what I don’t know”)
• Places to look for your operations person (with this caution: “don’t hire who you can’t fire”)
• Ways to think about fixed and variable compensation for your operations hire
• Hiring an on-site, in-person role vs bringing on a VA
• Why titles like executive assistant, operations manager, and director of operations matter
• Ways to retain that great operations leader you’ve invested in and helped develop

At the end, learn the value of five siblings, five-star hotels, movement as medicine, and mental endurance.

Connect with Camila Rivera:
→ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/camila_rivera/
→ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/camila.rivera.967
→ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/camila-rivera-817903113/

Meet us at Unlock:
→ Unlock https://www.unlockconference.com/
→ Use promo code TEAMOS for 20% off the current price

Related episodes:
→ Camila Rivera and Julia O’Buckley https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/agent-success-tech-crm-camila-rivera-and-julia-obuckley
→ Laurie Finkelstein Reader https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/laurie-finkelstein-reader-people-over-profits
→ COO Emily Smith https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/emily-smith-intrapreneur-entrepreneur-teamerage
→ Christy Belt Grossman https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/operations-leadership-real-estate-assistant-coo-christy-belt-grossman-ops-boss

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
→ https://www.realestateteamos.com
→ https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
→ https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

Right now, Q4, is the most common time for real estate agents to leave their real estate team or brokerage and join another one.

But why do agents leave? And what are agents looking for?

For answers to those questions and more, watch or listen to this conversation with Chris Giannos. He’s personally recruited hundreds of agents - at time at a pace of 10-15 agents every two weeks. And the company he leads, Humaniz, has a 2024 recruiting data set informed by more than 30,000 agents.

Improve your recruiting process and results based this data and experience. Get insights from whether you’re even ready to recruit through screening and interviewing.

Watch or listen to Episode 081 with Chris Giannos insights into:

• Caring about the person more than the number
• What you need before you start recruiting
• The top 3 reasons agents leave their teams and brokerages (based on data from tens of thousands of agents)
• What to look for before you look for avatar fit (the 3 Cs)
• A great example of why you might prioritize other customer service or sales experience ahead of real estate experience
• Why Q4 is BY FAR the biggest time period for agent movement and a key advantage you can give yourself
• Why two conversations is the max before making an offer
• Details of a successful 15-minute screening call (but don’t call it a screening call)
• The ONE question that tells you most of what you need to know and the two things you’re listening for in their response
• Details of a 45-minute interview call
• How to handle the conversation about splits and accountability
• Standard conversion rates to expect within your recruiting funnel

At the end, learn about winning with Tenacious Z, eating “total trash” with no shame, and using AI “without losing (yourself)”.

Connect with Chris Giannos:
→ https://www.instagram.com/chris.giannos/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
→ https://www.realestateteamos.com
→ https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
→ https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

In our fifth and final Techtember episode this year, Real Estate Team OS brings you the co-founders of Lab Coat Agents in conversations at the intersection of AI and relationships.

In just 20 minutes, Tristan Ahumada recommends top tech tools for today’s environment, why agents who use AI won’t replace agents who don’t, the right way to differentiate through tech, and a simple process to keep up with the latest trends.

Then, in under 20 minutes, Nick Baldwin breaks down the marketing challenge of meeting client expectations, how to get better results from ChatGPT, and how he’s blending in-person and tech-enabled experiences as he heads back into production as an agent.

TRISTAN AHUMADA
Before he founded Lab Coat Agents, Tristan Ahumada built a tech-forward reputation in his first real estate office and then in his local real estate market.

Over the past 20 years, he’s remained a “10 out of 10” in his passion for new tools and tech to empower agents, teams, and brokerages. He returns to Real Estate Team OS to talk about AI, attention and relationships and brings both trends and counter-trends to the conversation.

Tristan recommends specific tools and challenges common hype.

Watch or listen for Tristan Ahumada's insights into:

• The first three tools/tech he’d buy if he were a new agent today
• Why agents who don’t use AI or social media won’t get “replaced”
• Why the value of in-person experiences and human-to-human communication will increase in the future
• The right way to differentiate through technology
• A simple process to keep up with tech opportunities and trends

NICK BALDWIN
What happens when a self-described “incurable” shiny object syndrome tech junkie returns to real estate sales production?

Based on his 20 years in the business, Nick Baldwin shares how he went from manually uploading listings before IDX existed to building a tech stack powered by AI, automation, and a healthy dose of human touch.

Along the way, he shares helpful tips to improve your marketing and to get more out of ChatGPT.

Watch or listen for Nick Baldwin's insights into:

• Nick’s “incurable” shiny object syndrome dating back to a time of pre-IDX, manual adding of listings to his team’s website
• A generational gap: why agents struggle with content and what consumers expect now
• Why consumers don’t care about your tech and what they care about instead
• How to talk to ChatGPT for better, more specific results
• The fine line between helpful and “weird” when using tech to remember client details
• Why open houses are still a goldmine—and how to maximize them with digital follow-up
• Nick’s picks for CRM, lead gen, and AI tools as he heads back into production

Mentioned in this episode:
→ First episode with Tristan Ahumada https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/tristan-ahumada-keys-real-estate-team-success-fubcon
→ Tube Buddy https://www.tubebuddy.com/
→ CapCut https://www.capcut.com/
→ Claude https://claude.ai/
→ ChatGPT https://chatgpt.com/
→ Lab Coat Agents https://www.facebook.com/groups/labcoatagents/
→ Your Daily Real Estate https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdD80T1OmYdwSLTcH9VNQHw

Connect with Tristan Ahumada:
→ https://www.instagram.com/tristan.ahumada/
→ https://bio.site/tristanahumada

Connect with Nick Baldwin:
→ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NickBaldwin79
→ Email: nickbaldwin1979 at gmail dot com
→ Icenhower Coaching and Training: https://therealestatetrainer.com/

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
→ https://www.realestateteamos.com
→ https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
→ https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/

In a very basic and very real way, real estate technology comes down to problems and solutions - an iterative journey toward a better result, a better business, and a better life.

Here in our fourth Techtember conversation, you’ll learn how two leaders clearly identify problems and built their own tech solutions.

Spend just over 20 minutes with Ryan Young - CEO and Team Leader of the #1 team in Ohio, as well as CEO and Co-Founder of Fello.

Then spend just under 24 minutes with Brian Hurley - a Google engineer who also builds marketing and tech solutions for his wife Tarasa, who’s grown from agent to team leader to brokerage co-owner.

RYAN YOUNG

When you’re building the #1 real estate team in your state, you run into problems. One of the most important: building a moat around your most valuable asset - your database.

Ryan Young, CEO and Team Leader of The Young Team in Northeast Ohio, decided to build a solution. And that solution became Fello, where’s Co-Founder and CEO.

Learn how he evolved from a post-it-note agent to a tech-obsessed, AI-driven leader. Learn how Fello continues to iterate on its solutions as problems, opportunities, and capabilities continue to evolve. And get tips to turn your database from “glorified spreadsheet” to dividend-paying asset.

Watch or listen for insights into:

• Growing from a post-it-note agent to a tech-obsessed, AI-empowered leader of multiple companies
• Clearly identifying the biggest problem for his real estate business and founding Fello as a solution
• Valuing your database as your most valuable asset
• Layering improvement on improvement in Fello to solve problem after problem for The Young Team
• Empowering agents with AI
• Leveling up automations with AI

BRIAN HURLEY

For more than a decade, Brian Hurley’s served as a Google software engineer. But he’s also built the tech behind a real estate business that’s grown from solo agent to team to brokerage.

One big observation: we need to make it about the problem and solution, not about the tech.

Brian shares several great examples, shares his approach to experiments, and explains the role of automation vs the role of the agent.

Watch or listen for insights into:

• Why a 10/10 passion for new tech is about solutions, not about tech
• Why every tech investment is a calculated bet
• What the right timeline is for your next experiment - telling you when to double down or pull the plug
• How to use AI as a force multiplier rather than a simple shortcut
• Which mistake Brian made in setting up the marketing and tech
• How Brian simplified their systems to support growth and adapt to complexity
• How to close the authenticity gap as you automate (personal videos and more conversations)
• How he built a custom lead accountability system inspired by a past guest
• How the Team Bot from Real Estate Team OS helped them find the perfect operations manager for their growing business

Mentioned in this episode:
→ Fello https://fello.ai/
→ Tarasa Hurley https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/real-estate-leads-tarasa-hurley-river-point-realty
→ Chelly Herren https://www.realestateteamos.com/episode/techtember-operations-real-estate-tech-stack-chelly-herren
→ Techtember https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCJiXNo93cVoSlXhdFv_RC9V8G5tUw1QX
→ Follow Up Boss Success Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/followupbosscommunity
→ Real Estate Team OS AI Bot https://www.realestateteamos.com/bot

Connect with Ryan Young:
→ Ryan at Fello dot ai

Connect with Brian Hurley:
→ https://www.tarasa.com
→ https://conrya.com

Connect with Real Estate Team OS:
→ https://www.realestateteamos.com
→ https://linktr.ee/realestateteamos
→ https://www.instagram.com/realestateteamos/