Episode 30: Gina Sharma Team

Gina Sharma’s Proven Playbook for Building a 96% SOI and Referral Business

In Episode 30 of The OT Only Teams for Real Estate Podcast, we had the privilege of hosting Gina Sharma, a powerhouse real estate agent from Alpharetta, Georgia. Gina has crafted an exceptional business, with an impressive 96% of her transactions stemming from her sphere of influence (SOI) and referrals. In 2023 alone, her team closed 184 transactions, generating $69 million in sales volume.

Gina’s approach to real estate is a masterclass in nurturing relationships, delivering value, and fostering team accountability. Whether you’re a seasoned agent or just starting out, her strategies can provide actionable insights to grow your business.

Gina’s Team Structure: The Backbone of Her Success

Gina’s team is lean yet highly effective. Here’s how her structure supports her business:

Team Members:
- Two virtual assistants (VAs)
- A client care coordinator
- A closing coordinator
- Five agents
Future Growth: Gina plans to hire an Inside Sales Agent (ISA) by year-end to manage leads and book appointments.

Her focus on delegating tasks and maintaining a supportive team culture ensures that every client receives top-tier service.

Winning Strategies for SOI and Referral Business

Gina shared her recipe for nurturing her database and keeping clients engaged. Here are her key tactics:

1. Hosting Memorable Client Events

Gina organizes five annual events tailored to her clients’ preferences, including:

Happy Hours and Bowling Nights: Perfect for casual client engagement.
Fall Festivals: A family-friendly favorite.
Movie Screenings: An opportunity for relaxed bonding.

Budgeting between $1,500 and $8,000 per event, Gina leverages sponsorships and brokerage support to maximize value while minimizing costs.

2. Personal Touches That Make a Difference

From handwritten note cards to thoughtful birthday gifts, Gina ensures her clients feel appreciated. She collects personal data (like anniversaries and hobbies) to make interactions meaningful.

3. Providing Value Beyond Real Estate

Gina hosts investment seminars and estate planning workshops, positioning herself as a resource for her clients’ broader financial goals. This approach not only builds trust but also solidifies long-term relationships.

4. Leveraging Technology for Engagement

Gina uses tools like Brevity to send home equity reports, empowering her clients with insights into their property values. These reports double as touchpoints, keeping her database engaged and informed.

Event Planning: The Secret Sauce

Gina’s process for event planning is meticulous yet replicable:

Preparation: Send out evites, make follow-up calls, and text reminders.
Execution: Host events that reflect her clients’ interests.
Follow-Up: Collect feedback and use it to tailor future events.

These events aren’t just gatherings—they’re opportunities to deepen relationships and generate referrals.

Team Accountability: Driving Performance

Gina places a strong emphasis on team culture and accountability, ensuring her agents are aligned with their goals.

Daily Huddles: Foster communication and track progress.
Weekly One-on-Ones: Dive into challenges, activities, and growth opportunities.
Continuous Learning: Encourage agents to ask questions, set goals, and prioritize personal development.

Takeaways for Real Estate Professionals

Gina’s approach can transform your business by focusing on these key principles:

Nurture Relationships: Your SOI is your goldmine. Build it intentionally with every interaction.
Be Memorable: Host events and add personal touches that keep you top of mind.
Provide Value: Go beyond transactions to offer resources and education.
Stay Accountable: Keep your team and yourself focused on consistent activities that drive success.

Start Implementing Today

Whether you’re scaling your business or just starting out, Gina’s strategies offer a proven roadmap. Pick one or two tactics—such as hosting a client event or sending out personalized cards—and watch your business thrive.

For more insights and strategies, tune in to The OT Only Teams Podcast, where we dive deep into the playbooks of top-producing agents like Gina Sharma. Don’t forget to subscribe and share!

Transcription

Announcer 00:00

Welcome to the OT only teams in real estate.

Gina Sharma 00:15

So you be a connector in your community, and you will see it come back tenfold, because when you ask of a favor or a request from your clients, they will always be willing to help you, because that’s how you’re coming to them. Not about transactions. It’s more about the relationship. You know, lot of times I would think, Oh, it’s just $3 it’s $5 nobody. Cares about the dollar value is the gesture that matters. I think people just come to see you. We overthink it, thinking it has to be a very elaborate event, but sometimes it’s a touch, and that they see that you care, and when you when they see you care, they’re willing to take the time on a busy weekend, to come see you. There’s no expectation on my end. I just want them to grow, because if I help you grow, if I pour into you. I push you forward. You’ll see the value that I provide. You’ll see that I care. But if I say I’m giving you $1 now, you have to give me $2 back. If I start making $2 I don’t think I’m going to stick with

Announcer 01:36

you. Here’s your host. Daren Phillipy, Hey

Daren Phillipy 01:41

everybody. Welcome this week’s ot only team for real estate agents. My name is Daren Phillipy, and I’m your host, and thanks for listening. I know there’s lots of stuff to listen out there, and you guys keep coming back every single week, and I appreciate it. I hope you find massive value in this. This, this weekly phone call slash podcast slash zoom, meeting, whatever it is. I don’t know what, what to call it. All I know is I hang out with some amazing producers that do ton of business, and they’re all willing to share how they do it. And this, this week, you guys going to thank me like always, we’ve got Gina Sherma from Alpharetta, Georgia, and Gina has her team who has built a business based off of 96% soI and referral Business. I mean, how would you like to have 96% of your business coming from your sphere of influence and your database? Not only does she share with us her play or her strategy of doing this, but she actually shows us in a way where it’s actually a very low cost. So I love working with the people that I already know. And I also love costs low. It’s a very low cost. And, oh, I can also, by the way, close 184 transactions in 69 million in volume. Those are great numbers. And if you want to improve your database and improve your touches in a way that is going to maximize your return. This is your episode that you want to listen to now. This is what I’m dying for you guys to do, Tuesdays noon, Pacific Standard Time. I want you to join this room, because my problem is you’re not in the room when we’re hanging out with Gina, and because of it, you can’t ask her questions. So I need you to come go to go to only four teams com, and at 1159 and you’re going to click on that button that says, join the Zoom Room. And at 12 o’clock, we’re going to have a zoom happening where we’re going to be interviewing teams that do, by the way, I’ve never told maybe I have, I’ve told you this maybe a couple times. My standard for being on the only team zoom mastermind is for this. You have to do 100 plus transactions. You also have to have at least some leverage, as in, you have to have an assistant and a buyer’s agent, at the very least, qualified to be in this and that you follow a model. So when we talk, you can, we can follow that model. That’s the standard of this. So, you know, every single week, we’re having someone who’s doing a big business, and they’ve been able to learn how to leverage their leverage their business so they can have a life by design. And so I want you to pay attention to this. I want you to jump in the room when we have it live on Tuesdays at noon, Pacific and and then I want you to listen to Gina, because she’s super, super smart, super cool, super sharing, and a. You might get a little bit of tips on where you get chicken curry. That’s pretty much it. My guess is I’ll see you guys at the end of the OT. All right, guys, super excited to have you here at the OT. Man, yeah, we’ve been doing this for like nine months. Can you guys believe that every single week we’ve got somebody that is just killing it month after month, year after year. Gina, Sharma, you are one of the coolest because I called you up on the phone just a few weeks ago and I said, Hey, do you want to be on this ot thing? And you were, you were daring enough and willingness enough to be on the OT just so you guys know, she is in North Atlanta. She over the last 12 months, command says that she’s done 184 units and 69 million in volume. Thanks so much for hanging out with us. Gina, I appreciate it. Thank you. Will you tell us a little bit about your team and and what it what it looks like, and what your org chart looks like. Okay,

Gina Sharma 06:01

so I am the team leader of Gina Sharma team. I was an expansion half of the year this year, where we just rebranded to Gina Sharma team. And I have a VA that sits in India, actually two VAs right now, and I have a client care coordinator who manages our listings, Input, Data Entry, marketing, and then I have a closing coordinator who does all our transaction management. And then I have five agents and myself in sales. Our goal is by the end of the year to hire an ISA because we have a lot of leads coming in, and because of our coverage area, the agents are on the road a lot like either showing property or managing their listings, so that takes a lot of time away from their lead gen. So in order to not lose a lot of opportunities that we’re getting in our inbox. Our goal is to find an ISA that would basically put booked appointments on everybody’s schedule so that will allow us to recruit, not only recruit, but also attract producing agents, because a lot of times agents are good at getting to the appointment and converting, but they’re not able to, you know, convert on the phone. So that is where we’ve seen the gap, and somebody that will nurture the database long term. So my goal is to have inbound, outbound isas for the team.

Daren Phillipy 07:36

Well, that’s actually perfect for us to talk into the leads portion of it, because you said that you saw that gap. What did it take for you to be able to see that gap with I’ve got too many leads, my agents aren’t converting to the level that I that I want them to. How did you how did you come across that so?

Gina Sharma 07:54

So you know, when you give an agent a lead, they’ll call, they’ll email, they’ll call, but after some time. If they have somebody who’s ready, willing and able, to coach your property and put a sign in the yard, that’s their focus. Because if you’re not ready to transact right now, then they’re you’re put on the back burner. And that’s basically what you know. We feel that the eight you put agents where they’re best suited, versus trying to put them in a box and have them struggle through and through. So that’s basically what my value proposition will change to, that we’re giving you booked appointments versus we give you leads. Yeah,

Daren Phillipy 08:33

there’s, there’s no doubt when it comes to the hierarchy of value in the team, those top two are leads and appointments. So I love that. Where do you get your leads?

Gina Sharma 08:45

So I have home light. I was subscribing to realtor. We stopped that, I think, beginning of the year, because we were finding a lot of people coming to find rentals, and already had an agent home light is, is a good source. Has been a good source for us, but again, a speed to the lead. We just signed up for ojo in March. We’ve already closed, I think, four or five units. It’s kind of paid for the year right now. So anything that comes in will be good, and what I look at it, the only thing is, with ojo and home light, if that person transacts with you for the next three years, you pay them a referral fee, which is fine, because what I’ve seen is, over time, you know, I’ll pay referral fees all day long because I’ve gained the relationship. Because if I do a great job with the client, then you’re teaching them how your business is operated, and how you would like them to kind of be your raving fan. And you tell them, it’s like, hey, if I do a great job, all I’m asking you is. Is to connect me with somebody else who’s looking for real estate Well,

Daren Phillipy 10:05

you know, and I think that that net that you’ve been throwing out there, you’ve, you’ve done a great job. Because the reason why I’m, I’m talking to you, is because you were in the Millionaire Real Estate Agent playbook, and you spoke specifically, or or they had you write a model specifically on how to work your sphere of influence. Is it okay if we spend a little bit of time talking about that? Okay? So I’m going to share, share my screen and and will you lead us through what this, this play looks like?

Gina Sharma 10:35

Yeah. So, so you know, when I started in real estate, I didn’t have many contacts, even in my phone. So I worked with the team, and I organically grew my database, working core leads and and obviously, you know, I closed my first year, I closed 13 units, but I didn’t feel that I was getting the direction that I needed or the growth opportunity within the team. I still knew I wanted to be part of something big, so I joined kW in 2005 and then organically, one transaction at a time, grew my business, right? So from 2005 onwards, just basically had conversations with people that, hey, my business is built on repeat and referrals, and if I do a good job, all I’m asking is to refer me. Who do you know? I did the Who do you know with everybody? So that’s how I built my database. My database is not large. Is only about 550 people, but on average, I’m closing 50 to 60 units myself every year. So so that’s a good chunk of business from people that know, like and trust you. So how do you keep connected with people?

Daren Phillipy 11:55

So hold on for a second. I think just, you just said that you have a database of about 500 people, and we know that you closed nearly 200 that is fantastic conversion. That is fantastic being able to gather that me closings from, you know, not obviously all of them, but majority of them are coming from your sphere of influence. Yeah. That’s, that’s amazing. Anyway, I just had to say it,

Gina Sharma 12:22

yeah, so, I mean, I don’t cold call. I’ve tried expireds, I’ve tried FSBOs, but for me, it’s like, if somebody says, you know, don’t knock I’ll exit the business. So I want to build relationships with people that I’ve gained their trust, that no matter what, they’re coming back to me for real estate. And I tell, I tell my people, you know, my clients like, hey, in my buyer consults and in my seller concert, hey, I’m like your doctor’s office. So I may never call you every second month, but when you need me, your your number is saved in my phone, you can call me 10 years later, and I still know who you are, what property is sold. You know, all listed for you, and I’m here, right here, because when I’m with you. I’m with you 100% when I’m done with your transaction, I’m on to the next client, serving them the way I’ve served you. So the doctor never calls you when you exit the building. He never calls to check on you whether you took your medication. He doesn’t check on you whether you have any pain, right? So I’m the same way. So I am in the moment with you, and the way we connect with our clients is through these events, and we touch them through these touches of inviting, calling follow up. I will never call anybody to ask for business. So we do five events, which is a happy hour. We know our demographics. You need to know who your clients are. I will get probably only 20 people to my happy hour out of the 500 because I know majority of my clients are family, people that have kids. So when we do a bowling event, we do a fall festival, we just did a movie event A week ago, we got 140 people so, and we invite everybody, right? So if my client says, I want to bring a friend, absolutely, that’s my opportunity to meet your friends. And who do I need to connect with? So that way we’re connecting with people, and then over time, you know, they are seeing what we do. They’re following us on Facebook. They they friend us on Facebook so they see our listings, they see our marketing, you know, and they know who we are as a person. Because I believe that you got to know who you are and how you conduct your business, to to know. That these are the people you want to do business with. It’s not people wanting to do business with you. Is do you want to do business with them? It’s a two way street, right? So making sure you know who your client is, and not every client is my client, right? Because I choose to work with people who appreciate the effort and time we put into the transaction and the relationship. I’m more of a connector than just purely transactions. I had a client who lost his job in January, and we were looking for a home, and he said, We’ve got to stop. And I said, what happened? Suddenly? Because he was so excited, and he said, I lost my job. It’s like, Okay, give me your resume, let me forward it to people that I know are in positions that can help you, right? So you be a connector in your community, and you will see it come back tenfold, because when you ask of a favor or a request from your clients, they will always be willing to help you, because that’s how you’re coming to them, not about transactions. It’s more about the relationship. So we do the family event that we’ve done is the movie event we do the bowling alley, so we’ll rent nine lanes at main event, and we have food. We’ll have the laser tag card. Each kid gets a $10 card to play in the arcade. And then, you know, obviously, when we are meeting and greeting everybody having conversations about their life, about, you know, real estate, about what is their next move. So if anybody starts having a conversation, say, hey, I want to so we just say, hey, let’s enjoy this event. And you know, I’ll follow up with you after this event. So that way that becomes a follow up for us fall festival. This is a market center driven event, but it’s grown so big that no public Avenue or park is willing to lease to us now. So we’ve been doing this since 2006 we started our first event in 2006 was about 200 people, and two years ago, we were at 3000 so the public parks shut us down. They said, We can’t hold you. Parking is a nightmare. You guys are a fire hazard because of all your parking. So now last year, I just went and did it myself. So we get clients coming from an hour away just to kind of pick up a pumpkin or play with their kids in the maze. The last event that we have is Christmas with Santa and the pie giveaway. So we buy pies from Costco, and we have a Santa, and you come, take your pictures with Santa, pick up your pie. We have food. We have games for the kids, and this we host in our market center training room. So all it costs us about $1,500 we have our lender participate. So he comes and he he also has some games. He has conversations with our clients about, you know, loans and investing and all of that. So basically, we have a lot of fun with this event as well. And kids. Kids really have fun taking pictures with Santa.

Daren Phillipy 18:39

So, so this is what this so we, you know, I talk to to big teams every single week, and they have client appreciation events. This is what I appreciate about yours. I’m looking at this and I can’t imagine any of these really costing a lot of money. The ones that we’ve heard that’s 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of dollars. You’re really plugging into the resources that you have. These have the happy hours can’t be that expensive. Maybe renting the bowling alley might be a little cost, a little bit of money, but using the resources that you have makes it so that you’re keeping your costs down, which is fantastic that my Market Center, we have five events a year that are the client appreciation events. And I’m sitting here thinking, dang, we just lean into what you’re talking to us about and inviting those people and interacting at those events. And I think that’s, you know, that’s what you need. Yeah, yeah.

Gina Sharma 19:41

I mean, my, my business model is very simple. A single agent can do it. A mega agent can do it. I mean, talking about a happy hour, why can’t you get beer and wine and hosted in your house and buy things from Costco? When we think of happy hour, we think, Oh, we have to have hosted in a restaurant. The tab will go, you know. Uh oh, hi, go buy beer and wine when we do our happy hours, all of this is kind of sponsored by our attorney and lenders, and I contribute into it, so it doesn’t cost a whole lot. Our movie event was about $6,000 so we got, you know, two people to sponsor it, and my cost was very little. So the main big events we have is Fall Festival, the main event and the pie giveaway is not very expensive, but the two family events that we do that could range between seven to $8,000

Daren Phillipy 20:34

Can I ask you, Gina, so, so with these five events, can you hit give me, like, the template of what is the prep before, and what the what is the prep at, and the prep after, not on the work, but the touches. What does that look like for for these to kind of give an example of of when you’re inviting these people to the fall festival or or the the family event.

Gina Sharma 20:59

So because I’ve been doing this for now more than 1520, years, people have started to expect the movie event, the Fall Festival event, the pie giver. They know these come in November. This comes in October, this comes in June. You know, they know the happy hours are random. But what we do is we do evite. We send an evite announcing the event about 30 to 45 days ahead. And then every two weeks, the evite keeps coming into your inbox. And then our agents, whoever their clients are, my clients are, we’re calling texting to follow up. Say, Hey, you RSVP for the movie, but you didn’t pick the movie. So we host two movies. We did Twister and Despicable Me four. So you know, each person that attends the movie gets a popcorn and a drink. We don’t provide food. It is a movie theater that you can order food that’s on them so but nobody’s ever kind of said, Oh, we wish you had food at the movie event, right? So I think people just come to see you. We overthink it, thinking it has to be a very elaborate event, but sometimes it’s a touch and that they see that you care, and when you when they see you care, they’re willing to take the time on a busy weekend to come see you.

Daren Phillipy 22:30

That’s right, perfect. Alright, go ahead. Step Step two, I keep on interrupting you, but I was excited about that. Um,

Gina Sharma 22:37

so, you know, collecting, so I am big on, you know, note cards. So I was trained by Brian Buffini early on, that was my, you know, coaching program. So they believed a lot in notes and touches and Popeyes. So we continue to do that with our team. So writing note note cards to people that you meet, thanking them for the opportunity. Even if you go on a listing appointment, you’d be amazed. Nobody’s sending note cards these days. It’s all email and text. So you may appeal to a lot of people that you took the time to write that note. You put thought into it, you put your blue signature on it. So a lot of times, people are fascinated that, in spite of being so busy, you’re taking the time to kind of write and thank them birthday cards. So with every closing, we have a favorite thing letter. So it collects. You know, the husband, the wife, the kids, birthdays. It. It also asks you, what’s your favorite beverage, what’s your favorite you know, music, what’s your favorite flower, what? What do you like to do? And then the other thing on the back of the sheet is, if you were given $5 $1 to spend on yourself, on yourself by asking you for yourself, what would you spend it on? Some people say, gum, right? Somebody may say a coke. I don’t know if you’ll get a coke bottle for $1 but if you were given $5 if you were given $10 $25 $50 100 and 250, so right now, you’ve just collected data. If you had to send them an item of value, you know exactly what they would like.

Daren Phillipy 24:34

That is so smart. And you asked this on a sheet, like a sheet, when do you give them the sheet? Or how do they get the sheet? And how do they fill it out?

Gina Sharma 24:42

Sometimes we collect it at the listing pointer. But if the buy, we collect it at closing.

Daren Phillipy 24:49

Very smart, very smart.

Gina Sharma 24:51

That is something that, you know. And if somebody gives me a referral, then we either send them a 25 Dollar like Chick fil A gift card. We were doing Amex gift cards. We were doing movie tickets, you know, something, gas cards, depending on who the client is, or a bottle of wine. So having different gifts available, so it’s kind of easy to get that sent. And then obviously, you know, doing, I started doing one on one events with people that are my top clients, inviting them into my home and having dinner. So getting more personable with them, because they are people who have done multiple transactions with me.

Daren Phillipy 25:35

I think that is so smart. Just a little side note, if you get a referral from Ozzy, he wants Hot Dog on a Stick gift card. So, you know,

Gina Sharma 25:47

so So those, those are the little things we also do pop bys. So each agent is given 10 Popeyes every month. So like last year for Fourth of July, we did a bubble stick and said, Happy Fourth, and the agents delivered that right before Fourth of July for Mother’s Day last year. This year, we kind of had a break on our Popeye because we were didn’t have an admin to run all of this. Last year, we did a small candle and a small tube of lotion in a silk bag so that and basically we had a little saying on it with a little tag. We’ve done lottery tickets. We’ve done Hershey Kisses. We’ve done we’ve done can openers, we’ve done candle lighters, we’ve done ice scrapers. So yeah, and we’ve done, oh, recently, we did the for Valentine’s Day. We did egg beater. What do you call the to whip up your eggs? And then we we pushed Hershey chocolate in the middle. And then we’ve also done flower seeds that we order, and we have, you know, you can mail them so things that don’t perish in your car that you can keep. So if you’re driving past your client’s house, even if you say, Hey, I was in the area and I thought of you, you just have to knock on that door and say, Hey, I was just passing your neighbor. I thought of you. I had five minutes. I just thought, I’ll drop this by your house, and you just take a picture at the door and send it to them, so that way you know you’re basically, you know you’re you’re top of mind to them, and you’re also thinking of them, not just for transactions. And you’d be amazed how people will return your call when you do that, versus just calling for people say, Hey, I have a goal to sell 50 homes. You know, it’s like, yeah, what do I care? Right? So, but if you say, Hey, what is it that I can help you with today? You know, who do I need to connect you to? Because you as agents, have a large network that you don’t capitalize on. And what I mean by capitalize on is connecting other people to each other, so you can have your large network of people to see how you can leverage that to help other, other people in your database. You

Daren Phillipy 28:26

know, I think what’s special about you is that you do have that personal touch that gives you such that connection when, when you’re talking about these, these non perishables that are in your car that, if you just driving by that five minute drop off, and I think it’s a nothing, and at the same time it’s everything, but because no other real estate agents doing that

Gina Sharma 28:55

true, because, you know, lot of times I would think, Oh, It’s just $3 it’s $5 nobody cares about the dollar value is the gesture that matters.

Daren Phillipy 29:07

So good, yeah. What about number three? Number

Gina Sharma 29:10

three, we’ve we’ve done sponsorships for community events. We’ve donated money, like I had a client who was running the cancer marathon, you know, supported her. You know, we had another marathon event which is actually a national nonprofit, which is Vibha, so they do their marathon and 5k 10 ks every September. So they’d ask me to sponsor it. So whenever people that I know are asking me for sponsorship, we, we, basically, you know, are willing to kind of support their cause as well.

Daren Phillipy 29:52

I love it well this, this is such a great simple template to be able to supercharge your Soi. I can see that the small touches is what makes all the difference in the world of what you’re doing. Is there anything else you’d like to cover before we move on from the work in your database, in your Soi,

Gina Sharma 30:11

yeah, and we do a newsletter, so it’s just like a tip every month, telling them about the buy and sell a market, and anything else that we feel. You know, we’re not kind of asking them constantly for business. So, you know, just tracking what people want. We also do a lot of investment seminars where we’re planning an estate and wills seminar where a lot of people who buy real estate don’t have a will. So, you know, how do you protect your families that you’re working with? Because life doesn’t give you a save the date on your calendar. So you want to make sure that somebody is having those hard conversations with them. It’s like, hey, what if something happens to you? Do you have disability coverage? You know, how what does your insurance look like? Do you need to connect with somebody? Can I connect you with somebody? You know, your estate planning, all of that. It’s like, Hey, are you planning for Johnny’s college, or is he going to take a loan? You know, those are things that you can have those conversations. Because sometimes we as there are a lot of times that I’ve assumed people know, and I’m really surprised. So never assume your clients have everything in place. It’s good to ask the question, so what do I chat in the happy hour? It’s like, Hey, how’s work going? It’s like, you know if, if you, you spoke to me a few weeks ago, then I’m saying, Hey, what happened about that? You know, do you need any help? So it’s more conversational. We’re not really talking about real estate. If I see a connection that I can make at the happier I’m introducing people, it’s like, hey, he’ll be a good connection for you. He’s a financial planner and you’re a mortgage company. So you know, see how you can help each other. So

Daren Phillipy 32:06

good, so good. I appreciate you sharing that it’s I love how simple it is, and your proof that it works. Let’s talk a little bit about listings. Is there? Is there anything that you do unique on the listing side that either brings you more leverage or it helps you capture more listings.

Gina Sharma 32:21

So with listings, what we just moved to brevity. So we’re putting all our database on home reports, so that way they get the value of of their home. I mean, you’ll be amazed to know that sometimes you think people are going to live in their home for a very long time, and then they see, wow, I’ve got this much equity. I can move up. I can bank this much so doing those equity reports, people are looking at them and seeing that, okay, I do. I know the interest rate is high, but I think I can afford to move right now, if I sell my house at x and I can get into this house. So sending home equity reports. I know there are some agents at my market center that do annual reports, so they’ll send a brief CMA with a note. It’s like, you know, you bought it for 400 right now it’s the value in seven years is 600 you know, if you’re ever thinking of selling, let’s talk, right? So maybe you can leverage this to pay for college. Maybe you can leverage this to go buy an investment property, so making them stretch their dollar, so that way you’re building their network through the investments that you’re teaching them to make

Daren Phillipy 33:39

love. It. Is that and that that’s that’s mailed, or is that as that email? It’s

Gina Sharma 33:45

all email, so it tracks, it tracks whether they opened it or not. Gotcha?

Daren Phillipy 33:48

Okay? Yeah, let’s talk a little bit about leverage. You’ve got, you’ve got a VA in the in India, and then you’ve got other staff. How do you how do you lead? How do you lead your staff and make sure? Because we don’t, we know that that’s the the heart of your team. How do you lead your staff?

Gina Sharma 34:07

So making sure, like today, I had a conversations like, hey, how? How are you all holding yourself accountable to your goals? You know, when you show up, are you showing up at the highest level? So having those conversations, don’t expect them that you’re the leader and you’ll you’ll expect them to follow. Sometimes they may need to lead in some places, right? So making sure that they are understanding that When opportunity comes, you’re not learning at that point in time, you gotta constantly learn, so when the opportunity arrives, you’re ready to take it. So my admin, I’m constantly telling them, they’ve got to keep learning. They’ve got to ask questions and basically learn the systems, learn the processes, you know, because if. Want to be an agent tomorrow. My admin is licensed. If she feels she can, you know, do sales, then absolutely come on board. But you gotta understand, you know, the role first, how

Daren Phillipy 35:12

do you? How do you are you holding, like weekly or daily, standard

Gina Sharma 35:16

meetings, daily huddles at nine o’clock? They’re all on Zoom. So we have conversations about, what were your activities yesterday? You know, you committed doing 20. How many did you do? You know, what got in the way? How could you have changed the day? You know, looking back, what could you have done differently? So asking them more question was telling them, Hey, you could have done this, you know, because you’re all adults, independent contractors, making sure that they are accountable to the goals they set. They didn’t set the goal for me. They set it for themselves, because if they achieve their goal, then they’re changing their financial story.

Daren Phillipy 36:00

So you, I’m I keep on thinking about your your work in your Soi, you have to have lots of systems to be able to execute that the way you do for the high service that you’re doing, what systems are most valuable to you?

Gina Sharma 36:15

So most valuable is our brevity. We basically also track on Facebook. So my admin is basically watching Facebook, you know, wishing everybody a happy birthday. So we’ve created graphics, so those graphics are posted to everybody’s profile with with a personal message, and just working is what? What keeps us tracked and our phone right?

Daren Phillipy 36:47

Let’s talk about your, your your your agents. I’m going to take Ivy bellers favorite question, what standards do you have for your your agents? How do you make sure that they get what they want and and you have a standard.

Gina Sharma 37:04

So my standard is two transactions a month right now. Again, we’ve had some agents have health issues. So obviously my my goal is not just focused on transactions. I wanted my people to grow personally, professionally and mentally, because you have so much of people having mental health issues. Because if you’re not in the right space, you can make money, but then you’re not happy. You know, you see so many people making money, but they’re still not happy at the end of the day, you can’t buy happiness, right? So making sure that they’re building themselves up, they’re in the right head space, and doing what they want to do truly the transactions they want. If you wanted to sell 10 homes, I’m fine with it. But what have you learned? How have you grown?

Daren Phillipy 38:00

So how do you are you the one also leading those agents too?

Gina Sharma 38:04

Yeah, so I have one on ones with them as well. And then one of my agents also is coached by my maps coach. So as they grow in production, they will be assigned a Maps coach.

Daren Phillipy 38:19

So let’s talk about how you get because those one on ones, those are super important. I’ve seen the teams that that don’t hold those one on ones, they struggle in staying in relationship with those agents. That’s where those that their agent ends up going astray or building resentment, or they have life challenges and you miss out on it. What are some of the things that you’re able to do to be able to to keep your keep your thumb on or your your eye on the the inside of them, and the way they’re ticking and the way they’re showing up.

Gina Sharma 38:56

I think the daily huddles are really important, because that has built the bond with us. So, you know, they feel comfortable enough to come talk to me about a challenge, you know, whether it be their health or their mindset or a challenge with their work that their business, right? What do I do? I don’t know what to do. How do I start? You know, what direction do I go? And so those things, they’ll always kind of feel comfortable to come talk to me, and I’m very direct. I won’t basically, you know, kind of say, okay, it’s okay. So what could you do differently? What could you do differently, and what are you willing to change? They because at the end of the day, we’ve got to love them, but we also have to be kind of, you know, direct with them and ask them, what do they want out of it?

Daren Phillipy 39:54

It’s easy to love, love an agent out of the business if you let them, let them fall off of their activity. Yeah. Yeah, well, let’s I’ve got two or three more questions. Now’s the time for you guys in the room to start raising your digital hand tell you ask a question in the chat. So raise, push your digital hand there, and you can ask that question there. What have you learned over the last 12 months running your team? What

Gina Sharma 40:18

I’ve learned so our business dropped last year by over 40% because I took a lot of vacations. I was in red shirt, you know, training for my maps coach and, you know, I took my, you know, hand off my team, thinking that they will perform by themselves, but what I’ve realized is you have to keep your hand in the pot to make sure that your agents are showing up. They’re doing the activities that they said they would do, because they don’t treat this like a job. They treat this like a business that can fail or can succeed, and either way, it’s okay. So those are conversations I have with them. It’s like, Hey, are you running a business, or do you have a job right now? And they pause and I say, you have a job, because Would you hire you if you didn’t show up to work every day? Because right now you’re not showing up. Are you doing the activities that you committed to doing? Your boss would fire you if you showed up at 12 o’clock to work, when you were supposed to show up at nine and then you leave at two? Would you? Would you hire yourself? And the answer is no, then, why can’t you show up and do the activities to stay in business and continue to have a job till it becomes a business? A business is something that you open your doors and people start walking in to do business with you. Chick fil A and subway and Walmart have created that brand that people walk in the door every day no matter what. Yeah, right, so presenting. So that is something that you have to teach them and make them understand. You will have constant challenges in your life. But how are you overcoming those challenges to continue to show up to work love

Daren Phillipy 42:28

that you shared with me before we got on here, about choosing a house in a room? Do you mind sharing that? I think this is a perfect time for us, since we’re just kind of wrapping up the leverage portion of that,

Gina Sharma 42:44

it’s important I get a lot of you know my leadership here, my team leader, Assistant team leader. They send me agents who are looking to join teams, but these people, these agents, are not wanting to choose kW until they choose a team, like until I hire them, or another team hires them, and my question to them is, why would you choose a room when you’ve not chosen your house? Because we as teams are different rooms within the house of kW. So if I take away your house, you won’t have a place to go. So understand the value of kW and the Market Center and the assets and the leadership and the tools, the technology, the support that you get within your environment, and speak to that, because people outside your home don’t know what value is inside until you speak about it. Because if, if you bring in an agent in your downline into your team, and they leave your team, but they continue to be in your brokerage, you can still change that relationship and bring them back, because it’s not always about them being to blame. It could be you and me. So how can we learn to change our behavior, our tonality, our conversations, to get better in leadership. And don’t be offended if somebody leaves you, because that’s a learning opportunity.

Daren Phillipy 44:29

So good, so good. Where’s the best place to get chicken curry in the world?

Gina Sharma 44:37

Come to Atlanta.

Daren Phillipy 44:39

Yeah, hold on. Did you see Jay? All of a sudden, started like, Huh? Where did you say it was the chicken curry?

Gina Sharma 44:47

Come to Atlanta.

Daren Phillipy 44:48

Atlanta is so you’re telling me, Atlanta’s chicken curry is better than India’s.

Gina Sharma 44:57

India is too far. You won’t travel. 4000 miles one way to travel. What 21 hours?

Daren Phillipy 45:07

Tina told me that she grew up in India, and she was telling me about all the fun stuff that she did there, and I got distracted by saying best chicken, chicken curry, alright? Um, thank you very much for that precise come to Atlanta. Ozzie, go ahead, it’s your turn to ask the question. Awesome.