We attended the Compass REtreat in Los Angeles over the last day and a half.
It was a quick get-together to roll out the future plans, participate in four breakout sessions on the usual topics – social media, team-building, scripts, and risk management – and attend the thank-you party last night.
I appreciate the effort, because the party itself was pretty impressive. Gourmet-food stations, open bar, and a 12-piece live dance band for the 2,000 Compass agents who attended (out of 7,500).
But the thing I respected the most was that the CEO, Robert Reffkin, stood by himself at the entrance and personally greeted every agent as they arrived.
No assistant, no senior staffers or entourage – just Robert by himself, fully focused on expressing his appreciation to each of us. Nobody does that.
They will be investing a boatload of money into the business, primarily in support of the agents being more effective in the coming years.
But it is the human connection with the agents, and commitment to our future together that will make Compass the leader in the industry.
Compass offices, nationwide:
End of 2017: 30
End of 2018: 150
End of 2019: 300 (projected)
Six months ago the company goal of 20% market share in the Top 20 markets nationwide sounded far-fetched. Today it seems very real – we have offices in each of those Top 20 markets, and just need to grow further.
I think it’s going to happen.
Hey Jim,
I have dozens of agent friends from my former life as an AM. I would have to say at least 75% of them have joined a new company called EXP Realty. They have a very strange model that is all in a virtual world online. Also, the agents are stating they are getting residual income based on sales from agents they bring to the platform. Seems like a ponzi scheme to me. Do you have any insights or thoughts on EXP and did you ever look at signing up with them? It’s the new Bitcoin of real estate on social media…not sure what to think.
Hello Wes!
I’ll give you the PC answer. I was attracted to Compass because of the respect I had for the agents they had already hired.
Donna says hello too!