EXp Realty’s growth has been astounding, routinely reporting quarters where revenue doubles, agent count continues to explode and transactions balloon.
Glenn Sanford | Photo credit: eXp World Holdings
And while Glenn Sanford, the founder of the virtual cloud brokerage and CEO of its parent company eXp World Holdings, has long evangelized the company’s capital-light business model, technology platforms and revenue sharing program, there’s another reason why he believes eXp is the fastest growing real estate brokerage company. It’s because eXp Realty has found its “purpose,” which is to be the most agent-centric company in the country.
“There’s a reason that we’re the fastest-growing real estate brokerage in the history of real estate and it’s not because of revenue share and it’s not because of equity, that’s icing on the cake,” Sanford said Monday, during eXpCON, the company’s first fully virtual event.
“In my opinion, the reason why everybody is here, is the entire package, which includes revenue share and includes equity, but also includes listening intently to what you need as agents in brokers in the field,” Sanford added.
Sanford spent much of the session talking about how each business needs to find its purpose, which, at eXp Realty, takes the form of being agent-centric. To achieve that end, the company operates on a Net Promoter Score (NPS) model, where it asks the agents who likely they are to recommend eXp Realty to friends, family and colleagues, on a scale from one to 10.
Anything higher than a nine and the individual is considered a promoter, or “ loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth, according to Satmetrix, one of the companies behind the business theory.
Any score below six and the individual is considered a detractor. While many businesses would be unhappy to see a score below that benchmark, Sanford believes that is where you get the best data.
“We shouldn’t be wanting [low scores], in that we don’t want to have a low bar of service that we have for agents and brokers, but we want to get that feedback that continuously moves the ball forward in such a way that nobody can catch us,” Sanford said.
Sanford even one time recalled firing a manager who wouldn’t use the NPS model and instead solely looked at profit and loss metrics. With thousands of agents and individuals across the industry attending the free event, Sanford also gave each brokerage owner or team leader the same advice: Find your purpose.
That doesn’t necessarily mean strictly using the NPS method, but more broadly, look at how your clients and agents are responding to your level of service.
“If you’re a struggling real estate team leader and you’re wondering why you can’t get agents to stay on your team, I would challenge you to think about, ‘what is your purpose?’ What is truly the purpose of your business,” Sanford said. “Is there a bigger purpose that you can articulate that will get people to want to join your team? Think about what that is.”
“If you can articulate that and if that is what you are at a DNA level, people will follow you and join your team. They will run through brick walls to ultimately help you achieve that purpose,” Sanford added. “The purpose itself is more important than any dollars that you’ll put up. But because you have a purpose, you’ll have more dollars coming in as a result.”
