How Our Real Estate Company Reached $1 Billion In Career Sales
This is a follow up story for Vesta Preferred Realty. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 5 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
My name is Grigory Pekarsky and I own Vesta Preferred Realty - a real estate company based out of Chicago. I also head the #5 ranked independent team in Illinois, The RNP Group. We specialize in all things residential real estate in and around the Chicagoland Area.
We were founded in 2009 and since then we have grown annually at a 20% pace. We have stayed independent and boutique focusing on client relationships.
We are approaching a total of $1billion in career sales which is an achievement I only dreamed about when I founded my company.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?
Since our founding our goal has always been to cultivate relationships and focus on service. We maintain a 20% growth rate through focusing on following up with our past clients in a valuable way. We try to be as much of a resource as possible from giving contractor referrals to just saying hey and checking in. Reachability has always been at the core of our value proposition.
We are approaching a total of $1billion in career sales which is an achievement I only dreamed about when I founded my company.
We keep investing however in the sectors that we know work and continue to grow. We now operate an in house calling staff that specialize in online buyer cultivation. Strategic investing in online lead sources has worked very well so we have continued to do that. We have also found that nurturing the right sales people is the best form of investment.
Next we are planning to really promote our story through our social media channels. We want to try and connect with like minded people/agents in the industry. Being able to reach out into the world and locate people with the same mindset is really powerful. Cultivating an online community is the next obvious step in our growth model.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
When Covid hit we lost 30% of our pending business in a 48 hour period. It was devastating and really deflating. After kicking rocks for a week we got back on the phone and just started reconnecting with our clients.
Not in any other way outside of letting them know we hope they are ok. That form of follow up really came back to reward us in the end. When the re-surge of buying came back we were top of mind and our clients used us to buy their level up homes.
So even though we got a gut punch for a 6 week period, staying positive and moving forward proved to be the best strategy. Not being able to offer our typical get togethers for clients has reduced our ability to connect in person. However this post covid world people are adjusting to appreciating virtual meet ups and seeing you are trying to connect is half the battle.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
Our main goal right now is to rebuild our sales team. We see an opportunity to build a system that operates in a segmented yet combined way. Let me explain what I mean. Sales people are great at selling but oftentimes are not great at running a business. So we are segmenting the buying process into phases. We are working on perfecting and implementing the best people per segment.
Nurturing new leads for example is where often the ball is dropped because sales people get busy working active clients. So that is why we are building out an in-house calling team. They are focusing on perfecting the cultivation part of the lead. Once they are ready to transact they are passed off to the sales person.
We are looking at each segment and perfecting each piece of the process to make it all into one well oiled machine. The 5 year plan is to build Illinois’ first billion dollar team in terms of an annual sales amount.
Success is like a train, it takes a lot of effort to get it moving. However once it's moving all you have to do is push it regularly to keep it going.
Have you read any good books in the last year?
A big weakness of mine is I am light on the reading end. That is goal of mine, to get better at taking time to read good books. I do enjoy my history podcast, History That Doesn’t Suck is fun:)
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
Focus on the controllables, don't worry about the results. Sweat the activities that you can do daily to take a step forward every day. I call them MMA’s, Money Making Activities. What are the daily things you need to do to guarantee your business will grow every day. Too often people worry about the results but don’t realize results only come with a plan and diligent/consistent execution.
Also make sure you have realistic timing for your success. Give yourself 6 months minimum and more like a full year. Success is like a train, it takes a lot of effort to get it moving. However once it's moving all you have to do is push it regularly to keep it going. Just make sure to keep up your activities every day and don’t back off or that train will stop again before you know it.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We are always looking for agents ready to make a real change in their lives. In all honesty we are looking for that top 5% and say no way more then yes to team members. However for the agents that are serious and ready to commit their life to this business we can really make some incredible things happen together.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
