REality

From Agent To Regional Leader: How Mike Grogan Builds Teams, Adapts To Markets, And Wins With Discipline

• Gary Scott

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Real estate promises flexibility, but the pros win with discipline. That’s the heartbeat of this conversation with regional vice president Mike Grogan, whose journey from young agent to respected leader reveals what it really takes to grow in a market that refuses to sit still. We dig into the habits that separate consistent producers from the rest—showing up, blocking time, and treating the work like the career it is.

We get practical about pricing, too. Instead of clinging to old comps, Mike breaks down how to position a listing against live, active competition so your seller becomes the first home to sell, not the fifth. With buyers gaining time and choices in many areas, even as days on market stay low in pockets like Virginia Beach, agents need sharper scripts, faster feedback loops, and the courage to adjust. We also talk about the rising share of price reductions, why they rarely help, and how to avoid them with smarter launch strategies.

Social media and AI take center stage as growth levers. Short-form video on platforms like TikTok and Instagram isn’t fluff—it’s where attention lives, and agents are closing real business there. Mike shares how to use these channels without losing your voice, why polarizing posts can tank your pipeline, and where AI fits as time leverage for content, marketing, and ideas. Then we zoom out to teams: when to build one, why “because I’m busy” isn’t enough, and how to define roles so you scale without chaos.

We close on the one thing most agents skip—a written plan. Document your goals, map your weekly inputs, and lock in an accountability partner. Your database is the currency of 2026: clean it, grow it, and contact it with intention. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs a push, and leave a review telling us the one change you’ll make this week. We’re here to help you finish strong and start smarter.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Reality Podcast. Today, my guest, I've been trying to get this guy on the calendar from the Commonwealth of Virginia and Northeast North Carolina Regional Vice President Mike Grogan. Mike, how are you?

SPEAKER_01:

Man, excited to be here. I know I've been a hard one to track down, but uh, we're gonna make this a good one. This is gonna be an action-packed podcast today. I can't wait.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, so I'm gonna go on the record that uh I've already gotten a hard time twice. One is I was late, which never ever happens. Uh, we are recording at three o'clock, supposed to be three o'clock on Monday, November 3rd. And I walked in at 3.06, and the guy could not have given me a bigger, harder time. And then he said, Imagine this to my consistent and treasured listeners is I hope you ask me different questions than you ask everybody else. I want you to dig a little deeper. I'm like, all right, so I've been critiqued and I've been criticized for being late. So in a moment's time, I'm gonna do what Mike Rogan asked me to do. So I am gonna go right to his bio. And I'm not gonna ask the questions that I always ask, albeit there are some that I can't.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't even know what's on that bio. Now you're making it.

SPEAKER_00:

He doesn't even know. You know what? When one is the host, one has a little bit of control. So, anyway, uh before I go to the famous question, I think it's important for everyone to understand how long Mike Grogan has been in the business and a little bit about how you got where you got. So, uh, Mike, uh let's just start a little bit uh with uh who's Mike Grogan?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know, Mike Grogan's a guy that got in the real estate business at a young age. I can tell you that. I lived in Williamsburg, Virginia, that was at the time truly a retirement community. Like that was where people were going to retire. I was 25 years old, had spent about an extra year in college. So I had that uh, I was a little bit older coming out than the average person. But uh went to Florida State where I loved it, loved it down there, and they had to uh you know take me out of there kicking and scratching, but ended up in Williamsburg, Virginia. You know, my wife was from Williamsburg. I was from Fairfax, uh Northern Virginia. And we found a home in Williamsburg that you know we just decided that was a place we want to raise a family. Did that. I was actually working for a uh a credit bureau. So working for the credit bureau, one of my top clients was selling mortgage credit reports to real estate companies. And if I date myself going back now, like 28, 29 years in the business, uh, we had to sell those credit reports to realtors so that they could pull credit on their buyers that they were working with. It wasn't being done just by the mortgage company back then. We had these little machines and they could uh punch in a name, social security number, and address, and it would pop out a bunch of information that the realtors would be trained by us as the salespeople to read those credit reports. So I did that, did it for a while to skip ahead though. You know, I started looking at these real estate professionals, and I was in the sales business and I remember asking a few of them. I pulled one aside at one point that I really trusted, uh, can still remember this guy, and I say, you know, I could ask you, what's the key to really doing well in the real estate business? And this guy tells me, if you just show up every day, you're gonna make a lot of money. And I remember thinking, like, I was doing a whole lot more than just showing up. You know, I was I was driving all over the place selling these little mortgage credit reports, and I figured that it was just an opportunity for me to maybe try something different. I was young enough that I could take a chance, didn't mind really taking a chance, had no kids at the time. So uh remember coming home telling my wife, I'm like, I'm gonna try something different. Like I really think I can go to and compete against real estate agents and do very well. You know, and I've heard the story so many times now, if I think back at how many people got in the business, either because their realtor made it look so easy or they were so bad. Right, exactly. It was one or the other, right, Gary? I mean, you hear the story all the time when we go into offices and we talk about what motivates people to get in the business. And on my side, I had a pretty good agent that I felt like it was maybe a little bit in the middle, but I felt like we had to do a lot of it. Like I was really having to do a lot of the work when I bought my first house. And that maybe propelled me to make that decision that I was gonna go get my real estate license. Luckily, the guy I was working for at the time, he says, Look, I'll give you the time to do it. I think you're better than what we have here for you. There's not a lot of you know positions to go into. There's no real mobility for you. But I will tell you, you know, if you're getting the real estate business, I would totally support it because I think you'd be really good at it. So went ahead, did that, got my license, uh, joined a company called Berkeley Realty. They were the number one uh brokerage in Williamsburg at the time, Williamsburg, Virginia. Uh a few years later, William E. Wood, the biggest brokerage in Hampton Roads, Virginia, came in and bought them. I chose to stay with them. Uh it was a great move on my part, had some really good leadership at the time. Dick Thurman was working there, Gail Coleman, a lot of people who I had talked to really before I got into position, the position I'm in now, but really looked up to them at the time as really being some good leaders uh for us. And uh, you know, after selling real estate, if I'm really skipping ahead, going about 18 years, maybe 19 years of selling houses, uh, I got the opportunity to take over the Williamsburg office and be their managing broker. Something I never really thought that I wanted to get into that much of the management side of it. I always kind of had an idea, maybe I wanted to have uh a piece of something a little bit bigger, something a little bit more than just myself. That always motivated me. Um, but I got to you know take that office. And it was it was a really great opportunity for me. At the time, we had 42 agents. Um within about three years, we had just over 70. I believe it was 70 or 71 agents. So I'd recruited a lot of agents. That was something that was fun to me. Um, really because, you know, in those early years, right as I was making the transition into real estate, I was I was coaching high school basketball, uh, kind of as a side gig. If anybody's ever coached high school basketball and says it's a side gig, you know it's not. I mean, it takes more than like a full-time allotment of time to really be good at it. And uh, you know, so uh moved over, learned that coaching in high school sports really had a lot that translated uh to the real estate world. And you know, through those 19 years of selling, I also had three daughters that that my wife and I had had at the time. Um, coached every sport that they were involved with, from you know, actually being the president of their swim team, which I knew nothing about swimming, coached them in basketball, soccer, lacrosse. I mean, you just like you name it. And uh, you know, that that was a really, I think, telling time kind of in my career. When you actually go from sales into the management side of things, it really exposes you to how difficult our managing brokers and our leaders and our branches uh have as a job. You know, you think that you, I would say almost every real estate agent that looks at uh their manager, their, you know, whichever you call it a manager, leader, managing broker. You think you can do their job until you're in their shoes. And I'll tell you, it took me a while to learn how to do it. I mean, I I can remember Helen Hannah Casey telling me that it was gonna take me two years working 70 hours a week to figure out how to do the job. And she about scared the heck out of me. I was thinking, like, how am I ever gonna do this? But I did, eventually learned how to do it, and then uh a couple other opportunities came up, and you and I have been working a lot since then, uh, where I became the vice president for a smaller part of our region, which uh had about five offices in time, five, sixth offices, and now I oversee the offices for Virginia um and Northeast North Carolina.

SPEAKER_00:

Awesome. Well, a couple couple of things. Uh, number one, uh, Mike, as you can tell, passionate sports fan, passionate Florida State fan. So I do want to ask you, only because I'm confident Gary Sharp is listening, that I think this past year, Florida State played at UVA in Charlottesville.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, which sport are we talking about? Because we played in a lot of sports and we won some.

SPEAKER_00:

We're not football. I'm just curious how that game ended up.

SPEAKER_01:

I was at that game, and I I hate to say, I think everybody in Virginia knows that I must be one of the only Florida State fans in Virginia because as that game ended and Florida State lost in, I believe it was double overtime, right in front of me in my end zone seat. Uh and they stormed the field and trampled a couple players, did all that. They deserved to party because Virginia played an incredible game and beat Florida State for the first time in 20 years uh at Charlottesville. It was an awesome game, though.

SPEAKER_00:

It was it was funny. There was a text thread that started the evening with Gary Sharp, who works with Mike and I. And then as the game unfelled, if that's the right word, I opted to stay out of the thread just because I, you know, a little bit of grace and a little bit of class, but uh I fell asleep and I would not have expected the end to be what the end is. Uh so uh I am gonna now go, Mike, and I'm gonna ask you this question. By the way, I appreciate that backdrop. Let me ask one more question. When you were managing Williamsburg for William E. Wood slash, well, it wasn't, it was Howard, it was William E. Wood and then uh Howard Hannah. Howard Hannah.

SPEAKER_01:

It was right at the time we were making the transition.

SPEAKER_00:

So I want to tell everybody this story because I think it's important. Is you know, Mike has built uh a great reputation not only with his uh customers and clients when he was selling, but those that he's led, but also those that competed against him. And a lot of people don't know that you and I competed. Uh I was with a company uh that had that region, and one of our best offices happened to be in Williamsburg. And a number of times that I kept asking our manager, uh, how can you not be just taking all those agents from Howard Hannah, William E. Wood? And his answer to me was always Mike Grogan. So I commend you for that because there was, and you know I'm talking about, we'll we'll leave him in the witness protection program. But there was a great respect that the two of you had in the market. He ran a really good business, you ran a really good business. Neither one of you were really able to recruit from the other. You went and built yourself around the other competition. And so I just I think that's important as we talk a little bit about some strategies and tactics and current market conditions that people know with nearly 30 years experience, you know, that you've you've seen and experienced most everything from financial crisis to 9-11 to COVID to some leadership change. You mentioned that, you know, really for the last gosh, eight or nine months, you and I have been working very, very closely, and it's been super rewarding uh to watch uh you uh grow our region there in Virginia, Northeast North Carolina. I'm gonna read this is the last statement in your bio. Again, you challenged me to step out of my comfort zone, uh, albeit uh you did answer my question, which was what was the one bit of advice your first mentor said, and it was simply show up. That's a little bit of a ninja. Um at Howard Hannah, we are able to pivot and capitalize on market conditions faster than anyone else. That is the last quote in your bio on the website. Expand on that because I think it's really important uh to those that are listening that are with our company and those that are listening who may not be with our company. Because we do, and I know you and I are biased, we think we have the ultimate value proposition, and I think that quote speaks to it. Expand, please.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I mean that when I say that at the end of the bio there. I was not sure where we were going with my bio, but I will say that being able to make decisions quickly in the real estate business may be one of the most important things for a real estate company. And the reason I say that is it's it's constantly changing. You know, you've been doing it longer than me, but I mean, put us together and we've got like what, 70 years in the business, something like that. And we have seen so many things change over time where small companies could have had the opportunity to jump in and really capitalize on a changing market, but they didn't have the wherewithal to do it. We kind of fit that sweet spot at Howard Hannah, where it's great because we're a large company that we can scale our decisions and we can we can find some ways to really capitalize on those changes that happen in the market very fast because we're financially stable. So you put those two things together, and there's just not many companies that can really compete with us when we're trying to make decisions on the fly, just like conversations you and I have many times. We'll have a phone call and it's like it starts off with, Hey Gary, did you hear about this? What happened? Or you call me and say, Did you, did you just hear what happened with this in Virginia or North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia? And all of a sudden, before you know it, the wheels are turning and we're strategizing on how we're gonna pivot and change something on the fly, maybe based on that phone call. That's something that I think that I thrive on. And I love the fact that, you know, a lot of times you and I are strategizing on exactly those types of things.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Uh so I appreciate that. I think that uh, you know, it's interesting because one of the unique opportunities I think we have, Mike, is uh not only to take care of those agents that are currently with us, but uh, you know, there are new agents in the business, and then there's 30-year experienced agents. And one of the questions I do like to ask, I'm gonna go back to my typical bag of tricks. I'm not gonna just go to the new stuff, but I do think it's really important. Uh, our listeners on reality uh are anywhere from I'm thinking about getting a license to I just got my license, to today was my first day in Fast Start, to I'm thinking about a team, to I'm thinking about retirement, and everywhere in between. But I'd like to ask you this question. As you talk to someone who is considering a career in real estate today, November fourth quarter, 2025, what is the advice that you give that particular agent?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I would say the thing that comes up the most is you know, we talk about why somebody gets into real estate. Usually there is some sort of conversation around wanting to have more control of their life, their schedule, something else. They're looking for that ability to take a little bit more control because they they think it's the word is flexible. I'll tell you, real estate is the most flexible business that I've probably ever witnessed, you know, that it's like you can you can be as flexible in this business as you want. Then I will say the ones who are highly successful have very little flexibility. They are so rigid on themselves, they show up at the office every morning, start their day, typically either at their office or their home office, whichever it is, but they have a schedule, they have a um routine that they go through. And because they have a routine, they treat it like a real job. So many people in the real estate business or that want to get into the real estate business, think of it more as something just to get into rather than a career. And one of the things I just this morning I'm talking to our Fast Start group, you know, the brand new agents at our company, we call the class for it fast start. And I'm talking to them, and it's it's specifically about that. It's, you know, if you want to be successful, treat this thing like a job and show up every day. And if you set that routine for yourself, no matter if you're a high producer or somebody just starting, it's a formula that works. It's pretty simple, but you know, almost any other job you would get into, you'd have to do that. So why not treat real estate the same way?

SPEAKER_00:

So unrehearsed, unscripted. Mike kicked off fast starting Virginia. I kicked off in the Carolinas. My third slide, Mike, it is freedom and flexibility. And I asked the question, I said, How many of you have chosen this for freedom and flexibility? Everybody raises their hand. And you know, and many of our listeners know I grew up in a real estate family, so I uh I had a lot of osmosis before I actually got my license. And my father always used to say, son, the freedom and flexibility is beautiful. It doesn't matter which eight days or 14 hours you work, it's your choice. And uh so I told that to the group today, and I said, the number one reason people get in it is freedom and flexibility. And the number one reason people don't make it is their inability to manage the freedom and flexibility. So uh while you and I were unscripted, uh, I think running it like a business, and I think that's such critical, uh it's so critical, more critical today than I think ever in the business. So uh I'm gonna shift gears just a little bit. As you look at the current market conditions, and we all know that the market's hyperlocal, so you'll speak specifically, predominantly to the market that you're in. It's directionally like the rest of the market, whether it's inventory and interest rates. I think the big, big question today, in my view, is pricing it right today based on today's market conditions. What recommendations do you have for uh scripts and strategies and philosophies for agents as they're talking to sellers about pricing it to sell today?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think the key is not just looking at a historical perspective of what's happened in the market. We're talking about just a moment ago, we're talking about why our company can strategically have such an advantage by being able to change quickly. Same thing is happening within the market all the time. It's always changing. And if you're looking at a historical perspective with sellers, it's very difficult to know exactly how that old information really plays in. And, you know, I've heard you talk about it a little bit as well, something similar that we talk about a lot here in Virginia. And that's the competition that's on the market. You've got to know what your competition is. I don't know how many times I've had the conversation with an agent where, you know, they ask me to say, what the heck is going on? Why can I not get more showings on this house? Why can't I not uh, you know, even get a contract on it for that matter? And the thing is, you've got to look at the current houses that are on the market and determine if we have a small pool of people that are actually out there shopping for houses right now. Do you want to be, if there's five houses in the neighborhood that are for sale and say a 250, 300 home neighborhood, do you want to be the first one to sell? Are you willing to wait until the be to be the fifth one to sell? Most of those sellers say, Well, I want to, I need to get sold now. Most people who are selling have some sort of time frame that they're under. And I would say that we have to look at that current competition based on every aspect of the home and figure out how we position ourselves as competition against them. We want to be the one that comes on the market and they go, Oh my gosh, that thing is gonna sell before mine and concerns the competition. So, you know, we're having that uh conversation with our agents a lot right now because you know this market has changed. I was just talking about it last week with a group of agents that we have two different things right now. We've got time on the market and we've got choices. That's for the buyer side. And when they have a little bit of time and some choices, it kind of gets it back to that whole market that you and I were so used to for so long, where you negotiated contracts. Uh, you didn't have necessarily three offers coming in on some of these houses or four offers coming in, and you had more than 24 hours to figure out what you want to buy. So all of that right now is just making the market uh kind of an interesting place to be. But getting back to your original question, you know, it's uh you really got to look at what's on the market right now as opposed to just taking this historical perspective like we did for so long.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think that's a real change in a strategy uh that is new for most sellers and quite frankly, most real estate professionals. Think about the number of agents, Mike, that got in from 1819 through COVID that might maybe didn't have to deal with some of the things that over our 70 years we've had to deal with. Um so uh let me piggyback off price for a minute. Uh, average days on the market in your market is what?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh we're right around, I think just under 20 days right now, like 19, 20 days. And you know, we almost are smiling as we're looking at each other on the camera, going like, that is still nothing. Like that, we've been doing this long enough where you know six months was something that we would have conversations at the time of listing. Okay, if it doesn't sell within six months, we're gonna have to have a conversation about lowering the price. Like that was a real conversation that I used to have with clients. Nowadays, that conversation is sped up to what, two weeks, maybe? You know, that that is absolutely nothing that we it it it blows my mind still, even living in it right now, that we're talking to clients and saying, okay, if it doesn't sell in the first couple weeks, we need to have a talk. You know, that's that's something that's really changed about our market.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I'm gonna highlight hyperlocal. I was in a meeting last week, Mike, and you know this uh with about 65 other brokers around the country, and they bring in national speakers and they had a lot of graphs about markets that were experiencing X, Y, or Z. And Virginia Beach uh probably is one of the top two markets that has not experienced the tremendous lift in inventory and growth in days on the market. So to our listeners, uh, you know, hyperlocal is real. Mike said 19 days throughout the Carolinas and the balance of the Southeast footprint is 55 days. Asheville is over six months, which would be 180 days. Because I would say to our folks in the Carolinas, if average is 55, that means some are selling at 10 and some are selling at 95. So think about how vibrant your market continues to be, and you're still going to get price appreciation when your days on the market is 19, even though inventory is growing. One of the interesting stats, and it really inspired me back in June when I did a little tour with you. We went to Fred Smith's office, and remember, he's he's a really great data guy. And at that time, 32% of every active listing in the Williamsburg market had already had a price change. What we know is across the country, that number's pushing 40%. And Dave Childers shared with us, and I know this has been on a recent podcast that Tony Jarrett and I shared, is that in the month of August alone, 20.5% of every listing had a price change just in that month. And what one of the things that I think is important for sellers to understand is that price changes are not good. They're not positive. They don't send the message to enhance and increase my sale. And it's going to take us a little while, I think, Mike, for that to evolve. Uh let's shift gears a little bit. Let's talk about social media from your perspective. Uh, I've uh I've noticed uh an increase in uh in your social media, and uh, but I also know that you coach a lot of leaders and agents, and you know, you're a student of the industry. Give your perspective on social media and its place in our growth and its place in 2026 as people start uh finalizing their business plan for next year.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know, I think social media is the strongest tool in real estate out there going right now. And I'll I I this is a perfect time of year to talk about this, and this will come out after the elections are over. You and I are not going to talk politics right now. We won't let it go there. But I will say that at this time of year, I do have the conversation with quite a few agents saying, let's not say anything on social media that jeopardizes your chances of having the strongest tool out there that you could possibly use to sell real estate right now, simply to get your message out on something else. And uh it's yeah, it's just a challenging, challenging thing when it comes to that. With that said, the ones who use it really well, I mean, they have found new platforms for it. And that's something that I think even uh, you know, kind of at my age will say um the social media game continues to evolve. You know, I've got three daughters that are all in their 20s, and the social media platforms that I'm on and the way that I communicate on them are so different. And it's uh, if anything, it's opened my eyes that, you know, like, gosh, I it's it almost pains me to say it, but TikTok is a place we're selling houses right now. But we actually have agents that are very successful on TikTok, and that's because we're really doing a good job bringing in some younger agents right now. There are people coming in at that age when I started, you know, they're in their late 20s, and they're they're bringing a whole new perspective to it. Whereas we thought before, you know, if you just put a graphic out there on your Facebook page that that was enough from a social media standpoint. Well, now it's it's different. I I look at some of these people now that do it, and we have some with us that are awesome at it, but they entertain by the way that they show the house. We just uh, you know, and this is one that I showed a bunch of people the other day, and it's not not somebody with us, but there's a guy out there that actually runs through the house as fast as he possibly can. And as he's talking or as he's running, he's talking and giving a full tour of the house. And the guy gets thousands of views. I mean, absolutely thousands. So there's this new way that maybe, maybe steps down a little bit of what I would have called that professionalism from the old days. But the new wave of social media allows for something like that. And I actually think the next generation, that's the way they buy and sell. And uh, you know, we're doing everything we can to embrace it here.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think there's two things that come from that. Uh, you talk about TikTok, and before you mention that, uh, I got thinking about an agent in Lake Norman, Mason McCracken. 50% of her business is TikTok. Now, you and I both know that we have trouble getting some of our experienced agents to use video. And one of the things you and I had a chance a couple weeks ago, we were at a leadership advance. And one of the things we talked about is the more uncomfortable we are, the more we grow. The more discomfort, the more growth. And I want to challenge everybody listening to think about something they haven't done in the past because they were afraid or fearful or cautious. Because it makes you feel uncomfortable, do it next year. Video would be one of them. Uh, I think social media platforms, you're it's interesting you bring that up. Uh, I do a fair amount on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. And what's fascinating to me is when I go and see who is responding to Instagram, it's really all the people that aren't responding to Facebook and LinkedIn. They're typically friends that I have become or connections or whatever you call it in Instagram. That just goes to show you where I am. They're my kids' friends at 30 and 35 years old. You know, LinkedIn are the guys I went to college with, and Facebook is just a plethora of different people. So I think Mike said it really, really well, and that is make sure that you understand that it's evolving. And the last thing I'd like to add is it does not take the place of authentic interactions, which leads me to AI in our business. It's here to stay. And for those of us, my hand is raised on the video, who might have been in denial 12 months ago, I'm in acceptance, albeit I don't understand it all. Any of your insight, Mike, on AI and uh how it can be a good thing in our business and what might we be concerned about as it becomes more and more uh present in our day-to-day lives?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I I gotta think we haven't even scratched the surface yet as far as what AI is gonna do with the real estate industry. Um, you know, we started out with I can remember the the first couple of people I talked to that really had some exposure to Chat GPT when it first came out, were saying this is gonna change the game because it's gonna polish up my uh my description of a property. Well, we realized very fast that that was just uh, you know, tip of the iceberg when it comes to Chat GPT, perplexity, some of these other um AI platforms that are out there. And, you know, I do think that what you're gonna find is it's gonna start getting into more sales strategies. Uh I'm talking to agents all the time that are popping into ChatGPT strategies on homes that are hard to sell. Now, a little bit scary to me. I don't think I've fully bought in that I want to take advice from ChatGPT as opposed to going to the manager in the office where somebody's got a lot of experience selling houses that can tell you firsthand what you need to be doing, because I have seen some some advice things that come out of Chat GPT that aren't exactly accurate. But in general, could it could it scale things up for us and save us some time and make us more efficient when? When we're trying to operate at a higher volume, I think some of those top agents are finding ways to layer it in and do exactly that. And I think the ones who embrace it, um, you know, the the sky's the limit as far as where we can go with that.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it goes back to the concept of evolution. And what we don't want anybody to do is forget the blocking and tackling and the basics. I was in my fast start this morning and I made a comment. And at the end, the agent in the back to meek asked me a question. I said, what worked for me from 86 to 90 when I was selling still works today. Then I went on and talked about a lot of different things, the history of our company and you know, all the things that are good about the the industry. She raised her hand and she said, What are those things? I'm like, that's a really good question. And those things are open houses. Those things are knocking on doors. Those things are relationship-based, not transaction-based. Um, you know, one of the things uh that I shared last week when I was um uh in Virginia with you, Mike, was, you know, the number one, it's my belief, the number one currency in 26 is your database. Period end of report. It's about having a clean database, it's about having a growing database, and it's about connecting appropriately with that database, which means a lot of different things. What does appropriate mean? What does strategic mean? What does intentional mean? Whether it's text, whether it's social, whether it's email, whether it's visits, whether it's phone calls, whether it's personal notes. So uh, you know, we are in the relationship business. That's another piece that I want to make sure that everybody understands. When we focus on a transaction, I think we lose sight of uh of where we're going. Um let's talk a little bit. Uh eight months ago, Mike, uh, you got a uh, I'll call it a promotion, uh, an enhanced opportunity to run the entire region and uh simultaneously, you know, kind of become part of a bigger region, which would be called Howard Hannah Southeast, which is Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and as you mentioned earlier, our foray into Georgia with our office in Savannah. And uh yeah, just again, it I know it's been great for me to have you as a partner. Uh, it's it's I've learned a lot and I think we've accomplished a lot. But you know, what are some of the things that come to your mind to say, either number one, this is way better than I thought, or number two, I wish Gary had told me it was going to be like this. You might have one of two of those, but just share with with everybody a little bit about your journey the last eight months because it's uh it's been action-packed.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I can tell you I've put a lot of miles on my vehicle because I realized Virginia is a very large state. Um, but you know, that that's kind of what I enjoy about it is now I've got to sort of branch out and see just like I did when I went from selling houses to my friends, selling houses to my sphere of influence, where I got to take that to a whole group of agents and help them do exactly that a little bit better. I feel like every time you take that next step in your career, that for me, that's what drives me. And to be able to then go, okay, I'm not just helping the agents in this one office anymore, I'm helping agents in 11 offices and a couple offices in North Carolina as well, the Virginia and the Northeast North Carolina offices. When you get that opportunity to really ramp up the uh the influence that you have, sharing some of your experiences and then coming back and seeing it help somebody. Like when you actually visit an office that maybe they're you know 300 miles from where my home office is. And I come back in there a few weeks later and somebody goes, Oh my God, do you remember what you told me? It worked perfect. And then I got to have them remind me usually what I told them. But you know, those are the types of moments that really keep you going. Now, if there's something as far as like the learning that I've really liked, it's interacting with the other regional vice presidents from North Carolina, South Carolina. I think that has been really neat. That's a diverse group of people. We have former business owners in there. We have people who have been just like me that have worked their way through the ranks selling real estate. We have, you know, just all different types of backgrounds. And to get together about once a month around a table with you and just sit there and the way that we strategize as a group and you look to us to give input into the direction that we're going as a region. I think that's what I kind of thrive on right now, is that we're we're making this thing our way as we go and implementing some of the strategies that have worked for each of us in other areas that we can then take back to our home and make work for us.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think that's the key. And it's uh this is a uh kind of a leadership lesson on a on a podcast, typically for sales, and that is it's always about getting it right, not being right. And that's where ego's got to step, you know, check at the door. And then the other thing is is this whole philosophy that we run our company by, which is how to not, why not. And when we focus our energy on how to do something, man, it is just it brings out the best in people. And then the third thing, and you know this, is you know, just a great appreciation for opposing views. I think that those are three really important things being right versus uh getting it right, getting it right is key. You know, collaboration is about everybody gets a chance to chat. Very rarely is what I think is going to happen happen or what you think is, but when we put the best of the best, uh, and it is a uh it is uh an inspiring group of people that we get a chance to sit with. I I want you to, I wrote down, I take notes during these because I I always learn something. And one of the words you used, Mike, it was the opportunity to influence more people. And I just think about our role as real estate professionals and trusted advisors. It is about influencing people at such a critical transaction or uh event in their life. And, you know, we influence agents, we influence communities, we influence our leaders, we influence the competition, uh, we influence our families. So uh I love the word influence. I think leadership is defined by number one, you have followers, and number two, you influence and impact people. And uh you have certainly uh uh done a great job in the short time that you've had, I'll call it the bigger role. So uh we all thank you for that. Let's uh I'm gonna shift gears. We got about one or two more quick segments. Um I'm an agent and I'm thinking about going to a team. What advice and counsel does Mike Grogan when Gary Scott walks in and says, Mike, listen, I'm at$10 million and like I got all these people want to work for me and I want to build an organization. I want a team of five, 10, 8, 20. What questions do you ask? What advice and counsel might you give uh regarding a singular individual agent to a team?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I I think we have that conversation all the time. You probably know that. Um, but I my first question is so simple. Why? Why are you doing it? You know, like talk talk to me about this. And the reason I ask just simply why. You have to know your why when you make a strategic decision like that. And I'll tell you, team is right for some people. There are some people that get to that capacity where they've had or they they're doing everything they can do by themselves and they still want more. They still want to build it bigger. Some people, you know, on the other hand, they maybe have a little bit of kind of like my background, where they want to coach people a little bit. Maybe they're not getting the full satisfaction out of just selling houses that they want to stay in the game, continue to sell, because a lot of us thrive on that. The sales side of it, a lot of us really are just inspired by completing a successful transaction at the end of the day. But they want to share that with somebody else. If you're looking to do that and there's a passion for both sides of it, it really can work out well. However, if you're looking to do it, and here's where I usually see the team fail the team fails when that person who's the team leader simply says, I don't want to have to do it like really much more than I ever had to do before. Because we find out when you start a team, you actually have to manage people and you have to manage your transactions. And I will say that if you think it's gonna be easier or save you time or effort when you have to manage those people and there's there's turnover. So you're gonna manage somebody, they're gonna leave because they think they can do it on their own, then you have to do it again. That's when I see those teams really struggle and it creates a strain uh within the team. But you know, I will tell you, I've sat down with numerous people, help them start a team where we say, okay, tell me specifically what you want to do. Let's talk about specifically what positions you need. Do you need a transaction coordinator? Do you need a buyer's agent? Do you need an assistant? Tell me what that is, tell me what the roles look like. Let's make sure we get the right people for the right seats. And if you do that, that can work out pretty well.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, I should have, oh, I did record that. I'm gonna take that, I'm gonna get Ashley to take that snippet because the why is the perfect question. Uh the why a team, because I do think there are different answers to that that guys and and leaders like you and I are able to say to them, well, you do know that because you're a great rainmaker agent, it doesn't make you a great leader of people because you it's a different job. Now, some do a great transition. I use the sports analogy. Not every great player, world-class players often are not world-class coaches because they can't imagine not everybody sharing that that ethic, that work ethic, that passion, that enthusiasm. I think of Michael Jordan. Um, you know, we think of with him as an owner, we think of others that have struggled in the uh Magic Johnson in that arena. So uh I do think teams, you know, it's interesting. Uh, one of the beauties of our company is, you know, we support individual agents, we support teams, we support agents with assistance. Uh, we certainly support equal partners. You know, Mike and Gary are selling, they decide to start the Grogan Scott group because it makes good sense for us in Williamsburg and things like that. Um my last question, and it's uh it is uh one of my uh my go-to's I call it the one thing. What is what is your one best piece of advice uh for anybody as they think about being successful next year? We talked about showing up, you use the word influence, which I loved, uh know your why. Uh by the way, I just gave everybody their three takeaways from the podcast. I I just I think sometimes we overcomplicate success and we make it more complex than it needs to be. Sometimes it's just doing the basics always. So, uh, what bit of advice are you going to give uh the five 450 agents and and 20 leaders in Virginia and Northeast North Carolina as we put a bow around 2025 in a couple of weeks?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know, I I think it's uh it comes with a little bit of coaching. I'll tell you, I'm yeah, yeah, I grew up as a kid that my dad coached like every team that I played on. I was kind of maybe that's why I ended up doing the same thing. But I look at where I was 20 some years ago going into the next year, and I always just kind of rolled right in. I never, never had or initially when I started out, I didn't have a plan. Eventually that came with experience. And I had a couple of really good leaders that that got a hold of me and said, like, you're doing a good job of this. We need to show you what you're doing, and we need to come up with some real direction on where you want to go next year if you want to grow this thing. And I would say that at this time of the year, the most important thing that any agent can do at any level is to have a written plan. They should have something written down that they can come back to in January when the year starts and say, okay, this is it. I'm starting my year right now with this directive of exactly where I want to go and be able to check back in, whether it's monthly or quarterly, to know are you achieving your goals? And I would say that the average salesperson, if they have written goals that are in front of them, they have a far better chance of achieving the goal than if they don't ever really write it down. And I've seen all the studies on it. I didn't really have that prepared right now as far as exactly what that success rate is. But I look at it every day, and we are so focused right now on trying to get our agents to come up with their business plan for 2026 because we know they'll do better in business and be happier at the end of the day, just simply by coaching them that way.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow, so it's interesting. My last slide today, I have the five final thoughts. And number one is have a written business plan. And whatever the empirical data says, what Mike Grogan and I can share with everyone is if you have a plan and you put it in writing and you put a system of accountability to it, you will be more successful. Whether it's 10%, 20%, 30%, you will be more successful. The power of the mind and the other challenge is don't be afraid to find an accountability partner. You know, I think what I think I think personally one of the hardest things in the world to do is hold yourself accountable to do the things you know you need to do. And and uh, you know, I think some of the greatest performers athletically and musically and uh you know, artistically, they have all kinds of coaches. They have all kinds of people that help them, whether it's a nutritionist or weights or stretching or masseuse or uh, you know, all of these things, these great, great performers have people. They have support. Yet sometimes we think I can become a realtor and just go on my merry way. So uh, Mike, I agree with you on that. Well, I will tell you a treat today, my friend. It is good to see you. Uh, some great takeaways for our listener. Yes, I appreciate no politics. By the way, tomorrow is election day. Uh and uh I would just uh uh leave everybody with with the following. If uh if uh this probably will be our last one before Thanksgiving. So uh whether it's the last one or the second to last one, we're gonna wish you a happy Thanksgiving. But uh most importantly, we're now entering the second quarter or the second month of the last quarter of the year. Let's finish strong. Let's execute the plan. Let's dot the I's and cross the Ts on your written business plan. And let's lean in on the experience and the influences we've had in our lives. Mike Rogan, you've been great. Thanks for being with us today.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for having me. Look looking forward to talking to you in the future, Gary. Let's do it. Take care, buddy. Thanks.

Contributor

Gary Scott

Host