Chris Grimes
Managing Broker
RE/MAX Homes and Estates, Lipman Group
Nashville, Tennessee
chrisfgrimes.lipmanhomesandestates.com

Region served: Middle Tennessee/Greater Nashville
Years in real estate: 18
Number of offices: 1
Number of agents: 50

Best time management tip: Time-block and be sure to include time for yourself. Self-help and self-sustaining activities are critical along with maintaining ongoing professional development.

Can’t-live-without tech tool: Adwerx for marketing properties and recruiting, and Brokermint to complete and fulfill contract documents and store them in the cloud.

Why did you decide to affiliate with RE/MAX?
Our owner really wanted to be part of a company that offers a global reach, and RE/MAX offers the very best reach across several continents and within markets across the U.S. We have built several successful referral relationships since joining RE/MAX.

Please describe some of the biggest benefits associated with your affiliation with the RE/MAX brand.
RE/MAX is one of the most identifiable brands in real estate. Everyone knows what you do the moment you acknowledge that you are associated with RE/MAX, and that is very empowering. The second advantage I would point to is the fact that RE/MAX corporate offers numerous resources and support to our office on a local level. They truly care about our business and invest in our local market to help ensure that our brand stays top of mind when one thinks about real estate.

How has your affiliation with RE/MAX been instrumental in growing your office?
The brand we were previously associated with felt unattainable or untouchable for some of our clients. But since affiliating with RE/MAX, our agents have experienced more opportunities in their personal businesses, which has improved morale. We are also able to offer more value to our agents through technology, training platforms and referrals than we felt we could with other brands. This has helped us attract quality agents to our office who are congruent with our unique culture.

When it comes to marketing, what are your best practices in this area?
We have a very strong marketing department with three members, and we do most of our designs in-house. We also have a unique recruiting site that provides anyone interested in joining our team highlights of all the support we provide our agents.

What do you look for in agents you’re looking to recruit into the company?
Numbers are important, as well as experience, but I try to get a feel for how much initiative and energy they’ll bring to the company. In my opinion, it’s only the most driven and flexible who will survive in our business.

What’s the No. 1 tactic that helped you successfully navigate the COVID pandemic?
I relied on keeping my emotions and concerns at bay through meditation and therapy. Where there are emotions, there are clouded and unclear thoughts, which I could not afford to have distracting me and sapping my energy away from serving my agents, especially with all the other challenges the pandemic was posing over the past year.

For more information, please visit www.remax.com.