(L to R) Joe Frazzano, Listing Specialist/Team Leader; Alex Tse, Listing Specialist; Manel Sousou, Listing Specialist
When Joe Frazzano decided to pursue real estate, he was motivated by a passion for people. As an agent, and now leader of a real estate team, he has lived out that passion for 30 years, assisting his clients with critical decisions about their homes and homeownership.
“I started young, and I was influenced by family and friends and my love of people and houses, and the satisfaction that comes with helping people with their most important and prized asset,” explains Frazzano, of The Frazzano Team with J. Rockcliff REALTORS®.
Like other real estate teams, The Frazzano Team, based in the East Bay area of San Francisco, was formed out of a need for resources and support. As an agent, Frazzano had his share of success, but to continue growing, he had to build out his capabilities—without compromising on service.
Suzanne De Vita: Joe, how have you grown your team over the years, and where do you stand today?
Joe Frazzano: I have 6-plus agents, and many have been on my team for more than 10 years, which is a rare thing in our industry. We’ve been really stable. I’ve been with one admin for 15 years.
What differentiates us is that we are the agents that are going to go the extra mile for our clients, and we’re committed to customer service—we really roll out the red carpet and provide concierge-level service for them. Referrals are the backbone of our business, so we feel it’s a tremendous opportunity to show our clients how committed we are to the process—to properly explain everything, to not rush, and to make them feel as though they are our only clients.
SD: You were an agent for several years. What advantages have you found in operating as a team vs. as an individual?
JF: The odds of you really aligning with the client can be increased by having a team. When you’re a team, oftentimes you’re going to be better matched when you have two people working with a client. The level of service is also higher, as well as the scales of economy in terms of advertising and sharing the expense of marketing.
It’s a better consumer experience by way of a higher level of service—and when consumers are happy, you’re going to have a happier life.
SD: Branding is critical when marketing a team. How do you leverage social media?
JF: Each agent has their own personal pages, but we have one team Facebook page that includes all of our listings and updates. We also have an Instagram account that we’re building, as well. We have over 1,000 followers on each platform, and they’re not paid followers; these are followers that we’ve cultivated from content.
SD: What advice would you give an agent who’s considering joining a team?
JF: The benefit in joining a team is that the branding can be a door-opener, and that should be the main focus: using the team to bridge the gap between lack of experience and brand awareness to increase your likelihood of getting new business.
Find a team that resonates with you. Align with people that have similar qualities or interests. Go in with the expectation that you’re going to work harder on a team—it’s not going to be easier!—and find out about the team structure. Do they provide leads, or do they expect you to prospect? Different teams have different structures. You have to be a team player on a team; for example, you don’t want to join a team if your ultimate goal is to own a team one day.
Overall, expect nothing, be surprised, and with hard work, you’ll surprise yourself.
Suzanne De Vita is RISMedia’s online news editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at sdevita@rismedia.com.
