Agents - Brokerage Branding Importance

[Brie Schmidt]

I need your thoughts...  I am a managing broker who was self sponsored until this year when I took on an agent and licensed assistant.  My business is medium sized, we only work with buy and hold investors in a handful of zip codes, we have never advertised and we have a constant flow of referrals.  

I thought of joining a big brokerage and sent a survey to my clients to see if that would impact their decision to work with me.  The responses came back neutral to negative, as they work with me for my experience and appreciate the boutique feel.

But I am considering expanding geographically outside of just the city of Chicago and into the suburbs.  And during a discussion today a brokerage brought up the fact that it would be hard for me to recruit agents without having a brand name.

I would only want agents who are investors, as all our clients are investors, so I would think they would tend to be on the independant side and be more concerned with a high split vs a big brand name.  Thoughts?  Am I shooting myself in the foot by not having a big name and expanding?  

[Mindy Jensen]

@Mike Cumbie , I'm a little hurt that you were in Colorado and didn't stop in to say hi...

@Brie Schmidt , The comment from @James Wise is correct-ish, your new company needs a master marketer, but I don't feel that it has to be you, especially if you don't enjoy that. @Mark Ferguson 's comment that you need to hire right is spot on, but hiring can be difficult. 

As an unlicensed person buying homes, I had no loyalty to agency brand name. I used John Hybl because of his knowledge and his personality. I used someone else when I went from Carol Stream to Geneva, thinking that was outside his reach. I used him to sell the Geneva house because the agent I bought it from was "less than knowledgeable." 

I think you'd be able to recruit agents from this site alone. Favorable splits, providing some education and E&O would go far. Hiring a hungry agent with the chance to work with someone like you would be a great deal for them.

I'd caution about rapid growth. Having an agent in Crete, Hoffman Estates, and Northfield will help you cover more geographic area, but could spread yourself too thin.

Chicagoland is so big, there are so many agents and every brand imaginable. As long as your signs don't look homemade you choose a professional-sounding name (Second City RE sounds great and the logo looks awesome!), you offer a fair commission to the buyer's agent, your reputation will take you far. 

I personally wouldn't work for any brokerage that advertised low commissions at the buyers agent's expense.

I think reputation is far more important than brokerage name.