Andrew J. Smith has been involved in real estate for 16 years now, launching his own company as a franchise of Deerbrook Realty within the last 6 years. What began as a small team of 2 has now expanded their roster to 20 members, with even their administrator receiving a real estate licence.
If real estate were a sport, the dynamic between Smith, his associates, and what they can do for their clients would make them a top prospect in the draft pick. As head coach, Smith leads his team, regularly bringing on players who are completely new to the game so that he can help mentor them and mold them into having the skills for a prosperous career.
“Deerbrook Realty has always made me feel like family, and when I started my own team, it got to a point where I couldn’t keep up anymore,” Smith explained. “I felt I couldn’t properly represent my clients anymore, so I brought people on who I felt that, with my guidance, could be turned into something similar to myself, to maintain that image while still having their own personal style and service.”
The reason Smith approaches leadership in the manner he does is because he feels that when he first started out, he did not have proper guidance. His team started with the intent to help, and that’s the intent to help both clients and associates. The focus of the team will always be the client and providing the best possible service, but Smith recognizes that fulfilling that promise is difficult to do without having the support and guidance from those around you, and so he aims to be that support which in turn helps their focus and business flourish.
Smith admits that yes, in the end this business is trying to sell homes and properties, but he stresses that it’s still more than that. In his 16 years in the making, his focus on the needs of the customer and putting their objectives first has never wavered. People come to him to buy and/or sell, but they ultimately need to be happy with the process and understand what goes into it, and that’s where Smith’s team thrives.
Not only is the team constantly evolving, so are the strategies they use to generate a larger outreach. In the times we live in, technology is ever-changing and so adapting to it is a must. In the last year, Smith’s team has joined the ranks of social media, but they do more than simply posting photos of the homes they currently have on their market, or that just recently sold.
Not wanting to lag on the latest in marketing schemes, they have embraced technology, using Facebook and Instagram to post funny, brief videos of themselves. Smith finds that the videos give them a personality, so that clients, present, past, and future, can see them as real people rather than as just a business. He says that these videos allow them to poke fun at themselves and makes them more relatable. More often than not, the videos are entirely spontaneous.
“Posting just sold or just listed or coming soon doesn’t have as much interest in it,” Smith said when asked about their online presence. “A team member will come up with an idea, and we will film and post it within minutes. The videos are silly, but we have fun at the same time and we want to show that side of us.”
Another change made within the last year is their location. You may be familiar with the phrase “location, location, location” which, in a nutshell, means that the value of a property can fluctuate depending on where it is. For Smith, having their new office located at 12357 Tecumseh Rd. East is a significant upgrade, because it allows them to be closer to several upcoming developments, many of which they are partnered with such as Villas of Aspen Lake in Riverside, and Lakeside Estates and ONE650 Manning in Lakeshore. Other projects include Kingsville’s Timber Creek, Amherstburg’s Kingsbridge, and LaSalle’s Laurier Heights (formerly known as Harmony Estates). The new office is set inside of a house that was renovated for office use, giving their work environment a comfortable atmosphere while they work hard at your home buying and selling needs.
“Based on what we are doing here, the future looks bright,” Smith expressed. “I intend to continue to push the envelope and see where it goes. The way we are going now, there is no question that we are going up and doing well.”
Smith looks at the successes of each team member proudly, from their very first sale, to landing their first million dollar listing. Watching them reach their goals makes him happier than watching his own successes, as he remembers being in their shoes: a rookie selling homes for 57 thousand dollars, working hard every day to climb the ranks and achieving a place on the all-star team, and he is thrilled to see them with the ball in their court as he coaches them through until they score.
