How CENTURY 21 DeAnna Realty grew 110% and still kept its culture

The firm began with three people and aimed to grow without losing a close-knit group feeling. Camaraderie and office culture are treated as a focused priority rather than a slogan. M&A partner selection emphasizes cultural fit, with no fixed targets for sales volume, and with the goal of ensuring merging agents are happy and current agents benefit. The approach supports positive growth and a collaborative environment where agents feel comfortable asking questions. Growth also comes from internal and organic development by supporting individual agents with options for generating business and running their work. Agents receive one-on-one guidance toward goals and increased production. During mergers, disruption is minimized by keeping existing staff and changing only what is necessary to prevent agent breakage.

"For us, the right way meant that even though we knew there would be changes throughout the system as we expanded, we didn't want to lose that close-knit feeling within the group. So many companies talk about camaraderie and office culture as something they work on, but for us we actually really focus on it."

"In regards to choosing M&A partners, DeAnna said this meant they were more focused on finding partners that fit in well with their existing culture. We never had a criteria for number of sales or volume or anything like that. First and foremost, we wanted to make sure that the agents that were merging with us were happy and excited and that the move would also be good for our current agents."

"So far, DeAnna said this approach has garnered not only positive growth results for the company, but also ensured that it has fostered a collaborative culture where no one is afraid to raise their hand and ask a question. But while much of the firm's growth had been led by M&A, DeAnna said they try to never lose sight of internal and organic growth."

"We focus on the individual agent because there are so many different ways agents can get business and run things. We lay out some of the options for them and help them find what interests them the most, but we never want anyone to feel like they have to fit some sort of mold. This means that DeAnna and his team spend a lot of time meeting one-on-one with agents helping them work towards their goals and increase production."

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