There’s always something to howl about.

Rainmakers Everywhere But Not A Drop Of Water In Sight

I’ve started and deleted this post three times now. It’s galling. I know what I wanna say, but can’t say it the way I wanna. It’s important though, at least in my thinking. So here’s hoping the fourth time is a charm.

Back in the ’60’s I was the janitor for Dad’s real estate offices — all seven. Once a week, there I was, a high schooler arriving in my ’59 Morris Minor, later a Datsun pickup, cleanin’ up, and printing the new listings for the week. I soaked up immeasurable amounts of data, completely unconsciously, while listening to agents BS, or just shootin’ the breeze with them while emptying their trash, or waxing their desks. (when I could actually see their desks, that is)

His first ever office, located in East San Diego, is now a Mobil station. For those in SD it’s at 39th & El Cajon Blvd. The agents in that office turned out to be his version of the ’27 Yankees. Eight of them opened up their own companies, and the office only held 10. They were hard workers, kept their noses clean, and with one glaring exception, really cool guys.

They were Rainmakers. What passes as a Rainmaker today isn’t what it was then.

Let’s all agree what a Rainmaker really is, and what they do.

In real estate, a Rainmaker is one who consistently produces leads resulting in closed escrows. These leads are often handed over to those working under said Rainmaker. There are also circumstances in which a Rainmaker will create ‘rain’ for other businesses, creating a storm of synergistic dollars raining on all those who have strategically situated themselves directly in the path of the anticipated storm.

To be fair, and this is a subjective personal definition, Rainmakers produce business. Whether it’s used to benefit the Rainmaker’s team or not, it’s business produced by their efforts. The fact they may only be raining on their own personal fields is a false issue. I also maintain producing less than a deal a week, give or take, doesn’t make the agent a Rainmaker. 30 deals is indeed an impressive year, but a Rainmaker it doesn’t make. Of course, this is totally arbitrary on my part.

So what’s the point?

Minds far more prescient than mine, Sean Purcell and Mike Farmer come to mind, may have foretold our industry’s future. They differ in emphasis and style, but generally speaking, teams will dominate real estate. I’m biased to the extreme on this subject. I agree totally.

Full disclosure — I’m a Rainmaker, and have been since forever. Frankly, I had no choice, as I was raised to believe that was the way real estate was meant to be. I saw it in action as I emptied trash, waxed floors, and printed new listings on the AB Dick machine. If you weren’t a Rainmaker, or didn’t become one quickly, Dad wouldn’t hire you, or wouldn’t keep you. Period. He had no time for those constantly looking to the sky for rain created by others.

Dad used to laugh while telling folks, “The next dollar The Kid makes from a referral I give him will be the first.” When you worked for him, you made your own rain, or found a desk somewhere else. Being the boss’s son meant bupkis.

What he didn’t foresee was teams. Give him a break. The huge irony? His whole company was a gigantic team populated by nothing but Rainmakers. Imagine a team in a normal market, (Remember what that is?) with just 23-28 agents doing 1,000+ sides annually, year in and year out.

Our weekly office meetings were, uh, brief and to the point. They sometimes ended with him promising, ‘If you’re not fired by enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.’ He thought it was hilarious.

Brown and Brown is undergoing moderate to extreme changes in our business model. Extreme at home, mild to moderate away from home. We’re leveraging our Rainmaking ability through these changes. I’ll be publishing these changes before long.

Meanwhile, if you’re a Rainmaker you know what I’ve been talkin’ about. If not, maybe it’s time for you to look for an up and coming team headed by a bona fide Rainmaker. Most agents today would benefit from a significant income increase by making that move.

Don’t wait for everyone to catch on. Either start rainin’ or join a team.