I write this, hoping that many of you out there who slam real estate teams, will see it and understand perhaps that all are not created the same.

Several comments I've read lately on other blog posts indicate that mega-producers let things 'slip through the cracks' and 'hire $10 per hour assistants to do the leg work', etc.  Implying that teams are bad.

For you consumers out there who hate the jargon we get into in real estate...single agents are just that-single agents, who do everything themselves.  Work buyers and sellers, handle contracts, do marketing, print brochures, etc.  Teams are usually one rainmaker/team leader with additional people handling the same set of clients-an assistant to handle clerical tasks and mailings, buyer agents to work with cold leads (i.e. sign calls), listing managers to do brochures and marketing and such, technology managers to do the internet work, etc. 

There are as many different kinds of team approaches as there are single agent approaches as there are brokerage approaches.  All are not created equal.  While I will grant you that some teams are so large as to operate as meat markets, there are also small teams.

I for one am a small team.  Myself as rainmaker (I handle all listings and generate leads and manage the business), my right-arm-woman as licensed assistant, two buyer agents, a courier, and a recently added virtual assistant.  I know all clients of myself and my buyer agents, I know what's going on with inspections and closings and the pitfalls that my assistant runs into between contract and closing.  I handle these things.  Assuming that I don't know what's going on because I have hired others to handle different specialties in the business?  An incorrect assumption.  Assuming that I can't convert cold leads?  An incorrect assumption.  In fact, I'm so good at talking to suspects that the reason I have buyer agents-who I have trained in the best ways of doing business-is to properly service more clients since there are limited hours in the day and week.  Assuming that I make a living off the backs of others?  Another incorrect assumption.  On the contrary, they make a good living working for me and benefitting from my years in this business and the many transactions I've been a part of, in the way of expertise and knowledge (which benefits our clients).   I would wager that the buyer clients of my buyer agents are better serviced than many of the buyer clients of some single agents, since the buyer agents are completely and utterly focused on the buyers.  I would wager that my seller clients are better serviced than many seller clients of some single agents, since I am focused on generating calls on their property and turning those calls into contracts.

So the next time you go into a listing presentation and you're up against a team, don't slam the team for being busy or being bigger than you-it's simply a different business model. And honestly, the minute you start slamming the competition, you've proven that you can't compete.