Maureen Kohal, Edie Delay, Sam Delay

The benefits of working with a real estate team can be substantial for clients, including access to multiple skill sets, more personalized and consistent attention, quicker follow-through and the support of a number of professionals.

It all adds up to one thing: enhanced service.

“The biggest advantage of working with a team is that the client can expect a higher level of service than a single broker can provide,” said Deb Tebbs, owner of the Deb Tebbs Group of Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty. “A single broker is only able to do so much. That is how I started in this business and over the years I grew my team. I am able to be more organized and follow through quickly for my clients with the support of my team.”

Maureen “Moe” Kohal, with Team DeLay of The Hasson Company Realtors, agrees, using the term “collaborative synergy” to describe the advantages of working with a broker team.

“Each broker is always on the lookout for the client, providing cooperative, consistent energy towards serving client needs,” said Kohal. “Collaborative synergy means more exposure for each seller or buyer.”

Each team member is able to bring specialized skills to the group, such as negotiating contracts, creative marketing or providing critical administrative skills and support. In addition, they support one another, always with the goal of taking good care of their clients.

“For example, on a day where we get five phone calls to show a property it can be very busy,” said Tebbs. “And every member of our team just jumps in to do whatever is needed, even if it is not their primary responsibility.”

Recently, everyone on Team Delay joined forces to help a homeowner who had identified a property they wanted to purchase and needed to sell their primary home quickly. Everyone on the team pitched in on the project, working together to stage, photograph, create flyers, deliver signs and get the home listed on the market within 48 hours.

While being part of a team is not for everyone, it can be especially appealing to those who have children and families. Some teams offer the shared work concept, with partners who mirror each other’s capabilities and split work and family time.

“The real estate business can be all consuming,” said Tebbs. “It can take up every minute of every day, and if you want to spend time with family or have a personal life it can be challenging.”

The team approach can also be attractive to top-producing brokers who have a lot of volume and need assistance and support to maintain a high level of service to their clients.

“The disadvantage to this is that, if you are not producing at high levels, it can be expensive,” said Tebbs. “You still have to cover your team’s costs.”

Being able to focus on taking care of clients, supporting the team and producing well is made easier through having the support of the company that the team works for. This support is essential to the success of the team, and can take the form of providing payroll administration, billing and reception staffing, among other services.

“The best thing a company can do to support teams is to offer the tools to success,” said Kohal. “That includes a positive environment, recognizing the special needs of the team dynamic and providing media exposure and support staff.”

In the end, the goal of the company, the team and each individual team member is to come together to provide their clients with impeccable service.

“Our clients can expect exceptional attention and dedicated service that goes above the norm when working with our team,” said Kohal. “If a lead broker is unable to manage a specific task for their client, another qualified team member can step in to assist. In this way we can provide 24/7 coverage of our client’s needs.”