Even the closest business partners have occasional disputes. So how does a large team of 27 equal partners avoid constant drama and disagreement?
It’s not complicated, says Elizabeth Hunt, one of the members of Riverwalk Partners, affiliated with Coldwell Banker.
“One thing about our group is we’re all extremely professional, and we’re nice to each other,” said Hunt, a founding member. “We’re a varied group with regard to politics, religion, our backgrounds. Our differences are part of what gives us our strength.”
Riverwalk Partners launched in April 2023 and is based in Long Grove. But the team covers nearly all of Chicagoland, from the city to Naperville to McHenry County, and most everything in between.
About half the team has other streams of revenue outside real estate. Two are teachers. And collectively they speak 11 languages in addition to English, including Polish, Italian, Turkish, French and Mandarin.
Part of what makes the team work, Hunt said, is that it makes decisions by a simple majority vote and keeps things as even and as fair as possible. For example, everyone is on the same commission split.
“I took all the things that were negative that I heard over the years for why people move on and off teams, and I adjusted. I thought, ‘We don’t have to do it that way,’” Hunt said. “We kind of have the best of the best. You see people who want to be on a team and have a lower split, and they start doing well and they cycle off. We didn’t want that to happen. We wanted everyone to have a vote and have a say.”
“We have such a good group of people that if two people were going to the same listing appointment, one would back out or they would decide to split it.”
Riverwalk Partners purposefully chose not to name itself after one leader. And members vote to decide where they will do their monthly team gatherings. Majority rules. Sometimes it might be a local tavern. Other times it could be a picnic at someone’s house.
“Most times with teams, it’s not majority rule. It’s what the team lead wants,” Hunt said. “That’s why we chose Riverwalk Partners. We didn’t want someone’s name … Some teams are like the leader at the center, and each person under them is a spoke in the wheel. We’re more like a school of fish.”
So far, the approach seems to be working. Riverwalk Partners operates a private Facebook group where members can ask and answer questions, relying on the expertise of the group. Last year, the group ranked No. 4 among Coldwell Banker teams in the company’s four-state Midwest region, despite only working together for about three-fourths of the year.
“I could call any single agent on the team and say, ‘I need your help,’ and any one of them would get in the car and come wherever I needed them,” Hunt said. “That’s really nice and unusual in a team atmosphere.”