Tami Bonnell
Childhood Lessons Taught Me to be a CEO
By Tami Bonnell
Real estate was always a part of my life. I did not exactly grow up in the typical real estate family of people listing and selling; my dad was involved in building and developing. He had an eye for two things, people and possibilities.
I am one of six children and one of the best things we were ever taught was work ethic. All of us started working when we were really young. I started answering phones in my father’s office on weekends and during school vacation starting at 8, maybe 10. I can still say it, “Good morning, Graham Associates, how may I help you?”
My dad would take me along to collect rents on Saturday mornings. Before going out he did his homework on everyone. He would go in and have personal conversations with people. He knew if they were struggling with rent because they had things going on in their family or a medical problem, etc. He would listen and say, “Okay, let’s put a plan together.” Because he was so understanding, they would pay him first. He probably taught me more about personalization than anyone.
The Beginnings
That truly came in handy at my first real estate related job. I was a mortgage originator until I went into management and that gave me an opportunity to focus on a consultative sale as opposed to just being a salesperson. I got to find out and focus on what people’s dreams were, what was really important to them and what their circumstances were, so I could pick the right program for them. By learning those things, I could be sure that they were not going to be buried when the adjustable-rate mortgage adjusted or if they only needed a temporary loan, etc. I did a lot of homework on the people and that really made a difference.
Following my time in mortgages, I was instrumental in building three major brands. I found that in a consultative sale, you are selling a dream. Though someone wants to own their own business, not everyone is qualified to do so. The average person in real estate might be a really good salesperson but not necessarily a really good businessperson. I enjoyed being able to help teach them and give them a track to run on. I could help them become a better businessperson by teaching them how to be more effective in their community and helping them to recruit people into their company. I taught mergers and acquisitions and acquired 114 companies for another brand prior to joining EXIT Realty Corp.
Back when I was selling franchises for another brand I distinctly remember sitting in the audience at a convention, and Tom Peters was speaking about the pursuit of “WOW.” He said, “How many people in your company go into work to WOW people every day?” I remember thinking, “Oh, my gosh, just me.” I had six potential franchisees there, and I felt sick to my stomach, like I was selling something I did not believe in anymore. You cannot sell something in which you do not believe! I decided that day to look into business opportunities. A friend sent me information about EXIT Realty, which in 1999, did not even have an office in the United States.
EXIT Realty Corp
EXIT made really good business sense. They were in the business of real estate, and it was as if they had thought of everything, from leadership, education, training, technology, and being a good corporate citizen to having a vested interest and residual income. I found over this period that the best thing for me to personally invest in was people. My lane was two things, making EXIT famous in a good way by selling franchises, doing mergers and acquisitions, and selling regions and finding that sweet spot in a person, literally catching them doing something good and helping them to find their lane. It was simply icing on the cake that it turned out to be real estate related.
I started with owning the rights to New England in 1999, then became Vice President over the US in 2000, President over the US in 2001, and in 2003, I broke some world records selling out 50% of the regional rights by population in the company. Then, we hit the worst recession since the depression and needed to lock arms and pull together more than ever.
I believe investing in our people made all the difference in the world when the recession hit. Along with Steve Morris, the founder and Co-Chairman, and Erika Gileo, the Chief Operating Officer, we decided only people in leadership positions would take a pay cut and we would not lay anyone off. Our strategy was to outsell and out-think our way out of the recession.
Instead of laying off people in droves, we put together a stimulus package worth more than $50 million. We reached out to our administrators, brokers, regional owners, and agents in their homes through videos, webinars, techinars, and Live Interactive. We helped them study everything from Eckhart Tolle, yoga and meditation practices to how to excel in listing and selling real estate. We invested in our people and they trusted us.
Valuable Lessons Learned
I held the title of CEO of EXIT Realty Corp. International since 2012 and in September of 2021 I became Co-Chair. This year, we added the positions of co-chair, United States CEO, Canada CEO, and a new US President. We are positioned to further grow organically by providing our people with a legacy and an excellent quality of life!
During this journey, I have learned some things that have helped me further succeed and that can help any business owner or investor.
First, intention is not going to accomplish anything, only action will. I created a six-week action plan early on in my career, so halfway through the month I plan out the next six weeks. I look at every single appointment and every single opportunity of where I am going to be and find how I can maximize on that. To whom should I be talking? What do I need to learn? What do I need to be prepared for before I get in front of that person or people?
Second, find allies! I call them a “Dirty Dozen,” a dozen people that work on the business, not in it. For people listing and selling real estate it could be appraisers, home inspectors, insurance companies, investors, mortgage companies, and coaches. These people help me stay apprised of the 30,000-foot view, the 2,000-foot view, and the street level marketplace view. By always having that active Dirty Dozen (of which I currently have about 25), I am positioned for opportunities before anyone else and better able to prevent huge mistakes from happening.
Third is personalization. Do as much homework on the person as you do on the product that you are selling to make sure there is some sort of a connection. The more you can personalize something, the more successful you will be.
I have been really lucky to be surrounded by incredible teachers and mentors and it is great to get the opportunity to pay it forward.
