FOR MANAGERS—Companies to Watch
Girls rule!
Lois Schneider, REALTOR®, Summit, N.J.
www.lsrfinehomes.com
Why eye it: Any company that sells $208 million in homes in a year with an office of 20 sales associates must have a secret for success. For Lois Schneider, REALTOR®, the secret is in the antique papier-mâché houses on display in the company’s lobby and in the peach pilasters and delicate window treatments on its Springfield Ave. storefront. The all-woman company, feminine from head to toe, has muscled its way past much larger competitors to become the leader in Summit, N.J., an affluent bedroom community that many Wall Street executives call home.
What she did: When she started her company 25 years ago, Lois Schneider, CRB®, GRI, didn’t set out to create an all-woman brokerage. But the business grew serendipitously in that direction. Schneider says she would hire any man who was interested in joining her company and who fits the company culture of hard work and deep community contacts. But whether they’re male or female, her associates must be on top of what’s happening in the area. “People coming into this area don’t have a lot of time to buy,” she says. As a general matter, her team is up on “the kinds of things people want to know: what the class sizes are, who the gym teacher is, who is a good pediatrician. When you’re working with busy professionals, having your finger on the pulse of the community makes a difference.”
What she does: There’s more to her company than its all-woman sales force, of course. A lot of broker support stands behind the $10.5 million in average annual sales of each of her associates. The company pays marketing and technology costs and splits the cost of a personal assistant for each associate closing more than $10 million a year. It also maintains a Web site that showcases each of the sales associates’ strengths and communicates the company’s success in obtaining listings. At any given time, her 20 associates have dozens of properties listed in their market area. “In our area, the company that controls the listings controls the market.”
The secret weapon: Just as important, says Schneider, the company spares no expense on its secret weapon: the storefront. Nestled among upscale boutiques and restaurants on Summit’s main street, the office, with its colonial windows and columns topped by Greek entablatures, offers an irresistible pull to weekend shoppers and diners. “We get an incredible amount of foot traffic,” says Schneider, who uses a professional decorator to keep the office inviting. “It’s a very visible storefront, airy and feminine but without being froufrou.”
What’s ahead: New energy. Six months ago the company did something it hadn’t done in 10 years: add associates. For many companies, keeping sales associates on board is a full-time job, but the average Schneider associate has been with the company for 10 years. Still, the company won’t be growing much beyond its current size. “We have a very comfortable office, and for many of our associates, this is like home,” she says. “I want to keep it that way.” That means focusing on performance. In 2001, the company closed three times as many transactions in its principal market area as its nearest competitor, Schneider says. And she expects to top that in 2002.
