Following the KW Enlargement Mannequin, EZ Referral Community founders Mike Zinicola and Greg Erlanger mixed their strengths to construct a number of high-performing groups throughout Ohio.
There was a time in Mike Zinicola’s profession when he had $2.78 to his identify. A profitable lawyer in Columbus, Ohio, Mike had left his observe to pursue a promising funding alternative in Tampa, Florida. The deal didn’t work out.
Thirty years previous and broke, Mike discovered himself scrounging for free change to name his dad and mom again house. Over on the nearest pay telephone, a passing stranger observed his misery. She stopped to supply Mike a hug — together with a $5 successful lottery ticket, telling him to money it in to get one thing to eat. It was an act of kindness Mike says he’ll always remember — one which gave him a way of hope that all the things could be okay.
Right now, Mike Zinicola is co-founder, with Greg Erlanger, of one of the highly effective actual property companies in Ohio. Based mostly in Cleveland, the 2 constructed the EZ Gross sales Group and EZ Referral Community with an emphasis on servant management, pushed by the wants of their brokers. Their method has helped them retain high expertise and create a community of actual property groups throughout Ohio, with gross sales of greater than $3.4 billion since 2008.
The Want for Position Fashions
Mike grew up in a modest family in Cleveland, with an abundance of affection and a powerful sense of group, however few examples of financial success. “If Fortune have been to judge households not on how a lot cash they’ve to present and spend and obtain, however quite the quantity of affection that they offer and obtain, we’d have been on the Fortune 500 listing,” Mike mirrored. Although he didn’t have monetary position fashions to comply with, Mike says he was motivated to excel professionally.
He pursued his regulation diploma with the goal of working his approach into politics. However when he got here out as homosexual in 1982, simply as AIDS deaths have been on the rise, Mike says Columbus wasn’t prepared for a homosexual politician. Although he felt regulation wasn’t his true calling, he dedicated himself to his profession and obtained concerned in AIDS prevention, founding the Columbus AIDS Process Drive and serving on the Ohio Division of Well being advisory committee on AIDS.
Included amongst Mike’s authorized purchasers have been actual property traders, and he quickly realized his curiosity in actual property exceeded his curiosity in regulation. “I seemed within the mirror in the future and I stated, ‘ what, Mike? You’re a ample lawyer. Do you need to be a “ample” something?’ However that’s all I used to be going to be, as a result of I didn’t have the eagerness for it,” Mike recalled. He obtained his actual property license and instantly knew he’d made the best selection. In his first yr within the business, Mike bought 13 houses, setting a report in his regional brokerage. It took 4 years for an additional agent to interrupt Mike’s report. That agent was Greg Erlanger.
Alternatives Past Limits
Over time, Mike and Greg held robust as top-performing brokers at their regional brokerage. However as they grew their respective groups, they felt hemmed in by their atmosphere. “There was nobody there serving to us get to the subsequent degree,” Mike recalled. The 2 began exploring different choices and sharing their findings. After a gathering with a Keller Williams® affiliate in 2008, Mike and Greg agreed they may each obtain their objectives at KW.
Although not but enterprise companions, they each made the leap to Keller Williams, the place they have been supplied the chance to attend Household Reunion. It was an expertise that may change the trajectory of their careers – and their lives.
Whereas attending a breakout session at FR, they listened to a KW® Mega Agent speak about having reached $150 million in gross sales the prior yr, Mike recalled. That’s when he and Greg checked out one another and shared an aha second. “We have been hoping to do $40 million, in order that we may beat a few of the greater brokers within the space,” he stated. “We weren’t enthusiastic about a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.”Mike and Greg realized they’d been considering approach too small. The speaker went on to speak about constructing a workforce with a accomplice who enhances your strengths, and utilizing leverage to fill in different roles.
Strolling again from that breakout, the pair understood they’d a successful mixture. Each have been targeted on rising their groups, they usually shared the identical imaginative and prescient: to turn into primary within the state of Ohio. By combining Greg’s know-how in advertising and marketing and know-how and Mike’s experience in actual property negotiations, they might have an unfair benefit within the market. Their partnership was underway.
A Give attention to Innovation
Like so many actual property professionals, Greg Erlanger began his profession in a distinct business. Greg labored in company America for a decade, promoting knowledge networking to Fortune 500 firms. He loved gross sales and the tech business, however after making his first actual property investments, he knew he’d discovered his area of interest.
Greg obtained his actual property license and set to work utilizing his background in tech to create hyperlocal, area of interest web sites that drove enterprise to his small workforce. On the time, it was a cutting-edge method that resulted in additional than $8 million in gross sales in his first yr.
But after becoming a member of a KW® market middle and partnering with Mike to create the EZ Gross sales Group, Greg says they didn’t see the fast uptick in manufacturing and quantity they’d anticipated.
“After we took a step again, we realized there have been lots of issues we have been failing ahead on,” Greg stated. “We have been working collectively on too many issues,” he recalled, they usually have been duplicating their efforts. They determined to divide and conquer, with every specializing in their respective areas of experience.
Working with a coach was a game-changer. Mike remembered how “For the primary three or 4 years, we have been hovering within the $30 to $50 million vary, and we weren’t breaking by.” Greg stated their coach helped them determine their blind spots and enhance their enterprise by nearly 100%. They continued to develop yr over yr, promoting greater than $320 million in actual property in 2023.
An Agent-First Strategy
Following the KW Enlargement Mannequin, Mike and Greg replicated the success of their first Cleveland workforce to create a community of actual property groups throughout the state. Their course of begins with figuring out an excellent workforce chief, then giving them the instruments and assist they should develop. Mike defined, “After they construct their workforce, they construct it on the identical values and ideas on which our Cleveland workplace was primarily based.”
Along with offering coaching on Keller Williams fashions and techniques, the companions supply a singular worth proposition that helps brokers on a person degree. Via EZ Media Productions, brokers are empowered to construct their very own manufacturers and develop their attain. Associates have entry to an in-house video and podcast studio, skilled media employees, plus coaching on the way to create compelling social media content material that sells houses, attracts leads, and strengthens model recognition.
As brokers themselves, Greg says he and Mike are continually enthusiastic about what an agent must succeed – and keep. “One of many issues I really like about Keller Williams is the idea of agent focus,” Greg says. “We work for them; they don’t work for us. We all know that if we don’t present them with the agent providers that they’re searching for, they may fireplace us and go to a distinct workforce.”
This method is what has allowed the EZ Referral Community to develop to greater than 135 brokers, and Greg says they’re particularly pleased with their capability to retain nice expertise. “We’re giant as a result of we don’t have a gap in our bucket. There will probably be no motive for them to depart if we proceed to try to service their wants and assist them carry out at a excessive degree for his or her purchasers.”
Mike and Greg attribute their success to sharing the identical imaginative and prescient and objectives, and most significantly, to adopting a limitless mindset. Mike stated, “Keller Williams taught me the idea of limitless thought. I didn’t should cease at 40 million. We may construct issues greater. That’s the only neatest thing Keller Williams did for me.”
Watch the complete KW Actual Property Position Fashions EZ Referral Community profile @kellerwiliams on YouTube.
