HOFFMAN MURPHY TEAM

EXECUTIVEAGENT MAGAZINE

The

Hoffman Murphy Team

Executive Agents of the Month

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By Haley Freeman - Ian Wiant Photographer

arie Hoffman and Sue Murphy share over 50 years of combined real estate experience.

Together, they have a sales record that consistently places them in the top 1% of agents in the nation, and they have achieved the numerous awards and recognition that go with their rank. But theirs is not really a story about the numbers. Theirs is a story about the amazing things that are possible when likeminded people are bound by belief and purpose.

These extraordinary ladies share a passion for teaching and leadership. Marie is a Jazzercise instructor and Sue was a school teacher. Eventually, each of them acquired a real estate license and began working for RE/MAX. There, they became colleagues who supported one another professionally and personally. They started out by helping with each other’s clients when the other was traveling or away from

the office and eventually developed a profound, mutual trust and respect that has lasted many years and provided the foundation for one of the most successful teams in the industry.

In 2004, first Sue and then Marie made the move to Keller Williams Realty. “Without coming to Keller Williams,” Marie says, “I am positive that the holistic nature of our lives and our career would never have happened. Reading ‘The Millionaire Real Estate Agent’ was the basis for our move to Keller Williams. I remember someone telling me when I first got into real estate, ‘You’re going to be unemployed after every closed deal.’

It is so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of a deal until it closes. It’s important to stop and think about what you are doing to create a real business and an ongoing experience for your clients.”

Team Owners Marie Hoffman and Susan Murphy ExecutiveAgent Magazine

The Hoffman Murphy Team from L - R: Kerri Henry (buyer specialist), Melissa Pilon (Director of Marketing & Client Care), Daryn Smith (Buyer Specialist), Marie Hoffman & Susan Murphy (Listing Specialists and Team Owners), Laura Grabher (Buyer Specialist), Danielle Glew (Lead Buyer Specialist), Carol Burke (Transaction Manager) Not yet formal partners, the ladies went to Texas to attend a training seminar with Gary Keller and Dave Jenks, co-authors of “The Millionaire Real Estate Agent.” They were deeply inspired by the people they met and made a commitment to model their businesses after the principles taught in the book, referred to by KW insiders as “The Red Book.”

By 2006, Marie and Sue began operating as an official team. Transitioning from solo agents to a cooperative team meant that they could create a better client experience and craft a better quality of life for themselves and their team members. They also embraced how much more they could accomplish as a unit than they could ever do on their own. “We recognized the power of the team concept of specialization. You don’t get to the Super Bowl with just a quarterback,” Marie explains. “We wanted to provide world class service to our clients and create an environment that allowed each of us time for our families and ourselves.”

Education and self-improvement are fundamental to carrying out the team’s mission to “provide world class service, exceed expectations, create wealth through real estate and achieve lifelong partnerships,” Sue explains.

“Most companies that provide mentorship like Apple or Google have a vision of training, consulting and educating the whole person. We are modeling ourselves after that.

This is an incredibly complex job, done right. We are our clients’ most trusted advisors, and the sale or purchase of a home is in the top five most important things you’re going to do in life. We educate our team to provide service to the whole person. This is not just the sale of a house – there is a life or lives that stand in front of it,” Sue says.

The team has formed its own book club and is currently reading “The Nordstrom Way.” They read a chapter a week and then come together to discuss it. This is just one way that the team is learning together and focusing on the same messages and goals, further contributing to its cohesion and productivity.

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sincere integrity and client satisfaction Using the models of Keller Williams and the Millionaire Real Estate Agent, Sue & Marie have developed a team of specialists, in which every team member is a talented well trained individual with specific areas of expertise.

Their highly trained team of buyer specialists (consisting of Daryn Smith, Danielle Glew, Laura Grabher & Kerri Henry) concentrates on working with buyers to find just the right home and negotiating successfully to obtain that home! Their full time administrative team (consisting of Melissa Pilon & Carol Burke) enables the entire team to deliver world class service day in and day out. As the team owners, Marie & Sue concentrate on consulting with home sellers, networking with other agents, and training and consulting the entire team. The first additions to the Hoffman Murphy Team, Carol Burke and Daryn Smith, remain with them today. Marie says, “All of the members of our team are women, and they share a lot of responsibility in their roles as moms and wives and aunts and grandmothers. An important part of our work is helping them to achieve their goals, too.”

Due to their extraordinary accomplishments, Marie and Sue are also members of Gary Keller’s mastermind group.

They have the privilege of meeting regularly with over 135 agents from around the country and the world to share

their successes and insights. The company actively fosters an environment of sharing and learning among its agents, which Marie and Sue strive to give back to their home team and clients.

It is as if their journey has come full circle, as Marie and Sue are currently participating in brainstorming sessions with the company’s top agents who are assisting in refining a new edition of “The Red Book.” This is a meaningful opportunity for them to share their legacy with the next generation of agents, helping others to find success based upon the principles they learned when they first joined the organization.

Marie and Sue strive to provide learning opportunities to all people within their sphere of influence, including their clients and the community at large. They host regular, well-attended seminars on a variety of topics including decluttering your home, gardening and caring for aging parents. “Whatever we are struggling with or learning about, we always think about who else we can bring along with us who could also benefit from that process,” Sue explains. “We also want to spend time with our clients, passing on some of the things that Keller Williams has taught us about recruiting, selecting, training, leading and motivating people.”

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The team also spends its time and resources working together to support the community. As local residents of the South Bay, they all feel a deep connection there with home and family. A portion of the team’s proceeds go to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, an organization that Marie and Sue have been supporting since their days at RE/MAX. Education is another cause that is enthusiastically supported by the team by means of giving to the Redondo Beach Education Foundation. Both of Marie’s parents were school teachers. “Teachers are truly the unsung heroes in our world,” she says. “I remember my mom spending her own pocket money to buy paper and pencils. Today, hiring a teacher often depends upon outside resources. The money we donate goes directly to doing that. We make sure that our clients know that their transaction will not just affect them personally, but will also make a contribution to their community. We all live in the neighborhood we help to support.”

Another important component of the Hoffman Murphy Team’s practice philosophy is their commitment to celebrating life. Instead of waiting to celebrate the end goal, the team often comes together to acknowledge their accomplishments along the way. It is not just about reaching goals and hitting the numbers, it is also about acknowledging the people who make it happen and honoring the process.

Celebrations usually involve one or more of the ladies’ four greatest pleasures: food, wine, shopping and massages.

Marie says, “In this work-work culture, it is important to surround yourself with people who remind you to stop and put your toes in the sand.”

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The Hoffman Murphy Team Keller Williams Beach Cities 1500 Pacific Coast Hwy. Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 Tel: 310-939-9393 info@hoffmanmurphy.com www.HoffmanMurphy.com CalBRE # 01070673 - 01008829

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