Zoe Green, CRS, RE/MAX Bay to Bay, Tampa, FL

What is your market like in Tampa Bay?

I have four offices located in the Tampa Bay area. It is a very tight market—we have very little inventory. We have to be highly competitive to get listings. One segment of our business is multi-seasonal, but the other segment, in Pinellas County, is a snowbird market.

What are the snowbirds looking for? Are they downsizing?

Most of them are looking for condos, maintenance-free properties or senior communities with amenities like beaches, boating or golf courses.

How does being a broker affect how you conduct your business?

My No. 1 concern is whether I am giving my sales agents the tools they need. Do they feel 100 percent supported in their business? I explain to each of them how the designations they earn can help their business.

How did you decide to become a CRS?

I was encouraged to become a CRS by my longtime mentor, Becky Eckley. She is a real estate broker who had given me a part-time job as a secretary in her office, then I became a full-time assistant, and eventually got my license and became a REALTOR®. When the time was right, she encouraged me to become a CRS.

I look at being a CRS as having a master’s or doctorate in real estate. You could say I’’ve taken my education to the highest level possible. It gives me an edge against the competition, especially in a tight market. If a client is going to hire someone to make one of the biggest investments they will ever make, why wouldn’’t they choose a CRS — a person who is working at the top their field?

Have you stayed actively involved with CRS?

Absolutely—I was the Florida state membership chair for 2015, and last year my mentor and I worked with our local CRS and put together a special double class called “It’s a Price War to the Door” and “Negotiations: The Games People Play.” I am pleased to say it was very well attended!

Are you still in touch with your mentor?

My mentor now works for me! She still mentors me as a broker, and having a mentor is one of the best things you can do to propel yourself in this business. With that, as well as being a CRS, you have a system that is invaluable. For example, the CRS referral network works beautifully; as a destination market, we are lucky to be on the receiving end of referrals.

Today, there are too many agents relying on online leads, and they don’’t make the effort to form relationships with clients. This is just wrong-headed. Clients really need someone they can trust and rely on to protect their interests. I am pleased to say that my agents are highly focused on relationship building.

What gets you most excited about your business?

I love to help agents grow in their careers. It used to be the closings and watching the families of my clients grow and change. Now, I get excited by mentoring agents who can take care of the listings and closings for their own clients. Some of my agents have been working with me for 20 years—they are sticking with me and I with them. In business as in life, loyalty is a great thing to have.

Zoe Green achieved her CRS Designation in 2005. She can be reached at 813.748.0172 or at zgreen@remaxbaytobay.com.