Executive of the Month: Santomassimo, founder and president of the Massimo Group: There is no limit to your success

The New York Real Estate Journal met with Rod Santomassimo, founder and president of The Massimo Group, one of North America's largest commercial real estate coaching firms, on how professionals can maximize their income, the topic of a recent seminar he gave to REBNY members. Q: How did you get started in the real estate industry? A: My father was an architect, turned owner's consultant and he had me reading leases when I was just 12 years old. My summer jobs were centered on commercial real estate, whether it was construction, maintenance, or being a gofer for a CRE firm. After earning my MBA from Duke I came back to New York (born and raised) to work for a consulting firm, but soon realized I didn't enjoy the corporate culture. Since 1989, except for short stints as COO for a law firm and private telecom firm, all my career has been in commercial real estate. I have been a broker, an owner and/or executive of local, regional and national firms. Q: Why did you start a coaching firm? A: In 2008 I was downsized from my last real "job" of EVP with a national brokerage firm and made the decision to start coaching. I had worked with so many professional brokers in the past and studied their habits of success. I created a process for personal production and with a lot of luck and surrounding myself with great people, we have grown substantially. Q: How large is the Massimo Group and who are your clients? A: Currently there are 10 coaches in our organization, along with a sales, marketing, admin and IT team. We have hundreds of clients across North America. Our clients include representatives from a majority of the national commercial, regional and local firms and/or their individual members. In addition, about half our clients work with non-affiliated, independent firms. Q: What have you found to be the key drivers of success for those working in commercial real estate? A: Back in 2011 I authored my first book, "Brokers Who Dominate - the 8 traits of top producers." This was the result of the study of hundreds of successful brokers in various stages in their careers. The book profiled 23 individuals and explored how they attained, and have maintained their success. The eight traits are discipline, orientation to the client, market presence, industry focus, navigation of careers, assertiveness, team environment and entrepreneurial approach to their careers. Q: Do you believe anyone can be successful in commercial real estate? A: Absolutely. However, it is a different path for everyone. The key is to understand your individual strengths and position yourself in a role that will foster your success. For some this may be origination, for others facilitation. Some may need to rely more heavily on teams, while others are happier to work independently. Although we know having a team, regardless of size, is essential to success. Q: So why isn't everyone in commercial real estate successful? A: I really believe the first step to success in any field is choice. You can choose whether you want to be successful or not. You can choose whom you forge relationships with and how you spend your day. It takes work, hard work, but not complex work. Ultimately you need to believe there is no limit to your success, which is one of the great benefits of commercial real estate. Then invest the time and, yes, capital to make it happen. Q: Do you work with anyone in New York? A: We coach several clients in New York. In fact, five of the top 20 New York sales brokers, as identified by Real Estate Forum magazine last November are our clients. We had some clients on the top leasing agent list as well. At the same time we coach a number of mid-career and even new to the business professionals located in New York. Q: Is all your coaching one-on-one and in person? A: We have several programs, both one-on-one and group based programs. However, we do not coach in-person. All our coaching is delivered via live video conferences, as it allows us to be face-to-face with our clients regardless of their location. Additionally we have a cloud-based platform, Massimobile, that allows us to communicate regularly with our clients between the formal coaching sessions. Q: Why do you believe your company has been successful? A: I started the Massimo Group in 2008, when, let's face it, no one was investing in themselves with coaching, but those that did, realized significant results. I knew I had something, but the key was to align myself with incredibly strong coaches. All our coaches are deeply successful in the industry, but in different sectors, such as brokerage, syndication, finance, development, etc. We walk the walk and talk the talk. We are not "life coaches" or general business coaches. We focus solely on the objective of propelling our client's commercial real estate business. This differential has been the catalyst to our growth. Q: So how do you know coaching works? A: Great question, and no surprise you are not the first to ask. We look at this in three ways. The first is non-financial. Our clients consistently tell us they have stronger pipelines and enhanced market presence, and prospecting higher qualified clients and winning more opportunities. Financially our clients, even excluding our ultra-successful clients, typically out-earn their industry peers by four to five times. Lastly, our clients, including those that we no longer coach, continue to grow their income year after year. They put our program in place and they continue to realize a return on their original investment. Q: What is next for the Massimo Group? A: We are working on several new initiatives. We recently launched our Property Management coaching and now taking on more mortgage broker/banker clients. Our consulting practice has really taken off. We now provide customized solutions regarding recruitment, hiring and management; staff restructuring; and succession and acquisition strategies. On top of all this, I have a second book coming out later in the year, and we are working on a fully-web based coaching platform for those that are not quite ready invest in themselves with our personal coaching. It's quite exciting. I will sleep in 2016 - maybe.