You and you alone are now ready as an individual. Is that good enough? No. To get big, and I mean “Hollywood” Altman, private-jet-money big, you need a team. A solid team. A kick-ass team. A reliable, trusted, hungry group of wolves as poised, passionate, punctual, professional, and prepped to please as you are. You need your army.

Sure, you can start racking up the stats of closes by yourself, but if you want to really impress and blow the ceiling off this career of yours, then you need your people in place, ready to react. You will come upon that instant where you need to tell your client, “No problem, one second, I’m on it,” at which point you break out the cell phone, call your guy, and know for certain you’re going to get fire spit right back at you that equips you with the tools necessary to impress the hell out of every buyer, seller, and developer you deal with. I have my people, and they are invaluable to my process. I call my crew “The Josh Altman Dream Team.”

I chose that name because of the “other” Dream Team. Remember back in 1992, when the international committee that sets the rules and standards of the Olympic Games first allowed the basketball event to include professionally paid players?

Prior to that time, only amateur players at the college level were allowed to participate, meaning the United States ranked average in performance despite being home to the best. Once this new rule came into effect, the United States was able to call upon the NBA in assembling what they called their “Dream Team,” the best of the best – Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, John Stockton, Charles Barkley, Kevin Malone, Chris Mullin, and Scottie Pippen – the 10 greatest basketball players of the time.

What do you think happened? The Dream Team killed it. They dominated. No one else in the world stood a chance. It was gold medals all around. This is what I have. This is what you need to be the best agent you can be. You need a “Dream Team” of closers, 24/7.

Surround yourself with partners, agents, support staff, mortgage brokers, bankers, title reps, contractors, and developers at the top of their game. You make them look good and they make you look like the best of the best, because you are. These pinnacle men and women you surround yourself with will help you close, close fast, and close efficiently. They will make you money. They know their business. They know the shot clock. They know when you call Game Time that it’s time to shock and wow; time to impress and close.

One time I met a food mogul at a cigar lounge and sold his house by the next afternoon. His house wasn’t even on the market. By the next day, I flipped his property for $9.1 million. Do you think I did it alone? Do you think I sprinted out of the cigar lounge to the office and started researching by myself? Hell, no.

Sure, I had some interested buyers in mind who were looking and I knew the style of properties they were looking for, but once the guy hinted he’d be interested in selling if I brought him the right offer, I was immediately on the phone with my Dream Team. The ball was already rolling as I showered away the smoke smell. The leads were in my inbox as I dried off.

I get business because the availability and accessibility I offer my clients is second to none. I answer and I text. Other agents don’t. But an immediate response to a client would be nothing without the necessary information from my team. The Dream Team arms me with what I need, and as a result we all make money. I make them money. They make me money. We kill it.

My mortgage broker is the perfect example. Say I’m showing a $15 million house in the Hills on a Sunday evening and the buyer is returning to Korea that night. He wants to make an offer on the house then and there, and I know I need to strike while the iron is hot. Right then, I call the mortgage broker to work the numbers out. If that guy doesn’t pick up my call on Sunday at 9:30 p.m., what happens? Nothing. We lose money.

Say I need my title company rep – and mine is a complete rock star –in the heat of putting together a deal. I can call my guy and say, “I need what’s available in 90210, 800–900 block, for over $8 million with less than 500,000 outstanding” and BOOM! It’s all in my inbox. Now I have the data I need to find the house to close the deal. It’s priceless.

Finding these players isn’t always easy. So what should you look for in assembling your team, besides the stats? Surround yourself with positive Type-A colleagues whose energy is a good compliment to yours.

“Ambitious” and “Type-A” are compliments in my world. Do they share your passion for people and real estate? Are they confident about themselves and their work? Can they perform under deadlines and other pressures? Do your clients like them? Are they reliable? Relentless? Are they problem-solvers?

Listen, this career is war. It’s battle. Who do you want on your side when the shit goes down? These people are your platoon in the trenches. If they don’t have your back at a moment’s notice, any time of any day, if they’re not prepared to take aim and shoot, then you lose money. Another agent will pick up your paycheck.

There’s a saying, “success breeds success,” and it was recently put to a reality test. The National Science Foundation underwrote a study analyzing online data as it related to career. They found that people who achieve more receive more opportunities, and in turn create more success.

For the Altman Brothers, our first wins were on the football field. Then Matt became a talent agent at CAA, the biggest talent agency of the time, and I built the mortgage business. We used those first successes to reach buyers and sellers when we started our agency. We used that same method in building our Dream Team. Many are still our clients and our team has only grown stronger. Every day we build on what we did yesterday, reaching to beat our personal bests, doing bigger deals with more speed, efficiency and skill. We’re killing it.

Now, not everyone can hold all the details of a deal in their head like I can, I just have a memory for numbers. Being the “Rain Man of Real Estate” means you stay in close touch with your list of closes. My Dream Team does this for me and I do it for them. Not only does this build confidence for all, but it will also remind you what you do well and where you need some work. You’ll see patterns of strengths to celebrate and misfires to correct, both in you and the team. Keep refining. Closing leads to closing just as success breeds success.

But learn how to please your team or you risk a coup. Don’t piss off the people who keep you at the top of your game. Remember the second reason why deals often go wrong – the agent gets in the way. This can happen when you’re team doesn’t feel secure or appreciated. Not establishing trust in a business full of doubt will bite you in the ass.

Trust is critical in driving business, and since the recession of 2007–08, trust has been dropping among professionals across all industries throughout the world. You must establish trust and reinforce it constantly. All the dogs get a bone, all the time. The more they play, the more they get fed. As does a client, your team needs to know they are on the best team, that it is in their best interest to stay working with you. There are three easy ways to ensure this:

1. Be consistent. Do what you say you’ll do. Follow through. We base what happens in the future on our experiences in the past. Don’t be a flake. Lose trust, you lose your team. Lose your team, you lose money.
2. Closing reputation. How you convey your abilities (and those of your team) creates trust. My stats have been built because of the stats of my team. I advertise for them, they advertise for me. A client trusts me because of my stats and my brand. If I tell them, “Ah I got this new guy, let me see if he can . . .” Then they’re shook, uncomfortable. They’re not secure. If I say, “I’m calling my guy who is the best of the best, watch this . . .” and that person follows through, then everyone feels rewarded and respectfully acknowledged.

   The client knows without again asking, that my team is in place, this is who they are, and they’re the best. This client will return. The same goes for the team. If I waste their time with consistently no-good clients, I lose my trust with them. They won’t answer my calls when I need them to. If I lose the trust of my team, I lose money.

3. Express solidarity. People trust people who they feel are on their side and who have partners in place who are also on their side. My family – Matt, a closing beast, and my wife Heather, a half a billion dollars of sales on her own – have proven our business is more than just a team in the office, but a team in life.

   This brings comfort to clients as well as to our Dream Team, who are very much now considered part of the Altman family. Our business is family-owned and operated. We’ve got each other’s backs. This makes clients and our Dream Team feel secure.

Trust comes from a lifetime of interaction. I understand that most people do not have such a strong foundation as my wife and brother to work with in building their Dream Team, but agents are only as good as their supporting players. Up your game by packing your immediate vicinity with closers, people who get it done through their abilities, positive personalities, and perseverance. Focus the work on closing on your clients needs by meeting your team’s needs. Promote your success by promoting your team. Everyone gets their cut and will come back for more. There are coaches that win and there are coaches that treat their players well. Be both and you’ll keep making money.