Every Wednesday, Real Estate Magazine shares insights, experiences and advice from the top-performing teams and agents across Canada. If you would like to contribute or nominate a colleague or team, please send us a message e-mail.
Editor’s note: Rob Golfi answered our questions in September 2025, as part of an article in a special print edition of REM.
BRAKE: How did you first come into contact with real estate?
RGT: I wanted a company where effort was directly translated into results. In real estate, if you make a sale, you will get paid within 60 to 90 days. In traditional business, you are often chasing debtors or waiting months for payment. Real estate gave me control over my own success: the harder I worked, the faster I saw the returns.
BRAKE: When did you decide to put a team together?
RGT: When I joined Re/Max Escarpment in 1999, there were only two teams in the office. I saw how they used time, resources and talent to grow beyond what one agent could do. That inspired me to start my own team so I could scale, create systems and deliver a better customer experience.
BRAKE: What role are you playing today?
RGT: I am the visionary. I provide direction, oversee finances, manage the brand and stay involved in operations to ensure everything is running at the highest level. My job is to ensure that the systems, marketing and people are all aligned to achieve our goals.
BRAKE: Give us a snapshot of today’s team.
RGT:
- Agents: 65
- Staff: 20 (management, marketing, customer care and support)
- Markets: Hamilton, Halton, Brantford, Niagara
- Production 2024: 872 transactions | $670,502,463 volume
- 2025 YTD: 577 transactions | $423,477,248 volume
- Staff/agent ratio: 3:1
The Golfi team continues to expand, with a presence on multiple boards in southern Ontario and a strong internal culture built around accountability and results.
BRAKE: What were your first major hires?
RGT: An administrator, an administrative assistant and an agent. Solid administrative support was the basis; it gave me the freedom to focus on listings, marketing, and growth. By adding a second agent, we were immediately able to serve more customers and maintain the quality of service.
BRAKE: What advice would you give to a new team leader?
RGT: Don’t be greedy. Give your agents all the leads. If they succeed, the team succeeds too – and that momentum drives growth. Your focus should be on building a machine that supports your agents, not competes with them.
BRAKE: What are your top lead sources?
RGT: Direct mail, PPC (Google and Meta ads) and radio/outdoor advertising. Our marketing budget is roughly divided as follows:
- 35 percent direct mail
- 30 percent PPC
- 20 percent radio/outdoor
- 10 percent SEO/website
- 5 percent referrals and community events
We have learned that every channel plays a role: PPC delivers volume, direct mail sends appointments and radio/outdoor builds the brand.
BRAKE: Which channel would hurt the most if it were cut off?
RGT: Radio and outside. They are brand trust builders. These channels connect us to the community, create top-of-mind awareness, and legitimize everything else we do online.
BRAKE: How do you deal with new leads?
RGT: Each lead goes into our lead router system and is manually assigned to the agent on duty. Our goal is a response time of less than five minutes. Call-in leads typically require three to four touches to set up an appointment and six to eight touches to convert into a contract. Online leads can take longer. We used to have inside sales agents (ISAs), but we’ve found that a strong, agent-led follow-up model works best for us today.
BRAKE: What’s in your tech stack?
RGT:
- CRM: Successor boss
- Website/IDX: Sierra Interactive
- Automation: Successor boss + textingBetty
- AI: Currently piloting AI agents for phone calls and appointment booking, with weekly email reports for activity-based coaching
- Finances: SISU, leadership meetings, whiteboards and Excel
- Other tools: ConnectTeam (internal communications), BombBomb (video messaging), Canva (marketing)
BRAKE: How much are you reinvesting in the business?
RGT: About 20 percent goes to marketing and 25 to 30 percent to personnel. We track cost per lead, cost per appointment, and cost per deal, but cost per deal is the most important number. That is the benchmark that shows true profitability. At our scale, a healthy return on ad spend (ROAS) is about 5:1. For every dollar spent, we expect five returned in closed operations.
BRAKE: What types of agents thrive on your team?
RGT: Full-time, coachable, driven agents who follow proven systems. We reward consistency and perseverance, and new agents typically get their first deal within 30 to 90 days.
BRAKE: What do top earners do differently?
RGT: They follow up relentlessly and stay in touch long after closure. Follow-up is everything. The best agents never stop maintaining their database; they build lifelong relationships.
Lightning Round with Rob Golfi
Market insight: Luxury listings sell faster than people think. For a good price, many move in 45 days or less.
Technology you would fight to keep: Successor boss — it is the backbone of our lead management and customer follow-up.
Marketing hill you die on: Billboards. They build credibility and brand recognition like no other.
Agents fail because… they are lazy.
Teams win because… they offer accountability, training and a great culture.
#Team #spotlight #Rob #Golfi #team