A firm known mostly for rentals reached over to sales brokering behemoth the Corcoran Group for its third director of sales.
Marc S. Lawrence, 37, a former Corcoran vice president, was tapped last month by City Connections to lead what its CEO and founder hopes is an expanding sales operation.
“I’ve been looking for a well-known and respected sales manager for over a year,” said David Schlamm, City Connections’ founder. “I have literally met with at least 40 people from various firms. Finally, after meeting and interviewing Marc Lawrence, I knew I’d found someone who could lead our firm to the next level.”
It may be an uphill climb.
City Connections has a vibrant rental brokering operation, but not much of a sales side compared to larger firms. City Connections currently has 15 brokers who handle sales, some of whom also do rentals, Lawrence said. That relatively low number (by contrast, Corcoran has more than 800 agents in Manhattan) may actually be a boon to City Connections, Lawrence said.
“What I’ve found with the big brands is that they sometimes cater to the top of the food chain,” said Lawrence. He said top brokers at bigger firms often get more resources than other brokers, and that a sales broker might find more attention at City Connections than a larger firm.
That may be Lawrence’s biggest challenge in his new role: He must convince brokers that a firm with a strong rental reputation is good for brokering sales as well. He plans to do that in part by touting City Connections’ unusual (for Manhattan, at least) commission split. Brokers get 90 percent of a commission, rather than kicking back the traditional half to the firm; they do have to rent desks and services from City Connections.
“If I can get the word out to sales brokers that there is a possibility to make more money in this business model,” Lawrence said, “then I can convince them they can really build a better business for themselves.”
Lawrence, a real estate attorney before his stint at Corcoran, has very lofty goals. He said he hopes to grow City Connections’ sales brokering ranks to 350 agents.