“The success of any team is based on its people. A team is much more than putting people together,” says Creig Northrop, President and CEO of the Northrop Team of Long & Foster Real Estate. With more than 125 team members in 5 offices throughout Maryland, Creig speaks from experience when it comes to discussing what makes a real estate team successful. As the #1 Real Estate Team in Maryland, and among the top two Real Estate Teams in the Nation as ranked by The Wall Street Journal & Real Trends for 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.  As the #1 Real Estate Team in Maryland, and the #1 Real Estate Team in the nation as ranked by The Wall Street Journal & REAL Trends for 2017, Creig is more than happy to share with others precisely how he came to become one of the nation’s top REALTORS®.

“I didn’t try to be King Kong, when I started. My mother was successful in real estate and I stayed under her wing during my early years.” Creig also says that he invoked the knowledge of various mentors and recommends all new agents do the same. In doing so, Creig learned two invaluable lessons that would guide his success.

“You need to become the person you would want to be led by. I had to become a REALTOR® who leads by example. I would never ask anyone on my team to do things I wouldn’t do,” he says. He also learned that he needed to remain one step ahead of his team in terms of his own expertise. “I need to have the knowledge before I can train anyone, so I learned it all first. Every street, every house, I learned it all before bringing anyone onto my team,” he explains.

As Creig grew more experienced and educated, he began growing his now massive team. “I did it one step at a time and one person at a time. Everyone is manageable and trainable if they are hungry,” he says. My first buyer’s agent came from an advertising sales background and transitioned into an amazing real estate agent. Another of my agents worked in zoning and planning in the county, and she’s now my land expert.

To ensure his team feels fully supported, Creig has monthly Hour of Power meetings, mentor programs and ongoing training. Moreover, he has nearly as many administrative, marketing and support staff as he has agents. “Over 85 agents sell, and that’s it. We have 40 incredible admin/marketing team members who provide all of the support my agents could need. I take on all of the risk, and my agents go out and make it happen,” he says.

As for making it happen, the team operates very much like a true team, if not a family. “Together everyone achieves mores (T.E.A.M),” Creig says. So although real estate is inherently a competitive industry, Creig has worked tirelessly to focus on team goals, with an emphasis on “healthy” individual competition. “You lose more clients from providing bad service, than for any other reason,” he says simply. Consequently, when a client calls the Northrop Team, “You’ll reach us. You won’t get a voicemail. We are very much like a real estate concierge, providing service and expertise at each stage along the buying or selling process. Because we want our clients to remain clients for life, the focus is not just on each transaction it’s on providing excellent customer service to build lasting relationships.”

Clearly Creig has achieved more success in real estate than most will accomplish in a lifetime, yet he continues to look for ways to improve. “Every agent on my team should do better each year than the previous year. If they do not, I’m not doing my job.” To that end, Creig meets with fellow top agents each year from across the nation. Although his team often ranks #1 in the nation, when he’s #2, he always reaches out to those ahead of him. “I like to know what they are doing. I can’t help it. I love what I do, and I want to do it well. There is always room to learn.”

For more information visit www.northropteam.com, call 410.531.0321, or

email cnorthrop@northropteam.com