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Making the decision to change your brokerage model can be tedious, writes broker Sean McConnell. It’s not just about splits and logos; it’s about future-proofing your business.

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Choosing a brokerage is one of the most consequential decisions a real estate leader can make. It’s not just about splits, tools or logos — it’s about whether the structure you’re operating within supports where your business is going, not just where it’s been.

For years, my Seattle-based team, now known as McConnell Group (formerly the NK Team), operated within a traditional brokerage model. It served us well during an important chapter of our growth.

But as our organization scaled, we found ourselves asking a more fundamental question: Is this structure still aligned with how our business actually operates today, and where we’re headed next?

That question ultimately led us to transition to a cloud-based brokerage model.

This wasn’t a reactionary decision. It was the result of a long evaluation of leadership leverage, operational control, financial efficiency and how modern real estate businesses grow at scale. If you’re thinking about moving your team to the next level, it’s helpful to consider the things that could be changed — or not — with a brokerage switch.

Brand ownership

As teams grow, leadership responsibilities change. At a certain point, you’re no longer just selling real estate. You’re running an organization with layers of operations, marketing, recruiting, training and accountability.

In a traditional brokerage model, much of that leadership infrastructure is externalized. Culture, brand positioning, internal standards and even growth incentives are often dictated by the brokerage rather than intentionally built within the team.

Over time, that can limit how well your organization shows up not just to consumers, but also to agents you’re trying to attract and retain. Strong teams eventually need the ability to fully own their identity, leadership structure and long-term vision, regardless of what happens at the brokerage level.

That became increasingly important as consolidation accelerated across the industry. When brokerages merge or expand through acquisition, teams under the same umbrella can suddenly find themselves competing with one another — sometimes for agents, sometimes for visibility and sometimes for resources.

At scale, leadership clarity matters. Owning your internal structure isn’t about ego or branding. It’s about durability.

Operations and scale

One of the most overlooked differences between traditional and cloud-based models is how they handle operational growth.

As organizations grow, complexity increases. More agents means more contracts, more marketing, more compliance, more systems and more leadership bandwidth required to keep everything moving smoothly.

What we found was that cloud-based brokerages are structurally better suited to support this reality. They tend to offer centralized technology, flexible operational frameworks and systems that allow teams or solo agents to build on top of the platform rather than work around it.

This isn’t just true for large teams. Independent agents benefit as well. The same technology, marketing systems, transaction support and operational tools that help a team scale are just as valuable to a solo practitioner who wants efficiency, leverage and margin.

In other words, many of the benefits traditionally associated with brick-and-mortar brokerages now exist in cloud-based environments without the same overhead or rigidity.

Financial alignment and long-term sustainability

At a certain level of production, financial alignment becomes impossible to ignore.

Traditional brokerage models often rely on fees, overrides and structures that make sense when a business is small but become increasingly inefficient as volume grows. When we took a hard look at our numbers, it became clear that the economics no longer aligned with the value being delivered.

A colleague of mine who runs a large team on the East Coast once described his own realization after reviewing his books at a traditional brokerage: “At a certain point, it felt like financial malpractice.”

That stuck with me because I saw the same pattern in my team.

Cloud-based models tend to reward contribution differently. Revenue-share structures, equity participation and scalable economics are designed to align incentives with growth rather than penalize it. The result is a model in which leadership, recruiting and operational excellence actually improve the bottom line rather than erode it.

That doesn’t mean traditional brokerages don’t serve a purpose. For newer agents or teams just getting started, the built-in credibility and local structure can be incredibly valuable. But once an organization reaches a certain level of maturity, the math and the strategy change.

Following proven patterns

One of the strongest signals for us came from looking across the country.

Some of the most productive, sophisticated teams in the industry are now operating within cloud-based brokerages. Different markets. Different business models. Same conclusion.

Success leaves clues.

When you see high-performing organizations consistently choosing a structure that gives them more operational control, leadership leverage and financial efficiency, it’s worth paying attention to — not as a trend, but as a data point.

Our decision wasn’t about chasing something new. It was about aligning with a model that supports long-term growth, leadership development and operational excellence without sacrificing culture, autonomy or financial discipline.

All this month, we’re focused on The New Brokerage Playbook. Running a brokerage in 2026 looks nothing like it used to. From major players to scrappy indies, we’ll map the new playing field and talk with brokerage leaders across the country about what’s working now — and what’s next.

Sean McConnell leads Seattle-based McConnell Group (formerly NK Team), one of the top-performing real estate groups in Washington State. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

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