From Humble Beginnings to Leading a Multimillion-Dollar Real Estate Team, One Agent’s Commitment to Excellence Redefined Success in Saratoga Springs
In 2023, The Marchesiello Team in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., sold 143 homes representing over $60.5 million in volume. An affiliate of the Keller Williams® Capital District market center in Albany, The Marchesiello Team consistently ranks in the top one percent of all agencies regionally and nationally. But perhaps their biggest achievement is a commitment to excellence in all things – a dedication driven by Christine Marchesiello, associate broker and team lead.
An Accidental Agent
Christine Marchesiello ventured into real estate following a subpar FSBO experience in 2006. While selling her home, she found the lack of communication and unprofessional conduct on the part of the buyer’s agent disappointing – and inspiring. She walked away from the closing emboldened with one thought: “I can do this better.”
It was the right time for a transition. A teacher by trade, the job prospects in her area were limited, so Christine homed in on real estate and never looked back. She got her real estate license the same week she married her husband Dominick. “It was a little bit of a crazy time,” Christine recalled.
To market her newfound agent title, Christine hosted open houses, networked, and more. She was doing all the right things, but months went by without any results. “I didn’t make a dollar for at least eight months, and I was almost ready to give up,” Christine said. Finally, she sold her first home.
As a solo agent with a local brokerage, Christine built on that first win to consistently sell around 20 homes a year. Excellence continued to motivate her every move. She focused on superior customer service, including more consistent and thorough communication. She studied the local market closely and priced her listings competitively. She offered exceptional staging and marketing. By 2010, Christine had what she calls her hockey stick moment – her business tripled and she began averaging 65 home sales a year.
In 2014, the brokerage Christine worked with was sold, and real estate companies came calling. Christine remembers how the Keller Williams brokerage stood out. “All the other brokerages just seemed to tell me the same things,” she said. “But there wasn’t really anything different. When I sat down with Keller Williams, they were the first ones to really challenge me.” Those conversations made her question how she’d risen to her current level of achievement, and what she might be capable of in the future. The challenge prompted her to join KW.
Success and a Reality Check
While Christine’s unmatched commitment to excellence continued to attract more clients, more closings, and more income, it came at a cost. With so much volume, Christine started noticing she was getting little things wrong or dropping the ball on communications, and she wasn’t able to service all of the leads coming in. Most importantly, she realized how much she was missing out on with her husband and two young daughters. Ten years into her real estate career, Christine was maxed out and ready to make a change.
Building a team seemed inevitable, but Christine was concerned about maintaining oversight, structure, and standards. So she diligently researched team models and organizational structures across the KW® franchise system. Following the Keller Williams® model for growth, Christine hired her first assistant in 2016. The leverage helped her sell 75 homes the next year.
“The slowest part of the team-building process was just getting on board with starting one,” Christine said. “You can only do so much, and it isn’t the best customer service to just have one person.”
As she expanded her business, Christine focused on operational and lead generation models. She read and reread The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and made the most of KW’s ongoing education and training. In 2017, she hired her first buyer’s agent, Trista Pollock. This strategic move resulted in 125 transactions closed.
Today, Trista also serves as the director of growth for the group’s “Pro Team.” When they’re seeking to introduce new initiatives into the business, Trista says Christine looks to the KW franchise system for proven solutions. “With every venture, she’s always trying to find someone in KW that’s doing it at a really high level,” Trista said.
Shortly after Trista came on board, Christine’s husband Dominick left his healthcare career to join the team. The jump to real estate gave him a new understanding of his wife’s dedication, and the necessity of leverage in balancing work and family. Now, in addition to serving as the team’s lead listing specialist, Dominick serves as director of sales, and he leads and coaches their entire sales force.
As her team grew, Christine realized it was time to revisit her brand. Her early branding included a simple logo with her initials in the shape of a house. While it worked for her as an individual agent, it didn’t represent her growing team. She rebranded to become “The Marchesiello Team,” and landed on a distinctive horse logo that embodies the horse racing culture in Saratoga Springs and the energy of the business.
Specialists in Sync
Today, The Marchesiello Team is 13 members strong, with an organizational structure intentionally designed around specialist roles. Their model is straightforward: Buyer specialists only work with buyers, and listing specialists only work with sellers. In the background, a listing director and marketing director work alongside the listing specialist.
As director of sales, Dominick helps agents strategize and plan their days, focusing heavily on lead generation and coaching. The team practices time blocking, with mornings dedicated to lead generation and afternoons for appointments.
Christine knows her team members’ strengths and has mastered delivering what matters most to their clients. The contract-to-close process, for example, is the best in their market. Clients receive weekly updates, checklists, and access to team members when they have questions, concerns, or need more consulting during a certain stage of a transaction.
Marketing and Contract-to-Close Director Madyson Filion is one of the specialists behind the well-oiled machine. She says organization is core to their process. Madyson spends the first half of each day running through their pending contracts and assessing the status of every file. She checks in with clients, attorneys, lenders, and other agents to see where she can offer support and to keep transactions moving forward.
Commanding Excellence
For Christine, migrating to the right technology tools was key, so they adopted KW Command for Teams, KW’s proprietary technology platform that helps KW® agents manage, nurture, and convert real estate leads into customers.
Christine says this means technology isn’t getting in their way. “KW Command keeps us organized, because everybody is using the same tool in the exact same way.”
With Command, meeting details, important notes, updates, and next steps are managed and easy to access by her team. For a team of specialists individually executing on their responsibilities from the office and the road, the ongoing collaboration keeps the leads flowing and the team aligned.
Madyson oversees the integrity of the data and information, and she knows the fruit is in the follow-up. She builds and activates SmartPlans in Command to support their always-on lead generation activities. If a contact isn’t converted, it rolls into an annual SmartPlan with customized touchpoints each month.
The combination of teamwork and technology keeps the engine humming. “We work together as a team. When things are hard or busy, we all pitch in to make sure that everything’s getting done and that we don’t sacrifice quality,” Madyson said.
Reflecting on her success, Christine says the models, systems, training, and tools that KW provides have allowed her to accomplish her goals – and she plans to keep growing the business. “I intend to make it grow,” Christine said, “because that’s the job I’ve signed up for, and I owe that to the team members as well.”
Along the way, Christine’s commitment to excellence hasn’t wavered. “In the MREA, it does say your ‘Big Why’ can just be doing your best job, and that is truly mine: Just to do your best job, always. I just like to do things to the best possible level they can be done, and that drives me.”
Real Estate Role Model Round-Up
- Persevere Through Initial Challenges
The early stages of growth can be tough, but persistence pays off. Stay committed and continue to do the right things; success takes time and it’s hardly ever a straight line. - Leverage Effective Models and Systems
Keller Williams’ models and systems are designed for growth. Embrace proven strategies and continuously seek learning opportunities to enhance your business. - Recognize When to Expand
Understand your limits and recognize when it’s time to bring in additional support. Start with an assistant who can help you scale your operations with systems and best practices. - Prioritize Family Time
Treat family time with the same respect as business appointments. Being fully present with your loved ones can improve your work-life balance and overall well-being. - Focus on Long-Term Growth
Commit to continuous growth and development. A thriving business not only benefits you, it benefits the team members who rely on your leadership.