Finalist: Michael Saunders

Finalist: Michael Saunders

President of Michael Saunders and Co.

The buzz was palpable. The crowd of more than 200 hummed with speculation. Why would Michael Saunders gather all of her full-time staff to Selby Gardens? Was she selling the company? Was she getting married? Could she be retiring?

No.

In typical Saunders fashion, she was adding another incentive to keep her employees motivated.

"After 29 years, we had reached a point where we could share the fruits of our labor with all," Saunders says of the new profit sharing program.

In 1971, Saunders was a probation/parole officer for Florida's Youth Services. Today, she is the king of Sarasota's hyper-competitive real estate market. Wearing her trademark scarf, the charismatic businesswoman has turned her name into a fixture on the Gulf Coast. If you don't know who Michael Saunders is, you haven't done business in the two-county area.

In 2004, Michael Saunders & Co. produced more than $2.56 billion in sales - an increase of more than 28% from 2003. With about 10,000 real estate agents operating in the Sarasota and Manatee counties market, Michael Saunders & Co.'s 400-person sales team has secured a 22.3% market share by sales volume for the past 12 months in Sarasota County. Even more importantly, the firm has a 19.47% market share of sales volume in the Englewood, Manatee County, Punta Gorda, Sarasota County and Venice markets.

Last year, Michael Saunders & Co. formed an alliance with Christie's Great Estates - a subsidiary of Christie's, the oldest art auction house in the world. Michael Saunders & Co. currently has offices in 18 locations along with several satellite locations at new developments.

Saunders isn't slowing down. Her firm has opened an office in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota and purchased land to construct a new real estate office building in Lakewood Ranch. She expects to open at least three new offices before year's end in Parrish, Ellenton, Punta Gorda, Murdock or North Port.

At the same time, the company continues to spend big. Annually, the firm budgets $4 million to promote its properties with its eight-person marketing staff.

The Review isn't the only company to recognize Saunders' business acumen. In June, Michael Saunders won a statewide Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. In April, Saunders was elected chairman of the board of the RELO, the nation's largest network of leading independent real estate firms.

Saunders, who was named after an ancestor and 16th century English poet Michael Drayton, was raised on the Lands End section of Longboat Key. She attended the Academy of Holy Names in Tampa and went on to receive a bachelor's degree in history and psychology from Florida State University. After graduation, she held a menagerie of jobs, including history teacher at Manatee High, juvenile court counselor and probation officer.

In 1972, she took a job as an agent for a St. Armands Circle real estate company.

"I was a good communicator, and I love people," Saunders says. "I think I got that from my father. He was very much a people person. I watched him work to make everyone he touched feel important."

She was successful. Four years later with a $5,000 loan from a client, she opened her own office on St. Armands Circle focusing on upscale waterfront property.

"Thirty years ago the bar was not very high (for real estate agents)," Saunders says. "We were really considered (in the same league as) used car sales people. I figured why shouldn't we be looked at like a fine lawyer or doctor. I felt it was important to create a business with values."

At the top of the value list was creating a more professional environment, from the clothes worn by agents to the marketing materials and contracts.

The small firm was successful for its first 18 years, but in the early '90s, a major recession hit. The housing market, even on waterfront properties, tumbled.

Reminiscent of the words of Warren Buffett or Sun Tzu, Saunders saw the downturn as a perfect opportunity to expand her firm to cover the rest of Sarasota and every price point. She also expanded her employment to about 90 people and started preparing for what she felt would be a new boom in home and condominium development. That decision proved to be a tipping point, and her company has snowballed from there.

"You learn to survive and take the hands you are dealt at every turn," she says. "Block by block in Sarasota we grew. We expanded into commercial brokerage, relocation services, new homes and condominiums."

The company expanded further into mortgage and title services and commercial property and resort management.

Asked how she was successful in putting the company together, Saunders says, "I think it's really by surrounding myself with people smarter than I am ... whether it's in the area of finance or marketing."

Saunders says she attracts developers through experience and dedication.

"I know they have a lot at stake when we agree to become their marketing and sales arm," She says. "I tell developers when they hire us that we have a total commitment to their project. We have 90 people that do nothing else but work on selling new homes and condominiums. We are constantly doing research not only on what is happening in the market but where is the marketing going in the future. Our people know the market so well we are even good at helping a developer adjust their amenities package for a particular project. We are experienced with adjusting prices to market reality."

With the demand for productive real estate agents high, Saunders says it's more important than ever to not over-favor a high-producer and to be a stickler about the code of conduct.

"Everyone here knows no one has special deals," she says. "Everyone is given the same opportunity. We have asked high-producing sales associates to leave. Usually it's about their values. Negative people can be a absolute cancer in the workplace. A positive attitude in this business is essential."

Key to the continued success, Saunders says, is analysis and technology.

"I would say my biggest mistake right now is I should probably have offices further south and north already," she says. "I should be in Parrish or Ellenton, instead of looking feverishly for land. I should be in Punta Gorda or North Port. These are places I should be already."

To stay ahead of the curve, Saunders is one of the first real estate firms to hire a full-time researcher. The researchers' job it track regional, statewide and national statistics and studies so that Saunders and others can make more informed business decisions.

For the moment, aside from an occasion development outside the Tampa Bay market, Saunders plans to stay local.

"Between the Tampa Bay and Fort Myers market there is plenty to keep me busy," Saunders says. "We will continue to refine what we do. Why should we leave the best market in the country?"

COMPANY STATS

Employees (excludes sales associates): 2003: 174; 2004: 178 2005: 180.

Revenues: 2002: $45 million; 2003:

$61.6 million; 2004: $80.8 million.

Average annual

growth: 34%