Title: 
Salesperson
Company: 
Max Broock REALTORS®
Location: 
275 S. Old Woodward
Birmingham, MI 48009
United States
Michigan US

Join the Club: How do you launch a career in luxury sales? For Christian Grothe, the answer has been Max Broock Select, a rewards program he created whereby selected high-end clients are issued membership cards that entitle them to discounts of 25 percent to 40 percent at about 30 local restaurants, boutiques, and country clubs. "I wanted something that would get my name out there and would also have an air of exclusivity about it," he says.

It’s working: Grothe’s volume more than doubled in 2008 (he closed just over $13 million in sales and 73 sides), impressive anywhere but particularly so in a region—suburban Detroit—that has had more than its share of economic problems in recent years.

Riding out the downturn: Like many members of our 2009 class, Grothe has developed a parallel specialty in short sales and foreclosures by establishing relationships with a number of loan officers at various banks and mortgage firms.