Manager?s Corner

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As the Market Shifts, Train and Retain

Helping existing agents succeed will bring the right recruits to your door

By Maria Patterson

Anxious to get a piece of the action, agents entered the real estate market in droves over the past few years. As the market normalizes, however, many of those same agents are leaving the market, lacking the right skills and training to survive the turning tide.

Experts agree that brokers need to place less focus on getting bodies in the door, and greater focus on elevating the success rate of those agents already in place. By focusing on training and retaining first, qualified recruits will come to your firm via the best possible way: referral.

?It?s always bothered me that this industry spends so much time bringing people in the front door when they?re going out the back door,? says former broker and Buffini & Company trainer Rick DeLuca. ?The focus should be on retention.?

J?aime Sans Souci, Buffini & Company 100 Days to Greatness trainer and industry veteran, agrees. ?Two-thirds of a broker?s or manager?s time should be spent internally,? she explains. ?They need to put time, energy and effort inside the organization developing their people and helping them increase productivity.?

Training existing agents sets up a natural process for bringing in other good agents. ?Good people know other good people,? Sans Souci explains. ?Those already inside your office know and understand the people you are looking for.?

Fewer Agents? A Good Thing

As interest rates rise and listing times lengthen, many agents will leave the real estate business altogether. Wise brokers know that this will create a much-needed balance.

?When people leave, it?s a good thing,? says DeLuca. ?The industry needs to purge itself every five to seven years?this is standard.?

More often than not, the agents who will be exiting the real estate market are those who never developed the right skills in the first place, skills that weren?t always necessary when the market was hot.

That?s why, DeLuca says, ?In a transitional marketplace, the need for training and retention is higher than at any other time?we need to go back and dust off the things we did years ago to become successful.?

Time to Train

Sans Souci and DeLuca wholeheartedly agree that training agents now is more important than ever.

The right approach to training is to systematize it in order to alleviate drains on time. Successful training programs need to be tangible and highly structured.

?If you cannot hold your training program in your hands,? says DeLuca, ?you don?t have a training program.?

Such programs, like Buffini & Company?s 100 Days to Greatness?, succeed because they are consistent and provide specific direction, something every new recruit?and often existing agents?crave.

Good Training Equals Good Referrals

With the right training in place, agents will not only thrive, but will pass the word on to potential recruits.

In addition, Sans Souci recommends that managers maintain two different databases for recruiting: their sphere of influence and everyone they know in the industry.

Approach these databases the same way an agent approaches his or her client database?build relationships with phone calls and consistent contact.

Do not be pushy, though, Sans Souci stresses. ?Don?t call another agent and ask him or her to join your company,? she explains, ?But call and say, ?You come highly recommended and I know you know other good people. If you come across someone who might be looking for the systems and structures that we offer, I?d be happy to get in touch with them.??

Team Building for the Future

Providing the right training and focusing on a referral-based recruiting plan will help ensure a strong team for today?s brokerage?even more critical to success as the market continues to balance.

Says Sans Souci: ?Agents will be looking for a company that will support them and provide them with specific direction during changing times.?

Recruiting Rules

- Look for recruits who have demonstrated success in another area?any area?of life?business, fundraising, raising kids. If they’ve succeeded somewhere else, they?ll succeed in real estate

- An internal motivation to succeed is critical?managers can motivate people short-term, but long-term motivation comes from within

- Show recruits you offer support by advertising the start date of your next training program

- Once you get good agents, keep them with the number-one retention tool: a great corporate culture

- Retain agents by providing specific direction on how to build, grow and maintain a business


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