Commercial Real Estate Brokerages Face Hiring Challenges

 Print Article

RISMEDIA, May 26, 2008-The high cost of living presents commercial real estate brokerage companies nationally with a unique set of hiring challenges because of the commission-only structure of the compensation. The primary issue is the time it takes for a new agent to begin earning a significant income. In the past, some brokerages offered a stipend to entry-level agents who had dreams of earning big commissions. But today, with the high cost of living and 95% of the workforce already employed, commercial brokerages face real growth challenges. The stipends have practically dried up and where they are offered, the amounts do not compete well with other available professions.

Many would-be recruits are willing to take a lower-paying position if they have the confidence they’ll soon be earning much more. Unfortunately, the industry is not currently inspiring this kind of confidence. Runner positions look like a long-haul approach to success for the newer agent, and the-starve-until-you-make-it-big approach seems like an unattractive alternative to a good paying job with benefits.

While many residential real estate brokerages have overcome this challenge by seeking to hire second career people with a retirement income in place, commercial companies, for a myriad of sound reasons, have preferred to hire young guns, either fresh out of school or currently selling business to business, looking to move up to a higher-paying, commission sales career. This latter group is the most attractive to companies and the hardest to hire because they’re already earning a decent income and are often fearful of an industry where the education and training is scarce.

Education is the key to inspiring confidence, but it’s scarce in the industry these days. Unlike many professions, there’s very little college-level education available that prepares new agents to succeed in the commercial real estate brokerage world. For the young professional who’s looking to make the leap to commercial real estate, the absence of any standardized training program in most firms is disconcerting. The result is that many would-be recruits for commercial real estate brokerages walk away from the opportunity because they’re not confident they can succeed for several years as they learn the business by trial and error.

Top Dogs Commercial Real Estate Training believes it is meeting this challenge head on and helping firms to recruit the right kind of people. The founders of the company, professional sales trainer, Peter Droubay and seasoned commercial real estate veteran Bob McComb, say they offer a unique solution for commercial brokerages seeking to grow their business. Using the medium of video-based training, they have an established track record of creating top-producing commercial real estate brokers, fast. Now, they’ve introduced a brand-new program, How to Fast-Track Your Expertise in Commercial Real Estate that offers a full-immersion, in-market, three-week, boot-camp-style program to get commercial real estate brokers up the steep part of the learning curve fast, and earning solid incomes quickly.

For more information contact Top Dogs at 888-894-5772 or visit www.tdogs.com

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

More popular stories:

• The Real Estate Credentials That Mean the Most  
  Learn to Talk the Talk of Consumers  
  7 Ways to Protect Your Business’ Reputation