Real estate is a competitive field with over 106,000 real estate brokerage firms operating in the United States. The success of your brokerage—and its ability to compete in this crowded market—depends on the talent of your agents.
As the representatives for your brokerage, your agents need to be more diligent, skilled, knowledgeable and persistent than your competing brokerages' agents. So how do you get the most talented agents in your local market to work for your brokerage?
Let’s look at three key ways smart brokers are attracting talented agents to their teams.
Providing the Right Tools
Is there anything more frustrating than trying to do your job without the right tools? Today’s top agents expect access to tools that will help them perform their jobs more efficiently and more effectively.
Savvy brokers are providing their agents with access to tools such as PropStream’s real estate software. This software allows agents to:
- Run comps with ease: It's perfect for completing a quick CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) for prospective sellers or guiding buyers to a solid offer price.
- Comp entire neighborhoods: PropStream is ideal for helping investors or out-of-town buyers narrow their searches to a particular neighborhood.
- Find distressed properties: Our software not only helps your buyer clients find great deals, but also helps you find potential sellers to contact.
- Estimate rehab costs and analyze deals: Our Rehab Estimator enables you to provide the best-quality resources to investor clients or buyers of fixer-uppers.
- Find owner contact information and market directly to owners: Your agents will appreciate saving time with the marketing options that include contact information for property owners.
Considering Creative Financial Incentives
Top-talented agents expect their pay to reflect their skill level. Some brokers make the mistake of assuming that financial incentives are a non-issue since any agent can increase his or her income by finding more clients and closing more deals. But your top agents want more than increased sales; they want to keep a greater percentage from each sale. Offering a higher commission split for your agents will instantly make your brokerage more attractive to agents.
The financial incentives don’t have to stop there. Some brokerages are getting creative, offering revenue share programs or residuals to their agents. Take eXp Realty, for example. This brokerage incentivizes agents, not only to produce, but also to bring new agents into the brokerage. They do this by offering a revenue share program that pays an agent based on his or her own closings, as well as the closings of the agents he or she sponsors.
Offering Anonymity Instead of Training
Offering a solid training program may help you attract new licensees to your brokerage. But top agents already know sales. Top agents don’t want training or hand-holding. They value having the anonymity to work independently and “be their own boss”. Smart brokers are attracting top talent by simply getting out of the agent’s way and allowing each agent to use whatever system works best to maximize his or her production.
Attracting talented agents to your team doesn’t have to be difficult. You just need to offer more than your competitors in terms of what the agents want. Agents are looking for real estate tools that help them make informed decisions, the ability to earn more money and the freedom to run their businesses as they see fit. Offer these three things and watch your brokerage grow with talented agents.
