As a broker-owner you are concerned with your top KPI’s, (Key Performance Indicators) but despite best efforts to measure and analyze important metrics you may be missing a big piece of the pie.The top two metrics that matter to a brokerage are agent recruitment and retention. Individual agent performance metrics are irrelevant if you can’t keep good people on board. Your job is to recruit self-motivated top-performers that DON’T need to be micro-managed.We all know the Real Estate industry is a highly competitive marketplace, so how do you find and hire successful agents while also keeping your star players from switching to another firm?Glad you asked ;-)Recruiting the best real estate agents

Bringing in new and younger agents is vital! The more agents a brokerage has, the more opportunity to bring in revenue. Even if your current agents aren’t leaving, failing to consistently bring in new talent is still a problem. More (and younger) people are entering the real estate profession; does your brokerage offer the right combination of culture & technology to attract millennial agents? How do you create an environment that provides enough value to attract new realtors regardless of age?

A top strategy for recruiting the best agents to your brokerage lies in creating and promoting an environment where they can thrive.

1) Create a value proposition – What makes your brokerage valuable to agents? What do you have to offer and what are the concrete benefits agents will receive? These could be technology pieces, marketing help, lists of leads, etc. Be specific and communicate these benefits to your prospects.

2) Promote your culture - Having a positive company culture is attractive in any industry and real estate is no exception. Set expectations, provide incentives & support in the form of training & tools, and promote accountability from top to bottom.

Retaining your top performers

Simple. Have your legal team craft an iron clad non-compete agreement, and force all your agents to sign at gunpoint… ;-)

Seriously though, agent retention is a common industry challenge. Keeping your team happy is not always about commission and close rates. Some agents want more freedom, while others want training and support or greater work-life balance. Take the time to ask them and identify what matters to your agents. Then, give them what they want. Here are some other tips:

Be a resource – Provide training & guidance with ongoing, in-depth training programs within the office that focus on lead generation and customer service. Create systems that put you in touch with your agents on regular basis so you can provide them with guidance or assistance as needed.

Provide marketing support – Give your agents access to tools and training for managing referrals, listings, pay-per-click marketing, direct mail, social media, and other marketing tactics.

Offer technology tools – If you don’t have these already, GET THEM NOW: easy to use CRM software, website optimization, email marketing. Make it simple and it will make their work easier, more productive and more effective.

Remember, you can’t improve what you don’t measure

Some brokerages are lead generation machines and seed their network of agents with highly qualified sales opportunities. One of the biggest problems brokers have today is they get all these leads, hand them off to agents, and never track them.

If you have lots of leads and productive agents, you need a system with reporting to match. You want to see end-to-end, what is working on marketing, where best practices are happening, and what can be improved. If you have a system that benefits your brokerage as well provides value to your agents you improve your ability to attract AND retain top performing team members.

Want to dig deeper about attraction and retention? Learn more about how the kvCORE platform can give you and your agents and edge.

‍