5 ways to recruit and retain agents who perform without cutting commission splits

It’s hard to recruit new agents to your brokerage - especially those who are already successful. As a broker, you have to constantly be thinking about what attracts new talent and how to retain that talent just like any other corporation because churning talent is costly.

The median length of time that a REALTOR® will stay at one firm is 4 years. This means that brokerages have a relatively high turnover as realtors move around on a regular basis.

Of course fair compensation and commission splits are going to be top of mind for any agent. No one goes to work solely based on gourmet coffee and social opportunities, but there are plenty of things you can do that will help you stand out against your competition and build a strong agent community.‍

Create a magnetic culture

Hire with a culture code to create an office environment that like-minded agents want to be a part of. 

Recruiting the right people who share office values and passing on those who aren’t the right fit. Managing Broker, Tiffany Szakal The Local Element has a “no jerks” policy for recruiting. Her reasoning: Who you decide to bring on your team matters. One bad apple spoils the bunch and you can’t let someone come in and bring you down as a leader or bring your people down.

Celebrate successes as a team based on results AND effort

While it’s a no-brainer to recognize your top producing agents, it’s also important to lift those up who are up and coming, working hard, and demonstrating the right behaviors. Small gains can lead to big ones down the road and those agents are your future top producers. You invested in hiring them and it’s just as important to invest in retaining them.

Being recognized is not only memorable for the person who earned it, but also motivating to peers who see that hard work pays off.

There are numerous ways to create opportunities to celebrate including challenges or contests. 

You can create contests and friendly competition for just about anything from making calls to past clients, collecting reviews, following up with incoming leads, average days to close a listing and more. The key is to get creative, make it fun, and make it accessible.

Show your appreciation

Treat your agents like your clients. If you can write 100 handwritten notes to clients, why not make that same effort to show your appreciation to your team? Just like home anniversaries and birthdays, you can create systems to check in with your agents and let them know you’re thankful they have chosen to work with you. Write a quick note or record a quick video so they can look back at your words when they need a little motivation.

‍Invest in their Success

Offer best in class onboarding

Real estate agents need to be the ultimate Jill’s of all trades and a great agent will be skilled at marketing, customer service and sales, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

As a broker, being able to take as many things off an agent's plate as possible allows them to focus on the more important jobs.

One of the most important things you can do as a broker is provide top notch onboarding & training. Every team has a different way of doing things, but it’s critical your agents don’t get bogged down in figuring out your processes while trying to service clients. Having a plan to get them acclimated quickly while offering the right support will build confidence during the recruiting process and make a great first impression on the agents who join your team.

Provide cutting edge software 

In addition to training, it’s also more important than ever to provide tools that enable your agents to be more productive and here’s why: Realtors earning $100,000 or more in gross commission income are more than twice as likely to use advanced technology tools like a customer relationship manager (CRM) than agents who earn less.

Carefully curating the right technology stack can have a huge impact on an agent’s productivity and ability to scale.

Every brokerage in 2023 should provide agents with the necessary tools to manage client communication, streamline transactions and contracts and also provide visibility with their performance. This can be one tool or a combination of many, but the key is carefully vetting your software vendors and asking the right questions.

If you’re looking for an easy to use platform that helps streamline agent productivity, consider Shaker. Our high-touch support and onboarding team are here to keep your team on track, ensure you provide better experiences for clients, while giving you back time to focus on the tasks that matter most.