Best Practices for Retaining Your Agents in a Tight Market
Holding onto your team’s talent is critical for the long-term success of your real estate business.
But, in the past few years, brokers and team leaders may not have had to worry so much about agent retention — because the market was doing the heavy lifting for them.
Business was booming, so it’s likely that many agents were enjoying the growth and opportunities of a thriving market.
Now that the market has settled and we’re looking at a tighter, more normalized real estate landscape, it’s time for brokers and team leaders to bring out best practices for talent retention.
5 Ways to Retain Talent in 2023
Here are five things you can do to maintain your talent when numbers might be down.
#1. Invest in Agent Development
The most talented agents want the best for their careers. If you want to retain your top agents, your business needs to foster growth and development.
Invest in your agents so that your business provides them with unique opportunities to advance their skills. This can be a major incentive to stay with your real estate business even in slow markets.
3 Must-Do’s for Strong Angent Development
- Give them access to professional training by offering to cover the costs of courses.
- Ofer to send agents to industry networking events so they can grow their spheres.
- Help your agents establish and grow their own personal brands.
#2. Create a Great Team Culture
Your culture is everything. One of the best ways that you can boost agent retention is by refining and improving the experience that your agents have at work.
Curating an inclusive, welcoming, comfortable, and supportive environment for your team to come together and work is essential for keeping your agents happy.
4 Ways to Upgrade Your Company Culture
- Plan team retreats or events to bond and connect with your team in a social-first setting.
- Offer access to lifestyle amenities, like fitness classes and in-demand food and beverage.
- Have a monthly breakfast buffet at the office to show your team you care.
- Foster a more inclusive workplace by educating team members about DEI and workplace bias through online courses and training events.
#3. Keep Them Aware of New Market Trends and Industry Best Practices
You have your eyes glued to the market. From what the best in the business are doing to new buyer preferences in your area or seller trends, you’re keeping track of it all — so make sure your agents get access to those insights, too.
Whether you send out a quarterly data report email to your team or are sharing every helpful tip and article when you come across it, do what you can to keep your agents in the know.
They’ll feel empowered and supported — and it will take the load off of them to juggle industry R&D on top of their busy workflows.
Pro Tip: Consider scheduling a regular meeting with all of your agents where you discuss new trends in your local market and business best practices. By openly reviewing opportunities and risks on a monthly or bi-weekly basis, your agents will feel like they have the data and insights they need to best serve their clients.
#4. Always Be There to Listen, Guide, and Help
Talented agents who are looking to grow their careers crave the irreplaceable benefit of having an experienced professional guide them through their work.
Keep your agents around by being there for them and making sure that they feel supported in everything they do.
Another way to assist your agents is to serve as a mentor. Talk to agents about lessons you learned throughout your career, tell them any of your secrets to success, and maintain an “open door” in case they ever have questions or need help.
Providing them with general tips and dealmaking strategies, like this guide to mastering the fundamentals of real estate, can also show your support.
#5. Provide Access to Best-in-Class Technology Solutions
In today’s market, agents want access to technology tools that streamline their workflows and help them be more efficient. Equipping your real estate business with industry-specific tools that foster automation and mobile access is crucial for retaining agents.
Give your agents the tools they need to generate strong leads, create a seamless sales funnel, and simplify the transaction process.
This will allow them to spend less time at their desk doing repetitive, manual tasks, and more time to spend on the go at client meetings, site visits, and other important transaction to-dos.
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