Earnings

Setting concrete, realistic goals for new agents in terms of how much they want to earn (and how many transactions they need to make to attain those earnings) is Goro’s advice if new agents have monetary goals. Agents should look at average listings, the average sales price, the average commission, what their percentage is from the company and how many deals an agent has to make.

“If you needed to get two deals a month and you didn’t get any in the first month, you really need to start looking at four deals the next month to stay on track,” Goro says. “That’s where people get lost. They fall behind, they set their goals improperly, they don’t chase the proper goals. They just become discouraged and stop doing things.”

McCafferty’s agents cover Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, Oak Brook, Downer’s Grove and other south suburbs where the market remains slower than in the city. She encourages her agents to find a niche and to market themselves as experts in it. Again, it goes back to knowing your location’s market, and really working the database you have in that area.

“Don’t look for the big stuff,” McCafferty says. “Wherever you live, concentrate on that. Maybe you live in a subdivision that has $200,000 to $500,000 homes. That’s a niche. Find out everything there is to find out about that particular subdivision and then market the subdivision. Market yourself. Make everyone know you are an expert. Know about schools. All this is work, and that’s basically what you have to do to establish yourself and get things rolling.”

Building Confidence

Kevin Van Eck, vice president of training and brokerage services at @properties, sees confidence as the biggest issue facing new agents. Many new agents don’t feel confident enough to fully engage with their database and tap their acquaintances for potential leads. Along with Thomson, Van Eck works to make sure no @properties agent struggles for long.

“Even if you were an expert or a CEO in your previous life, you’re walking in and you’re going from a scenario where you knew everything about everything and felt comfortable, and now you’re in a situation where you’ve got your license, but you don’t know how real estate works,” Van Eck says.

Like Van Eck, Goro identifies timidity as one of the biggest challenges that new agents have to overcome. Many don’t appear to be comfortable with selling themselves as experts in the field.

“They’re trying to work in an area and they’re young because there are actually a lot of people coming into the business right now out of college,” he says. “They’re perfectly wonderful people and they’re going to do a great job, but now they need to become experts in the industry.”