0
0
0

How managing brokers attract top talent – and keep it

by Jason Porterfield

Building a culture

Keeping agents engaged is absolutely vital to maintaining a roster of successful and satisfied Realtors. An oft-overlooked aspect of recruitment and retention is creating a company culture that allows Realtors to thrive. Brokers must work hard to develop an atmosphere that fosters community, career development and cooperation.

Arenson focuses her retention efforts on providing a high level of customization for her agents. Their materials, their training needs and the support they receive are on an as-needed, per-agent basis. She stresses office unity and the need to work together. Group lunches, annual business-planning sessions, participation in events like the Wilmette holiday parade, and volunteer work at Ronald McDonald House help everyone feel like part of the team.

“We definitely believe that ‘we’ comes before ‘I,’” Arenson says. “We say that a lot and talk about taking the high road in all situations. That we feel that as though we have each others’ backs. That’s a big deal in the independent contractor world.”

Fox offers new agents a rigorous six-week course that connects them with more experienced agents who can help them find their footing and offer advice as they progress in their careers. He works with Beth Allen-Tiernen, managing broker of the Gold Coast office, to give agents information about how to succeed in the luxury market that is Jameson Sotheby’s focus.

“It connects agents to agents who are in similar situations, especially in the class for new agents,” Fox says. “The newly licensed agents learn about the business and it connects them with other people new to the business.”

Additionally, Jameson Sotheby’s offers quarterly company-wide events that are designed to keep agents engaged. These efforts began as a coaching and cocktails event hosted by executive vice president and managing broker Jim Miller in 2015 before evolving into quarterly happenings. The events have been so successful that the company has done away with monthly meetings.

“They’re topical and we bring in speakers or other agents from around the country who are Sotheby’s affiliates to talk about referral networking and how the brand connects them with each other,” Fox says. “We’ve had topics on millennials. They’re very current topics that really help engage them. We get over half the agents to show up, which is impressive given that it can be hard to get agents to come in to events or meetings.”

Kouf follows the same strategy for retention that he uses for recruiting. In addition to daily calls to agents he wants to bring on board, he also calls a pair of his current agents. He often contacts agents who recently closed a sale or those he hasn’t reached out to in a while, just to make sure that they’re still happy with the success they’re having at @properties.

“It’s a tiny little touch, but it’s very meaningful to the agents,” Kouf says.

 

Read More Related to This Post

Comments

Join the conversation

New Subscribe

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.