There is a reason so many agents are jumping to the 100% commission model and demanding higher splits. It’s because they don’t know what their brokers bring to the table anymore! What are they paying into?
Technology and the Internet have changed the landscape.
Why is this happening?
It’s because the role of the real estate agent has dramatically changed. People no longer NEED a Realtor, but they overwhelmingly decide to use one. Here’s a quick bird’s eye view of what’s happening.
The Internet came along, evolved, and made many aspects of our lives easier, but it has also brought some unwanted competition that many agents are now competing against.
Buying Real Estate
Prior to the Internet advancements, if someone wanted to buy a property, they would contact an agent who was local to the market place in which they wanted to purchase. Real estate agents used to control access to the majority of information about properties available for sale. In today’s world that information can easily be accessed by turning on your computer and logging onto Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Realtor.com, and other property search-related websites. Real Estate agents used to leverage their brokerage to have access to this information. In today’s market not so much…
What value does your brokerage offer agents to compete with this?
Selling Real Estate
Today, anyone can log online and Google just about anything they want to
know about selling a property. If someone wants to see what their house is worth, there are multiple sites to go to (although not very accurate). If someone wants to get home selling tips, they can type a keyword into their browser and receive thousands of informative articles. There are even flat fee real estate services that list properties in the Multiple Listing Service for a large discount. Just about anything anybody wants, they can find for FREE or at a LARGE discount online.
Unfortunately, the status quo for taking a listing has become popping a sign in the yard and listing it on the MLS. That is not a marketing plan and sellers can very easily do this on their own. It’s only a matter of time until the market realizes this unless we do something about it.
What kind of marketing services does your brokerage offer agents that consists of a better marketing plan than just popping a listing on the MLS and placing a sign in the yard?
So, What Does This Mean?
It means that agents MUST do more in today’s market place to compete and meet consumer expectations. It also means that if you own a brokerage or lead a team, you MUST service your agents to earn the right to have their license hung with you. Your agents need help and this is a HUGE opportunity to create reasons agents should work with you!
The big name brands no longer have the “reputation” of being the BEST & ONLY option for consumers. Therefore they are also not the only option for agents either. Consumers have smartened up and know that it is their Realtor who makes the difference in making a wise buying or selling decision, not the company they work for.
Some of the largest producing agents are affiliated with boutique brokerages because they know the big brands don’t offer anything differently. They would rather take a higher split with a less known brand name since they can equally compete with any of them now.
Agents know they are the brokerage’s largest asset and are looking for their brokers to earn their split more than ever. The big name brands can no longer use the, “we are the best brand in town line”.
The tides have turned, but have you?
Do you earn your split?
Agents today believe it’s the broker’s responsibility to provide a work environment in which they can thrive in. It’s not the agent’s responsibility to create that environment for the broker. At the end of the day consumers buy the agent and not the brokerage.
Good news is that there is a way to make your office more attractive, but you might need to implement some things you might not be used to.
8 Things You Can Do To Begin Attracting Agents & Stop Recruiting Them
Training– Keller Williams is the largest franchise because of their incredible training. Agents like staying afloat of what’s going on with the latest marketing strategies. A good brokerage should have an ongoing in-depth training program or systems within its office that focuses strictly on lead generation and customer service.
Training days enhance the culture and keeps everyone on their toes. The real estate business is not what is difficult. It’s getting the business that separates top producers from the average agents. The rest is fairly simple.
Referral Marketing System– Nearly 61% of agent business is directly attributed to referrals and repeat business. What are you doing in your office to help assist agents in their referral marketing efforts. Are you agents using social media, direct mail, and email to keep their name at the forefront of their network’s minds? For more information on this CLICK HERE.
Listing Marketing System– What are your agents doing for their listing marketing plan. It never ceases to amaze me that a brokerage who has 50 agents can have 41 different marketing plans. Can you imagine Subway staying in business without consistency in the taste of their sandwiches?
You cannot have a brand without conformity.
More importantly, the number one thing sellers expect from their agents is for them to provide more exposure for their property.
I personally do all the marketing for all of our listings. It takes about 30 minutes per listing, but I am able to accomplish a few things. First, I am able to implement a complete “done for you” listing service. This alone is a HUGE attraction. More importantly, I like to market the listings because it allows me to leverage the property for additional spin off business through Facebook Ads, online syndication, and direct mail.
Online Listing Presence– The big four websites, Zillow, Homes.com, Trulia, & Realtor.com all provide a featured listing package. Many agents end up taking on the additional cost of this service out of their own pocket. Our team currently spends over $1000.00 a month just to have our listings featured on all of these sites and keep our own leads. Depending on the type of split you are working off of this might be a good lure to attract more agents to you.
In -House Photography Services– I recently joined a new office and they have their own photographer at no cost for all of their agents. It’s such a great service to have in-house. No more crappy photos with your brand on them. It can be an attraction tool for you as long as you position it the right way. You could offer agents a head shot when they come on board for FREE.
In-House Video Services – It’s the year 2016 and video is here to stay. Your agents should all be accustomed to using video. The problem is that the video can be expensive unless you have your own video dude in house. We have a video guy on our team that produces videos like this for the agents. Talk about a draw. It doesn’t cost the office anything either. Agents can pay on a per shoot basis and he’s able to do listing, about, and content videos for a reasonable cost since his clientele are all in-house.
Advanced Marketing Services– What do you think your retention and recruitment rate will be when you have an in house marketing department? I’m not talking about someone who creates fliers. I’m talking about someone who can run an advanced Facebook Ads campaign, an advanced content marketing strategy, and even automate direct mail funnel campaigns for their agents.
The truth is that you can train agents to do this until they are blue in the face, but the majority of them will never do it RIGHT. Doing it for them allows them to concentrate on their strengths, spending time converting clients and selling homes! It increases your bottom line at the end of the day.
CRM – Every office should have some kind of CRM to provide their agents. Unfortunately, many of them out there overcomplicate things and many agents have a hard time using them. A CRM should only accomplish 3 tasks. Keep an agent organized, maintain a database, and set reminders. Make it simple and they will use it more. How much more attractive is your office when you provide this for your agents?
Please take note how all of these things focus around providing services to your agents that help them succeed in today’s environment. You still need the traditional things like culture, community, and right leadership, but what I’m talking about is taking a marketing department and plopping it right into your office to serve your agents.
I believe the real estate brokerage of the future will be one that serves their agents with everything they need including having a “marketing dude” in house to service their needs. Agents today need more than just a license, they need better marketing skills to compete.
Remember, it’s your job to create the environment for your agents to succeed in, not to pay for them to. You might want to take the quiz below to see what’s stopping you from attracting more agents to work at your brokerage.
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If so, please share it on your social media accounts and help me get the word out. It’s my goal to help brokers attract more agents to their offices using marketing systems. I believe every real estate office will have their own marketing dude within the next 10 years. The question is will you adapt of be late to the party?