With over 100,000 brokerages in the US competing for the approx 2 million licensed real estate agents, retention is just as important as recruiting when it comes to the success of a brokerage’s growth. The same is true for real estate team owners. In NAR’s most recent study, agents have been at their current brokerage for an average of 5 years, while the average career of an agent is 10 years.
I personally see agents in my area change brokerages and teams all the time, and usually, it’s in a search for something they feel they’re not getting where they currently are. If you’re a broker/owner or team lead looking to keep your agents longer, check out our top 13 best strategies for real estate agent retention.
1. Training
Real estate agents, especially agents newer to the business, love having a full training calendar available to them. Create a robust training schedule with a combination of both in-person and virtual classes, with at least one class per week. Vary the topics as well, from introductory contracts classes designed for brand new agents to lead generation strategy sessions built for your top producers. This will keep all your agents engaged, regardless of their production level.
Pro Tip
Invite your top agents to teach classes to the newer agents. This will empower them and make them feel valued, while freeing up your time.
2. Top-of-the-line CRM and agent website
Real estate agents love their tech. Having a top-of-the-line client relationship manager (CRM) and agent website available to your agents is important for retention, as it saves the agent the hassle and expense of purchasing their own software and designing their own website. It will also increase your agents’ production by helping them keep track of their leads and keep in touch with their databases systematically.
A CRM that integrates with the agent site and can generate leads (all in one) is usually the way to go. Check out Market Leader, one of the leading CRM platforms used by brokerages and teams. Market Leader offers a comprehensive CRM, complete with a mobile app and customized website. You can also use Market Leader’s lead generation tools to provide leads to your agents, another important part of agent retention.
3. Mentorship
Beyond offering just classes, it’s also important to provide hands-on mentorship programs. The details and structure can vary, but at its core, a solid mentorship program involves an experienced agent volunteering to guide a new agent through their first few transactions. They’ll go on appointments with the new agent, answer questions and potentially even step in to assist with tough negotiations.
Most importantly, a mentor acts as a security blanket for newer agents who worry about not knowing what to do or say when working with a client. They will love having a dedicated person to call.
In exchange for the mentor’s help, both agents agree up front to a commission split that’s a win-win for both. I’ve seen splits ranging from 75/25 (if the client is already secured) to 50/50 (if the mentor is helping the mentee land the business). Mentorship programs are easy to set up once you find a few mentors willing to help out while earning some extra income. Offering a one-on-one mentor is a significant value-added benefit for agents who require additional support.
4. AI technology
AI is the new thing, and it’s not going anywhere. Many agents are actively learning about AI and seeking out AI platforms that help them streamline their businesses. Stay ahead of the curve by offering AI services to your agents, saving them time and money. The more tools you provide your agents, the more likely they are to stay with your brokerage or team.
AI can assist with automating text and voicemail messages for following up with leads, creating designs for social media and marketing content and even virtually staging agents’ listings. Plus, since many brokerages aren’t yet offering AI services, this is one way to differentiate yourself from your competition.
Shilo AI is another fantastic tool to offer to your agents. It’s an AI assistant for real estate agents that analyzes, coaches and automates their sales calls. Agents will love how easy Shilo AI is to use, and you’ll love the results your agents will get.
5. Done-for-you services
Another way to make your real estate brokerage or team stand out from the competition is to offer a menu of done-for-you services for your agents. These can include:
- Marketing materials such as brochures and business cards
- Yard sign installation and removal
- Runner services
- Social media marketing
- Transaction coordinator
- Vendor discounts or even an in-house vendor, like a photographer
By providing these services in-house, your agents will save the time and stress of having to find people to do these things, freeing up their time to go find more real estate clients and close more deals. Even if the services you offer come with additional fees and aren’t included in the monthly office fee, most agents will still appreciate the ease of having these services at their fingertips.
6. Low fees
Speaking of fees, do what you can to keep your monthly brokerage fees as low as possible, while still providing a high level of support for your agents. Easier said than done, but one option is to offer two different fee and commission split structures, allowing your agents to choose which one makes the most sense for them.
This could look like an independent model (lower split in exchange for fewer services/support) and a dependent model (higher split for more support). Agents can select how much support they want and are willing to pay for, making your brokerage or team more flexible and more attractive to more agents. Here’s an example of what the difference could look like:
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7. Great culture
We always say clients work with agents they know, like and trust. The same can be said for why real estate agents choose one brokerage or team over another. The “know, like and trust” factor is huge. Increase this by creating a great culture within your organization. Every office, brokerage and team has a culture, whether it’s something that’s focused on or not. Think about yours: what’s the vibe? Do people help each other, or is it more competitive? Do you take time to have fun with your agents?
There are lots of ways to improve culture. Here are a few ideas:
- Host regular fun events, like happy hours, holiday parties, summer BBQs or movie nights
- Call your agents to check in on them and genuinely ask how they’re doing and what support they need
- Create contests and incentives to not only drive performance but make lead gen enjoyable
- Say thank you. Show appreciation for your agents when they go above and beyond, help another agent or assist you with something in the brokerage
8. Lead generation
Yes, it’s always best to teach your real estate agents how to generate leads and find their own clients, but in reality, agents want to be given leads, and they’re willing to pay for them. Offer a lead program with a higher commission split to cover your cost of generating or buying the lead, and you’ll be surprised how many agents will jump at the chance to work with a lead given to them, even if they net less money.
There are lots of lead sources out there. CINC is one of the best because it offers many different types of lead generation, so you can choose what will work best for your brokerage or team. CINC offers paid Google ads, Facebook ads, cash offer campaigns plus services to showcase your team’s listings to a larger audience. In addition, your subscription will include a comprehensive CRM and website.
9. Real-time market updates
Keeping your team members and agents informed of market conditions and trends at regularly scheduled events like weekly team meetings or group calls will build team loyalty and improve your agents’ skills. Agents who are up-to-date on what’s happening will more easily build trust with their clients, as well. Imagine how good your brokerage would’ve looked if your agents were the first ones to fully understand the implications of last year’s lawsuit, for instance.
Provide these essential opportunities to make sense of data. Have your team leaders break down your association’s data into bite-sized, valuable insights that can be passed along to your team’s buyers and sellers. Become your market’s leading source of meaningful insights into market trends through effective email marketing delivered to your entire team’s clients.
This will take some extra legwork on your part (or your staff’s part), yet it’s a great way to provide additional value to your agents without any additional cost. Or you can use a tool like Altos Research to save time and get the most up-to-date market reports!
10. Support physical and mental health
Supporting your real estate agents’ overall well-being will do wonders for your retention. Real estate is a tough business, and when agents feel supported in all aspects, they’re much more likely to stay with their brokerage or team.
Here are a few ideas for supporting physical and mental health:
- Work with a local gym to provide discounts to your agents.
- Encourage days off and follow through with supporting agents’ days off by facilitating coverage for them.
- Model taking time off (take your own days off and vacations).
- Ask your agents how they’re feeling and how things are at home, when appropriate.
- Provide a safe space for them to speak freely if and when they need someone to talk to.
- Partner with local therapists to provide higher-level support, possibly at a discount.
- Host fun events with a physical component, like a yoga class in the office (great for improving office culture, too!).
- Keep healthy snacks in the office.
Importantly, keep all these offerings completely optional. Agents should always feel invited to participate but never feel pressured to join in.
11. Recognition
One of the easiest ways to improve your real estate agent retention is to recognize and reward your agents. Recognition provides all that feel-good dopamine to agents, which helps them feel seen and acknowledged while also feeling motivated to keep going, even through tough times. In addition to an annual awards ceremony where you can reward your top producers and rookie of the year, consider adding more awards throughout the year.
At our monthly brokerage meeting, for instance, we present the Spirit Award to one agent who has been especially helpful to others or demonstrated exceptional culture that month. The single trophy gets passed from agent to agent, and it’s a beneficial tool for retention.
12. Strong branding and marketing
Agents often select a brokerage or team because of the branding and marketing they provide. It saves an individual real estate agent an immense amount of time and effort by not having to create their own branding. Offer templates to your agents to make it even easier for them and improve your retention.
Check out Coffee and Contracts as a way to deliver polished, consistently branded marketing materials for your brokerage or team. For a low monthly subscription fee, you gain access to a suite of social media content ideas and branded templates that you can customize with your brokerage’s brand colors and fonts.
13. Graceful exits
I’ve seen this time and again in my 12 years in the real estate industry: an agent leaves a brokerage to join another, then a year or two later, they return to the original firm. One vital yet often overlooked component of real estate agent retention is the graceful exit.
When an agent leaves, treat them with respect and kindness, because if they do find out the grass isn’t greener at their new brokerage, you’ll want them to feel welcome to return to yours. It’s a small world in real estate, and protecting your good reputation by not creating enemies is a smart long-term strategy, as well as just being a good way to live.
The full picture
Recruiting and retaining real estate agents isn’t easy, yet the brokers and teams who master the above strategies are the ones who will see their organizations grow and thrive. When in doubt, ask yourself: what would I want if I were an agent looking to join a new office or team?
About Ashley Harwood
Ashley Harwood began her real estate career in 2013 and built a six-figure business as a solo agent before launching Move Over Extroverts in 2018. She developed training materials, classes, and coaching programs for her fellow introverts. Beginning in 2020, Ashley served as Director of Agent Growth for three Keller Williams offices in the Boston metro area. She’s now the Lead Listing agent for the Fleet Homes team in Massachusetts and a regular contributor to Vetted by HousingWire. She created The Quiet Success curriculum and has taught thousands of real estate agents nationwide. She has also been a guest speaker at top industry events and has been named a leading real estate coach by prominent industry publications.
