Over the holidays, I connected with a colleague who was taking inventory of the agents who had left his firm during the previous year.

He and his staff compiled a list of the characteristics the agents possessed who defected to competitors.

They looked at every angle possible—compensation inequities, competitors who were offering bonuses, technology issues, marketing/lead generation expenses, staffing issues, cultural misfits, and more than a dozen other factors.

According to this owner, the reason agents left the organization was typically connected to one simple issue.

Greater than 90% of the agents who left our company were more than 10% down in their business from the previous year.

There were always other reasons cited during exit interviews, but the underlying catalyst that caused most agents to start looking (or be open to listening to a recruiter’s pitch) was a slight decline in their production.

Armed with this data, this owner is putting systems in place to alarm him when an agent’s production falls more than 10% below the previous year’s trend line.

He’s also looking at monthly production compared to the previous year.

Once an agent falls below 10%, reversing the trend becomes the immediate objective of those on the management team.

If this is the juncture where agents are most vulnerable, it’s important they’re hearing your voice and not the voice of a competitor.