Agents Usually Change Brokerages for Micro Reasons

by | Jun 24, 2024

A while back, I had the opportunity to spend some time with the CEO of a large real estate company in the Midwest.

The company operates in several metro areas and aggressively recruits experienced agents from competitors.

This company meticulously tracks their recruiting and retention data and looks for patterns they can use to optimize their efforts.

They also track the recruiting and retention performance of their competitors for the same reason.

After reviewing data from more than 7,600 offices in the service areas, I asked the CEO:

What causes agents to move from one company to another?

He answered:

There are no macro patterns that make agents move en-masse around the marketplace–almost all the movements are the result of micro patterns.

Agents move for reasons such as:

-An office gains the reputation of being the new place to be and picks up four agents.

-A popular manager leaves a company and takes six agents with him.

-An office changes their commission formula or reduces their service offerings, and a few agents become disgruntled and leave.

-An agent decides to make a change, and her closest friend in the office decides to leave too.

If agents mostly change companies due to micro patterns, recruiting execution is more important than ever.

The most diligent recruiters end up with the most hires—regardless of the company for which they’re recruiting.

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PS.  Have you signed up for tomorrow’s “Talent Attraction Event” with Coach Travis Robertson?  If not, take a minute to register now.  Click here for more information on this event.

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Unlock the secrets of effective real estate recruiting. Revised to include actionable frameworks for sharper execution and to help you turn psychological theory into a repeatable recruiting system.

The Attrition Variables

The Attrition Variables

While these attrition constants still have the greatest influence, there are some emerging attrition variables worth noting. People also tend to leave companies when: They feel like they’re not doing as well as others in their peer group outside the company. They feel like they’re not as far along as they should be at a certain point in life.

The Attrition Constants

The Attrition Constants

If you’re not focusing most of your retention effort on these issues, you’ll miss the mark. If you’re not focusing most of your recruiting effort on exploiting these weaknesses among your competitors, you’re missing the best opportunities.

The Persistence Mindset

The Persistence Mindset

A leader equipped with this mindset can have a profound effect on the life and career of each individual they engage. It works because an agent is getting a real-time glimpse of what it would be like to work on your team. But it only becomes believable when it is persistently applied over time.