A common belief among brokerages is that if you are not increasing your gross fee income or office size, you are not successfully growing your brokerage business.
But the tactical approach of regular check-ins and a focus on retention as the basis for strengthening a real estate agent’s ranks is often undervalued or overlooked.
While brokerages often prioritize sophisticated recruitment tactics and best-in-class technology stacks, it’s important to reconsider the relationships and organizational sustainment fundamentals that underpin a brokerage’s success.
by National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average tenure of a broker is six years. If your brokerage isn’t meeting or exceeding that number, it’s time to reconsider your retention strategy.
The real estate market is saturated with brokerages that offer nearly identical fee structures, technical support, and growth opportunities. Although these have become basic requirements for attracting agents, they are not sufficient to retain them.
High-performing agents look for brokers who match their energy and, most importantly, an office culture that makes them feel professionally nurtured and personally valued.
The psychology behind regular check-ins
The need for autonomy and belonging
Agents that produce top talent often have an entrepreneurial spirit that emphasizes autonomy. But they also understand the benefits of being part of a well-coordinated team. Regular check-ins serve to start conversations about how agents can best utilize their brokerage resources while fostering a collaborative atmosphere.
These meetings allow agents to consider how they can better leverage the brokerage’s resources, such as marketing support, technology tools, and training modules, to maximize their own efforts. At the same time, you can discuss team projects and common goals, fostering a sense of shared responsibility and belonging.
This balance satisfies agents’ need for autonomy and creates a collaborative culture that expands collective success.
Predicting burnout: Subtle warning signs
Real estate is characterized by peaks of high returns and troughs of competition for new transactions. This cyclical nature can place significant mental strain on agents, making burnout a real and present danger.
More than 60,000 agents left the real estate industry in the first half of this year alone, according to NAR data. Regular check-ins act as an early warning system and give brokers an opportunity to understand an agent’s mental health.
Pay attention to subtle indicators such as decreased enthusiasm, increased absenteeism, and decreased positive communication. These can be the first signs of impending burnout. By identifying signals early, brokers can proactively offer solutions such as workshops, additional training, or even lead reassignment to relieve pressure.
Quantifiable impact on business metrics
Reducing cost of sales
When discussing cost of goods sold, most brokers consider immediate expenses such as job advertising and training resources. However, the costs become more extensive when you factor in factors such as lost customer relationships, disrupted team dynamics, and even potential reputational damage due to high agent turnover.
Regular check-ins are an easy and effective way to reduce churn. By building stronger relationships and understanding your agents’ needs, you increase your chances of retaining agents long-term and reduce the sunk costs of bringing new agents on board quickly.
performance indicators
To evaluate agent performance, brokers often focus on KPIs such as closed sales, listing sales, and customer conversion rates. While these are definitely important for day-to-day tracking, regular check-ins offer a more nuanced approach to performance evaluation.
These can shine a light on more nuanced metrics that are often hidden behind flashy numbers, such as client satisfaction, agent responsiveness, and even negotiation skills.
For example, if an agent has high listing turnover but low customer satisfaction scores, regular check-ins are the ideal platform to address this disconnect.
This may indicate that the agent is great at closing deals, but may need to improve their communication and after-sales service with clients. These insights not only improve individual agent performance, but also contribute to the brokerage’s overall reputation and customer retention.
Strategic implementation of check-ins
Leveraging technology: A data-driven approach
Advances in analytical software have equipped brokerages to make check-ins more effective and timely. Previously, it was very limited to tracking using Excel and recruiting and retaining in separate channels.
Technology platforms can now automatically flag agents that need a check-in, such as agents who suddenly drop in key performance metrics or remain inactive for long periods of time. Leveraging technology to automate these simple processes can be the difference between an agent staying or going.
Using a CRM is another area that can help you monitor agent engagement, but it requires agents to use a CRM. An office manager can encourage his CRM usage through the “60 Capacity Rule,” developed by Dr. Ben Spears of the podcast “Brokerprenuer.” Whatever it is. Once you do that, they’re hooked and come back to you and say, ‘What else should I do? ” he says. ”
Intermediaries’ ability to streamline and automate retention depends on having reliable data about agent activity.
Customization over generalization: the personal touch
The secret to effective check-ins is adaptability. Agents are not monolithic entities. They differ in career stage, customer base, and sensitivity to market fluctuations. For new agents, discussions may focus on training and basic sales techniques.
For veterans, topics range from advanced customer retention strategies to building your own team. Recognizing and adapting to these individual nuances makes check-ins more engaging and actionable, and provides value-added guidance that agents can immediately apply.
Giving and receiving feedback: a two-way communication channel
It’s important to remember that check-ins should be conversations, not monologues. Most brokerages view these sessions as an opportunity to provide feedback to their agents, but what if we reversed the perspective?
Encouraging your agents to express their opinions and suggestions about your brokerage’s practices and policies can provide valuable insight. These open lines of communication can help you identify gaps in your current system, suggest new training modules, or signal significant strategic changes.
Agent retention is a delicate game that requires a multifaceted approach. While technology and commission splits are important, always evaluate the power of well-executed and thoughtful regular check-ins.
These demonstrate a brokerage’s commitment to agent development and are essential to fostering a culture of inclusivity, transparency, and shared growth.
Jim Turner is the founder and CEO of. broker kitis a leading agent recruitment CRM for real estate brokers.