How to confidently repeat your company’s value to increase agent retention and recruiting.
Most brokers and managers know the positive reasons that agents choose to be part of their company. Consistently reinforcing those reasons is another step entirely that is imperative for maximizing agent retention and attracting new agents.
The “Rule of 7” states that people need to hear a message at least seven times before it really sinks in. What is important in the long-term, however, is that repetition of a message does not diminish its impact. In fact, the more impressions of a message that someone receives, the more they become familiar, comfortable and confident in that message. Brokers and managers, therefore, should be saying a few key messages hundreds of times to consistently communicate the strengths of your company, keep agents loyal and grow your team with new agents.
Repeat for Retention: First and foremost, you must continually communicate your company’s value to your current agents for maximum stability and profitability. Do not assume that your agents—even long-time veterans of your company—feel secure in their allegiance to you and your company. You must continually earn their loyalty, and your messaging must actively promote how you positively impact each of your agents’ businesses.
While you likely could list dozens of reasons to be in your company, your repeated messages should be limited to two or three core mantras. Which messages you choose will depend on your specific company and individual market, but here is an approach that has been successful for many brokers and managers:
– If your company has a long-time slogan that defines the company’s general “personality”, embrace it, repeat it and keep talking about how the company’s values positively affect your agents’ success.
– If your company is running a current consumer-facing advertising campaign, reinforce that message with your agents and show them how to keep using it immediately to win more clients.
– Highlight a facet of your local real estate presence that makes your office and company unique. That facet may be almost anything: market share; longevity in the community; expertise in a certain neighborhood or niche; or anything else.
Repeating these messages will keep your agents aware of your value, reinforce that they are part of something bigger, and connect with them on a personal and professional level in their specific market.
Repeat for Recruiting: Your messaging for new recruits will be similar to that for your current agents, but should be modified based on whether the recruit is an experienced co-broke or new to the real estate business.
For experienced co-brokes, highlighting your company’s personality and current advertising is still important, as is promoting your advantages in your local market. An additional focus of your communications, however, should be on how a specific dynamic of your company will positively affect that agent’s business. Hopefully you have discovered a particular aspect of their business that you could enhance (or better yet, a problem that they have that you can solve) and are repetitively wooing them with that information. Keep repeating yourself to them. Be a broken record and be persistent. Eventually your value and your solutions will take hold in their minds, and when the time is right, they will know where they are welcome.
For newly licensed or soon-to-be licensed agents, your message should be more about the benefits of a real estate career and why you and your company are the best choice for them. Find out their motivation for considering real estate, or what situation they have that a real estate career would solve, then keep guiding them with the same messages until they choose to move forward.
In all of the situations above, even when you become tired of the message of yourself—which happens to all of us—do not stop repeating yourself! You will dilute your message and your value if you continually change course, so be consistent both in the frequency and in the content of your primary messages for maximum effectiveness.
Consider this: What athletic shoes would you buy if you wanted to “Just Do It”?; What car would you buy if you wanted to drive “The Ultimate Driving Machine”?; What insurance company would you use if you wanted to “be in good hands”? Nike, BMW and Allstate have used these slogans for 30, 40 and 60 years, respectively, because they know that repetition has made their message more effective. Remember that as you consistently convey your own messages to your current and prospective real estate agents, and your success in retention and recruiting will follow.
For a free copy of my exclusive “Recruiting Skills Assessment,” click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. She is also an RISMedia 2020 Real Estate Newsmaker as an industry Influencer. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
