High interest rates, high home prices and economic uncertainty have pushed some buyers and sellers to the sidelines. That's tough on consumers and the agents trying to serve them.
When activity slows, part of your job as a broker is helping agents navigate those choppy waters without losing focus. Here are six ways to keep your agents and your brokerage moving forward.
1. Recognize When an Agent Is Struggling Before They Tell You
As a broker, you need to keep a pulse on the agents in your office. There are obvious ways to spot when someone is struggling, like when their production drops 20% or 30%. But it’s important to look beyond the numbers, too.
Who used to come into the office regularly but hasn't been around lately? Who seems less connected to other agents? Who normally has consistent activity but has suddenly gone quiet?
An agent who is checked out can quickly become a retention issue. If they're already frustrated and disconnected from your brokerage, they may be more receptive to recruiting conversations with competing brokers.
2. Don't Manufacture Optimism
We all know numbers can be presented in ways that make almost any market look good. But an overly rosy messaging can backfire.
If you're telling agents everything is great while their own production is falling, that disconnect creates frustration. Worse, if they take that same message to their clients, it can create unrealistic expectations.
Give your agents the real numbers and teach them how to use them.
If average days on market is 67 days, for example, your agents should know that before they walk into a listing appointment. They can prepare the seller for what to expect instead of promising a quick sale that may not happen.
The same applies when someone inevitably asks an agent, "How's the market?"
An agent armed with real data can explain what is happening and what it means for that particular buyer or seller.
This kind of honest information helps your agents become trusted advisers.
3. Pair Hard Data With a Path Forward
A realistic look at the numbers is important, but you don't want to dump difficult stats on your agents and then leave them without the context they need to maintain forward momentum.
If pending activity is down, sharing that figure without context can reinforce everything an agent is already worried about. Instead, pair the reality with a conversation about what they can do next.
When you talk with agents about the state of the market, make sure to include all of the details they need like:
- What’s happening
- What it means
- Where you still see opportunity
- What your agent can do about it
For example, even in a slower market there may be opportunities for investors or other buyers who are in a position to act while fewer people are competing for properties. The opportunity will look different from market to market, but your job as a broker is to help agents find the opportunity and understand how to act on it.
4. Communicate the Message More Than Once and More Than One Way
Agents need to hear important messages more than once, and not everyone will respond to the same form of communication.
Use all the communication options at your disposal: company meetings, sales meetings, market updates and one-on-one conversations. Some agents may understand the data immediately. Others may need you to sit down with them individually and talk through what it means for their business.
Catering your communication style to the individual needs of your agents is especially important in a tough market, because it's easy for agents to get caught in a negative cycle.
If you're not regularly communicating with them, plenty of other voices will fill that space. Make sure they're also hearing a realistic and productive message from you.
5. Change the Scorecard From Outcomes to Activities
In a slow market, closings and sales volume can become discouraging measurements because agents simply aren’t closing as many deals.
Instead, focus more attention on the activities they can control.
Work with agents to create goals around client annual reviews, home valuation conversations, phone calls, coffee meetings, pop-bys, direct mail or whatever type of consistent outreach fits their business.
A client review may not create a transaction today. But it reminds clients that their agent is a professional who continues to provide value even when they aren't actively buying or selling. That conversation could lead to a referral or a transaction down the line.
Help your agents measure whether they're doing the work that eventually creates results instead of spending all their time flailing because they’re not closing a deal right now.
6. Play the Long Game
Real estate is cyclical. You can't predict when interest rates will change or buyer activity will pick up, but you can help agents stay focused on the activities that build their businesses.
Agents who continue building relationships during slower periods will be better positioned when conditions improve. And if you've helped them stay informed, productive and connected through a difficult stretch, you've strengthened their relationship with your brokerage.
A difficult market tests your agents, but it also tests your leadership. How you support your people now can determine how strong your brokerage will be when the market picks up again
