New real estate agent checklist for brokers
When you’ve just hired a new real estate agent, it’s important to make them feel right at home at your brokerage. Take the first few weeks and show the new hire why you’re a great company to work for -- in a competitive labor market, you need to work harder to make sure agents stay. If they don’t see your value proposition as a broker from day one, their gaze might turn to greener pastures faster than you think!
Hiring a new real estate agent is always a bit of a gamble. You won’t know whether they’ll fit in with the existing team, work well with your clients and are a match to your company culture. So it makes sense to keep an eye on how they’re doing, checking in on a regular basis.
Whether you’re hiring junior agents, or more experienced people, you should have standard processes to guide the new starter along.
First impressions matter
What is your first impression as a broker? What would you rather be seen as: upbeat, modern, fast-moving and profitable, or old-fashioned, somewhat stale and boring?
To better control this, set up a checklist. The goal of a checklist is not just for you to keep control of your new agents, but also to manage their first impressions. Best to have a set process for this, so you control what the first weeks and months look like.
This checklist is a great tool for two reasons. First, you’ll retain a firm grasp of how the new agent is performing. Second -- and this is big -- the agent will feel like you’re truly developing them. They will also get a sense of control over their own development, making it more likely they’ll stay.
Checklist for new real estate agents
Here’s a checklist you can implement for all your new starters. It’ll save you a huge amount of time, since you’ll have the same process for all new starters.
These are a few things to keep track of during the first month and first quarter your new starter is with you.
Month 1
- Schedule time with mentor/manager on the first day
- Set daily interactions with mentor/manager
- Schedule formal training sessions (face-to-face, videos, etc…)
- Have the new agent shadow another agent for a few days
- Make sure they understand the company structure and culture
- Schedule time with their real estate team
- Take them through the plan for their first 90 days at the company
Quarter 1
- Set deeper weekly interaction with manager
- Set weekly goals to Establish sales habits that lead to success
- Calls
- Listings
- Production
- Commission
- Schedule performance review at the end of the first quarter
Keep his checklist in an accessible format for everyone -- the agent, their manager and yourself. This way, you’ll have a completely transparent overview of what’s going on. You can see where the process is falling short, have quick catch ups with the new agent and give them a thumbs-up when they’re running through their first months successfully. They’ll love getting praise from a senior colleague and work all the harder for it!
