Highlight and elevate agent performance—and your company’s value—through mid-year reviews.
As the half-way point in the year approaches, it is a good time for managers and broker/owners to prepare to engage in their agents’ success through mid-year reviews.It does not matter whether specific agents are overperforming or underperforming; this is an opportunity to assist in your agents’ success while reinforcing your value to their business. A mid-year review will highlight the tools and advantages of your company that have helped high-producing agents achieve their year-to-date sales, and will also allow you to add value to underperforming agents by recommending company tools that will turn their year around.
This is a pivotal exercise for agent retention, and for the mutual success of agents and the company. Approach it purposefully by addressing the following areas:
Review Actual Production: No review is meaningful without looking at real numbers, which means actual results. Know year-to-date figures for volume, units, and commissions, and know where those numbers stand in relation to each agent’s previous year, beginning of year goals, and the overall market (up or down). There will always be more to the story than just these—and you will certainly cover that—but don’t ignore actual numbers whether they are something to celebrate or a matter of concern.
Review Activities: Discuss how their results happened. What activities, especially concerning prospecting, have they done to reach their current production? Take special note of activities that they are doing…or not doing…consistently that utilize a company sales tool or that may, as you will refer back to this later in your review.
Compare to Their Business Plan: Now compare their results and their activities to the business plan that they set in the beginning of the year. Have they truly followed their plan so far? Have circumstances changed that require an adjustment to their strategy? Marrying their previous plan to their current reality is essential to helping your agent focus on the best plan for success moving forward.
Incorporate Your Value: Every agent review will offer the opportunity for you to either highlight certain aspects of your company—market leadership, marketing, tech tools, support, etc.—that have either helped them drive sales and income or can help them solve a challenge that they have experienced year-to-date. This is where you demonstrate your value and aid your own long-term retention efforts. You must reinforce your value proposition on a personal level with each agent or team, and mid-year reviews are a perfect opportunity to do that based either on real results or on necessary guidance.
Of course, the most important aspect of these reviews is to keep your agents as focused and productive as possible and assist them in driving and closing more sales. The retention value of this exercise should not be overlooked, however, so plan and execute mid-year reviews with that in mind, and you will reinforce your value and your relationship in order to achieve a strong record of agent retention in your company.
To learn how an affordable, branded agent training platform can improve retention and drive new and existing agent production, set up a free call here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 25 years of experience in real estate as an agent, broker and executive, Johnson now offers her proven methods through coaching, consulting and keynote speaking services nationwide. She is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and is the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. Johnson has also been named an RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker in 2020 and 2021 as an Industry Influencer and Thought Leader. Schedule a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
