Broker Beware: Is Your Business Walking Out the Door?

Judy LaDeur has been a broker since 1976. You could say, she’s a broker’s broker…willing to tell it like it is, no matter how hard it is to say or hear sometimes.

“I tell brokers, every agent is going to leave you at some point,” confesses LaDeur. “They’re going to retire, they’re going to get sick, they’re going to die and the longer they’ve been around, the more likely you are to lose them.”

Do the math. You’re a broker with plenty of REALTORS®, but let’s say “ten” of them a year leave your company — for whatever reason. If each one is worth $2.5M in business, you’ve lost $25M’s worth of business, right?

“Wrong,” says LaDeur. “When you lose agents, you lose market share. Those agents, who leave for a variety of reasons, have clients who will continue to buy real estate from someone. If that business goes to a competitor, you lose double.”

“If they recruit ten of your $2.5M producers, you lose $25M in business and at the same time, your competitor gains $25M. They now have a $50M increased market position!” – Judy LaDeur

LaDeur thinks these “double counts” are the result of aggressive recruiting and that every broker should have an exit strategy for every agent for two reasons; one, to keep from losing market share and two, because most agents have no idea they can sell their business.

“Some years ago, [the National Association of REALTORS®] did a study that showed 87-percent of agents said they had no intention of trying to sell their business,” LaDeur continues. “They planned to walk away, because their broker hadn’t educated them on their options. When agents learn that they can sell their business, they are more willing to meet with that broker and they are much more open to a move.”

“Why let your business just walk out the door?” asks LaDeur. “One of the Top 5 Must-Do Strategies for Brokers is to have a specific retention plan to keep your agents happy. In troubled times, those who feel under-appreciated will begin to look to your competition for acknowledgement.”


Part One: REALTOR Retirement
Part Two: What’s Your Business Worth?

Tags: , ,