Training and development are two of the most crucial aspects of running a successful real estate brokerage firm. New agents will offer varying degrees of experience, skill, and knowledge in the industry. It’s up to their employers to ensure they have the skills and sales understanding needed to sell properties fast and efficiently.
If you own or operate a listing service or brokerage company, prioritize training your agents to understand the market clearly and spot opportunities that will get their inventory sold pronto!
The Importance of Training
There are so many obstacles that real estate agents encounter in their daily jobs. It’s no wonder that not everyone who enters this profession succeeds. As a sales or office manager who supervises brokers and agents, you’ll need to bear all these obstacles in mind.
Once you understand them, you can tailor your training protocols to give your agents the tools they need to survive and thrive amid the ever-changing real estate market.
Read on for a comprehensive guide that will teach you how to train your real estate agents to attain maximum success.
No. 1: Training to Harness Prospects and Leads
The key to being a good real estate agent is being able to follow up on promising leads and prospects consistently. Buying and selling real estate can be a long, drawn-out process, and every prospect will be at a different phase in their quest for property.
You need to train your agents to plan ahead, keep up to date with leads, and keep their prospects engaged at every step of the way. This way, your team can minimize client loss, and maximize client satisfaction and revenue generation simultaneously.
No. 2: Teaching Agents to Persevere
Real estate agents may form part of a greater team, but they largely operate within their own jurisdictions. This is why it’s important to teach agents the skill of ongoing persistence. Persistent and diligent agents are better equipped to work without the constant help of managers and superiors, and are better able to take advantage of leads.
It can be tricky to teach perseverance, especially since it’s more commonly considered as a personality trait. However, training programs do need to include this skill in their regimes. Training agents to keep working hard regardless of external circumstances will allow them to grow and develop within their own personal capacities on the job.
No. 3: Teaching Good Communication Skills
Property salespeople need to have excellent communication abilities to engage with clients effectively. Your training program must teach your agents to communicate clearly and regularly, in person, in writing, and online.
Encourage your staff to practice relaying their messages so that they have the skills necessary to interact professionally with clients and leads. They need strong negotiation skills too, so ensure that your training programs include new negotiation techniques that offer examples of effective client-agent negotiation.
No. 4: Focus on Ongoing Development Through Technology
Technology has revolutionized virtually every aspect of modern real estate. It has made it easier than ever for agents to communicate with clients, show properties to buyers, and close fast and lucrative sales. However, not all agents are tech savvy. This can unfortunately set them back in the age of technology.
Your training and development protocols should ensure that your agents can use smart devices and mobile apps, and list properties and upload images on your firm’s official website. You must train them to use virtual communication and meeting platforms like Zoom, which have become the gold standard for professional correspondence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using a learning management system (LMS) for training agents is another way to use tech to boost the efficacy of your development programs. This approach also enhances your agents’ productivity. LMS modules allow you to develop, publish, distribute, and track your agents’ training digitally and on any smart device.
No. 5: Implement MLS Listing Training
Nowadays, a huge percentage of potential clients begin their search for property online. Most of these people view information on properties through multiple listing systems (MLS systems) like Triangle MLS. Most agents are only vaguely familiar with MLS databases, but it’s essential that they learn as much about them as possible.
Successful agents are those who use MLS systems to post their own listings and view hundreds of other properties in a given area through convenient online portals. These systems are quickly becoming the norm in modern real estate, so it’s essential that your staff can use them effectively.
No. 6: Focus on Marketing Skills
As with all businesses, marketing is a crucial facet of the real estate business. The advent of digital marketing and social media marketing have made sales somewhat more complicated, but the core principles of marketing are still solid.
You can empower your agents to create more leads and sell properties faster by training them to market themselves and their services properly.
No. 7: Teach Time Management and Scheduling
As your real estate agents’ businesses grow, their schedules will become increasingly busier and more complex to manage.
Busy agents need to learn how to manage their time and schedules to meet the needs of all their clients adequately.
No. 8: Promote Continual Education
Ongoing training is an essential part of the training and development process. Becoming licensed is a process that can take months of studying and preparation, and after passing their exams, many agents avoid further training on the matter. However, ongoing training can mark the difference between an estate agent and a real estate expert.
Continuous education will help agents pursue constant professional development while maximizing the revenues they can bring in for your firm. If your business is booming and you find that ongoing training is becoming problematic, you can look at outsourcing options.
Webinars and online real estate training courses can help boost agents’ prospects in their industry. Sites like Real Estate Express, Kaplan Real Estate Education, and the National Association of Realtors Center for Realtor Development all offer courses that can provide valuable skills and inspiration for proprietary educational programs.
Alternatively, you can partner with a PEO that not only handles HR, payroll, and other admin tasks, but takes charge of training too. The best PEO companies assist with training and development, leaving you free to focus on growing your business.
Promoting Learning On An Ongoing Basis
Training and development in the real estate industry should always be an ongoing process.
Successful estate agents are those who embrace continuous learning opportunities to improve their communication, negotiation, as well as technological and personal marketing skills.
