Overcoming Low Agent Adoption & Engagement with the Power of Communities

Dear Real Estate Marketing and Technology Leaders,

We understand the significance of technology in achieving success in real estate, and thus make great efforts to invest in tools and marketing, yet feel disappointed with the slow adoption rates. It is an acknowledged fact that low agent adoption hinders progress and thus impacts our successes.

Therefore, how can we conquer the issue of low agent adoption and community engagement?

The success of a tool, department or community can make your brokerage a gold mine, while its failure can turn it into a ghost town.

Overcoming the following eight factors of failure is a must for every broker:

1. Undefined mission

2. Absence of humor and relatable content

3. No celebration of accomplishments

4. No easy way to engage and receive prompt feedback

5. Lack of traditions and routines

6. Absence of a sense of belonging

7. Missing positive vibes

8. Prevalence of negativity

Mastering these factors will help you build a strong community, boost adoption rates while creating a culture that attracts recruits.

In this article I will address three proven ways to combat the most difficult failure factors:

1. Clarifying the Aim: Crafting a new mission statement together with your agents is key to setting out purpose, principles and aspirations. By involving our agents and seeking their feedback, we can gain insight into how to shift the brand perception in our agents' minds, setting up ideas that are aligned with our larger objectives. An outlined mission statement encourages agents to take ownership and provide feedback that encourages imperfection in hopes of finding tools and marketing tactics that positively impact their wallets.

   Here is an example that can be improved upon and adjusted by your company:

   "We firmly believe that the collective power of minds working in unison is greater than a mind working independently. As such, our team holds weekly in-person meetings to pool resources, brainstorm effective strategies and devise creative marketing techniques. In addition, we support each other to develop our individual talents and abilities and to rely on others when needed. Through our collaboration, we are encouraging out-of-the-box thinking and fostering continual improvement. Our mission is to alter public perception by highlighting the value of creativity, effort, and team effort. By jointly creating this mission statement, we all affirm our collective commitment to our vision of collective success."

2. Add Fun and Foster a Community: Creating a weekly thread, where your real estate agents can post funny memes and relatable stories of their day-to-day work experiences, is a way to connect our agents on a more entertaining level. Establishing an internal 'broke agent' thread and adding humor into the mix will foster a more tight-knit and encouraging environment, leading to higher adoption rates.

   Example: Your Daily Dose Of Real Estate (Editor Note: This message board can be set up within a Twilio MMS or RCS app, or, you can use a tool like https://www.community.com/):

   • During one open house I was hosting I had to step in when an altercation started between a prospective buyer and seller because the seller wouldn't let the buyer paint a wall!

   • At another showing I attended the buyers kept saying, "Where did you get that?!" to everything in the house, so the seller had to explain the entire backstory for every piece of furniture and art in the house.

   • Yesterday I showed a home and the homeowners were supposed to be on vacation, I walked into the master and they were asleep in bed and had no idea a showing was taking place.

   • When I was working in luxury real estate I once saw a prospective buyer open their briefcase during a walk-through and check out the view from the second-story balcony with a pair of binoculars!

   • When showing properties I've had buyers suddenly pause in mid-tour to go sit down and do their taxes.

   • I had a showing that didn't quite go as planned and the seller accidentally locked the buyers out of the house while they were in it.

   • On another open house, the buyers didn't even step inside - they stayed in their car, pointing at things outside until I came over and talked to them!

3. Offer Support: Installing milestone posts where our agents can share their progression with their real estate business and show their achievements will serve to acknowledge our agents' triumphs, as well as grant them a platform to share their knowledge and advice with others. This type of initiative will inspire our agents and in turn, create a supportive and constructive culture.

   15 ways to acknowledge your agents (Editors Hack: give your agents a super power, even if they don’t have that super power, and they will feel as if they need to live up to it and eventually wear like a badge of honor).

   • The Million Dollar Milestone: Agents who have earned one million dollars or more in the real estate business in a year.

   • The Growth Gamers: Agents who have been able to double their client list year on year.

   • The Portfolio Creators: Agents who have expanded their client portfolio to 5 or more clients within the same year.

   • The Tenant Group: Agents who have successfully secured 10 tenants or more within the same year.

   • The Investment Makers: Agents who have secured their first major property investment within the year.

   • The Trailblazers: Agents who have achieved something ground breaking and trailblazing within the real estate industry in the year.

   • The Consultant Class: Agents who have used their expertise to gain five or more consultancy clients within the year.

   • The Speedy Realtors: Agents who have been able to list, market and successfully close 5 properties within a 3 month period.

   • The Meeting Masters: Agents who have completed 10 client meetings in a single month.

   • The Advocate Awards: Agents who have obtained over 5 recommendations and/or testimonials in the same year.

   • The Timekeepers: Agents who have achieved a 50% or greater conversion rate in the space of 3 months.

   • The Tech Trailers: Agents who have utilized cutting-edge technology to list 10 properties in a year.

   • The Social Spotters: Agents who have used online/social media channels to generate more than 5 leads within a single month.

   • The Mentor Masters: Agents who have been a mentor to other agents in the space of one year.

   • The Active Analyzers: Agents who have gathered the market data, research and trends to produce leads.

    

   All in all, through executing the three proposed steps, we can exceed low agent adoption and build a culture that is more successful and engaged. Therefore, work together with your agents to and develop a new a mission statement, a fun community, and commend your agents' accomplishments!

Let me know how this works out for your brokerage by emailing me at [email protected]