Over the years thousands of students have come into our offices and have asked the same question time and time again; "What should I look for when choosing a real estate company?" Since Champions School of Real Estate is committed to excellence and we pride ourselves on honesty, each time one of our career counselors is presented with this question, they always answer with the following information:
It does not matter if an office is large or small; it matters only what they achieve in closed sales volume. If there are sales, the company will be in the black financially and have a credible reputation in the community. Real estate offices are corporations and should run like a corporation with business models and smart people leading their sales force to a positive outcome.
The real estate company should have an up to date policies and procedures manual and the manual should offer answers to questions concerning independent contractor expectations. An easily readable manual that provides descriptive information about what the agent would need to know at the hiring and exiting interviews is a must. Champions School of Real Estate tells the agent this information would cover commission splits or gross income sliding scales. A company's manual should be as specific as possible as to who gets any or all commission on listings that sell after the agent transfers their license to another brokerage. There are many scenarios for this particular situation.
Companies should also have ongoing training sessions for new or experienced agents with upper management. Written expectations of the new or experienced agent's growth and development stages during their career path and training sessions should be clearly stated. If there are no expectations, people do not know if they are achieving a good, mediocre or poor performance level. A company's training material must be current. An agent coming into the business is expecting information on how to succeed in today's technological world.
Agents should be prepared to develop a business plan that will be reviewed by their management. Management should provide initial feedback and have a continuous review process with their agents. Business plans and business models are both financial and personal goals, which demonstrate what the independent contractor and their chosen company should achieve on a monthly and annual basis.
A positive manager and sales team are key characteristics of a successful work environment. Having a positive leader is paramount to any successful business. If the sales manager navigates your interview with a company in a negative direction, understand their attitude is possibly going to cost you money and time at the wrong company.
