10 REASONS WHY AGENTS LEAVE THEIR BROKERAGE

Each agent has their own thought process and reasoning for making the decision to leave their current brokerages. Some are very straight forward, while others are very complex.  1 out of every 3 agents are considering making a brokerage change. It is rare that agents leave a comfortable situation because most people hate change. Change is difficult and full of unknowns. However, without the state of being uncomfortable, growth can’t occur.

Below are 10 reasons why agents consider leaving their current brokerage.  They are in random order as every agent is different and will prioritize them differently.

1 - Commission Split - This is one of or the most common reasons agents decide to leave their current brokerage.  When agents are new to the industry, the “Normal” discussions of splits and what % goes to the brokerage and/or franchise is somewhat foreign.  But as an agents success grows, the realization of their commission split and money they could be making can become an area of contempt.

2 - Fee’s - Another common reason agents decide to leave a brokerage is that they no longer want to pay for fee’s they feel are unwarranted or unfair to them as an agent.  Some of the common fee’s that agents do not care to pay are desk fee’s, Office Expenses, Advertising, Franchise Fee’s, Broker Management Fee’s, Copier Fee’s and other miscellaneous fee’s.  Agents that do not use the office, the office copier or receive dividend checks from the franchise do not feel they should have to pay unwarranted/unfair fee’s. 

3 - Training - Great Agents are not born they are trained.  Some brokerages do a great job offering training to their agents.  They use webinars, techinars, live training and 1 on 1 mentorship when deemed necessary.  Not all brokerages have this capability or spend the time/money to bring training to their agents.  Agents are looking for personal growth and opportunities.  If an agent is not personally being challenged or being offered better opportunities to develop themselves and their brand, they will find a brokerage that will.

4 - Office Chemistry - This one normally is not the only reason an agent will decide to leave a brokerage (unless the environment is toxic), but it does play heavily into their decision.  Enjoying the environment that you work in, when you are in the office is a crucial piece to an agents success.  Agents like a environment and sales process that flows well and contributes to their overall success.  If an agent feels there is an environmental issue that they are unable to fix, it will be easier for them to just leave.  

5 - Leadership - This one is tough because it may be a combination of a few points listed above, but the overall tone of the brokerage is 100% set by the lead broker(s).  When you have a friendly, inviting, transparent & accessible broker, the likelihood of the agents being the same way are high.  This breeds loyal agents.  The opposite of this creates discord, anger and ultimately causes great agents to find greener pastures.  

6 - Phone/Floor Time - This is not as common as it used to be.  Most of your mid size and larger brokerages have someone they hire on an hourly basis to answer phones and direct any possible walk in’s to an agent in a pool system.  But when you are at a smaller brokerage, pulling the short straw and getting stuck on the floor/phone duty is a beat down for most.  If your brokerage is small with a small number of agents, the chances of you being stuck at the office more is highly likely.  Switching to a larger brokerage might just fix this!

7 - Location - This one is low on the list of reasons to leave a brokerage, but does play a small roll in an agents decision to make a change.  Most agents work from home, their car, the local coffee shop or favorite restaurant.  So making the 1x per month pilgrimage to the brokerage for a meeting or training event may or may not play into an agents decision to leave.  Traffic, traffic and more traffic does turn off some agents and cause them to consider making a change. There is nothing a brokerage can do about traffic but they can hold meetings off of peak traffic hours/rush hour.  If your brokers are not sensitive to this challenge, then it may be time for a change.  

8 - Lack Of Personal Brand - Working with a huge real estate company can have it’s up side but also a down side.  Most of the very large brokerages have access to more leads and have various partnerships that help supply them with leads.  This may appear like a win/win to a new agent. However, the downside to this is that you may be in a situation where you are promoting the brokerage (their brand) more than your personal brand.  This is not a good strategy.  If you want to be a successful agent in the long term, you must build a strong personal brand.  You want your clients to go where you go no matter what brokerage you are associated with.  If this is not the case, you need to quickly evaluate your situation and take appropriate action.

9 - Business is slow - When you work with a boutique brokerage or just a smaller office trying to step out and compete with the bigger, more well known brokerages, several factors play into this.  SEO or Search Engine Optimization is critical when clients rely on search engines to find an agent, gauge the company’s approval rating or see if they are well known.  You also need to consider that you may be losing out on potential business if your brokerage has a poor online reputation.

10 - Other Financial Benefits - There are brokerages out there that have a system in place to help agents generate a 3rd stream of income while they continue to sell or buy properties for their clients.  Some brokerages have a profit sharing options, some brokerages have multi-level sponsorship and others have single level sponsorship.  Agents traditionally do not know of any other streams of income that is available, so this is normally a new concept to most.  Agents that are interested in this type of income need to do their research and find which model makes them the most money consistently.  Also, you need to look into which program is moveable or reconfigures if you retire from selling real estate or pass away.  This is very important.  The only single level sponsorship system out there is with EXiT Realty.  It also can stay with you after you retire and go to beneficiaries when you pass away.

BONUS MATERIAL

When an agent decides to leaver their current brokerage, unless there is a true unforeseen reason to leave abruptly, agents usually take their time to make the change.  Most agents take too much time, contemplating every scenario known to man before taking the leap.  I want to provide you with a bonus section, with 4 reasons agents take too long before leaving their current brokerage.

1 - Fear - Many agents believe when they have a fear of change or fear of the unknown that it means something bad is going to happen and they should not do anything.  Top psychologists state that when you are an adult, fear normally shows up EVERY time you're growing or going where you dream of.  They also state that anyone who has ever done anything unique or wonderful in their life was probably terrified much of the time, and very likely still is.

2 - Concern about their pipeline - This is a valid concern, but not one that would prevent you from moving forward.  Usually the brokerage that you are leaving will understand your departure because they traditionally want you to be happy and successful and will allow you to take your traditional commission.  However, there are occasions when they will enforce the contract you signed about leaving the brokerage and what that means for closings once you depart.  If they are going to take a big chunk of some of your bigger deals you have coming up, just wait until they close then move.  It’s ok, the new brokerage will understand.

3 - Too busy to make the switch - Ok, we all understand busy.  But when you are a producing agent, there will never really be a time when you are not busy.  However, there are times when even the busiest agent will slow down some.  Don’t let your schedule dictate your future.  If you can’t take the time, make the time.

4 - Their clients won’t be able to find them - This can also be summed up by saying that the agent has a fear of leaving a brokerage that they are identified with.  The actual truth is your clients liked you, not your brokerage.  They do not know how your brokerage works so do not give the brokerage that much power over you.  They don’t call their neighbors and say “look who we are selling our house with!  That’s right Sally, we went with XX brokerage.”  That’s not how any of this works.  Don’t give something power over you and your brain like that.