Brokers: Does your real estate tech stack really help recruit and retain agents?

If you ask real estate brokers to list their primary pain points, their answers will converge around three things: recruiting agents, retaining them, and keeping them productive.

These broker challenges are, of course, fundamentally linked. If you can't attract top agent talent and keep them productive, they'll leave, and you will never grow a thriving business.

In fact, the average stay for agents at their current brokerage is just four years, according to NAR. You read that right: as a broker, you have just a few years (if you're lucky) to keep agents around before they jump ship.

And since the average agent does 12 transactions each year, according to NAR's 2017 Member Profile, keeping their agents happy should be high on brokers' priority list — not only for team morale but for their bottom line.

Broker recruiting secret

The industry talks a big game when it comes to effective broker recruitment strategies — we hear things ranging from culture and office amenities to commission split, market share and brand recognition.

We also hear about the attractive benefits of technology. Are there tangible agent-recruiting benefits when brokers invest in technology? Yes!

Technology is the agent recruitment and retention king for brokers of all sizes.

Technology-focused recruiting

When technology is placed front-and-center in recruitment efforts, it's a win-win for both the broker and the agent being recruited. When putting together a winning tech strategy, there are must-haves. With the right tech in place, brokers can expect business-building results, including:

• Attracting agents interested in having the best tools and systems; these agents tend to be top producers.
• Fostering a culture that values streamlining business through technology, which leads to increased per-agent transaction volume.
• Creating trackable and measurable value for agents, something they won't find at tech-challenged brokerages.
• Stimulating more production with analytics and data, increasing profits for both brokers and agents.
• Gaining the ability to manage and distribute leads in an easy, streamlined manner, which enables brokerages to keep top producers well fed with high-quality leads.

Agents also benefit from brokerage-provided top technology in a variety of ways, which include:

• Receiving a proven system the minute they walk in the door — no need to waste time researching, testing, training and implementing their own tech.
• Knowing they're the tech-savvy agent that modern clients demand by delivering faster response times and leveraging time-saving, highly personalized automation, which drives increased referrals.
• Gaining the ability to focus solely on the human aspect of their jobs (serving clients and selling homes) thanks to robust automation features working behind the scenes.
• Customizing their business to ensure they have a healthy work-life balance.
• Gaining a competitive advantage over agents who don't leverage the latest technology.

These lists barely scratch the surface. Having great technology is clearly a comprehensive benefit for brokers and agents in all facets of their businesses.

Choosing the right technology

Not all tech is created equal.

Any broker can provide a low-budget, lightweight CRM, but will agents use it? Will it help them thrive? Probably not. Recruiting and retention success boils down to the true value of the tech you provide, which centers on its effectiveness and usability.

And you don't need all the tech you hear about. This guide walks you through the five must-haves to leverage tech as a recruiting advantage.

Having the best tech helps attract the best talent, especially if the tech is easy to use and adopt. Platforms that integrate important technology under one umbrella — lead generation, marketing, and follow-up — tend to be the most effective.

These platforms will set brokers apart and give them clear agent recruiting, retention and support advantages.

To view the original article, visit the Inside Real Estate blog.