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"Not wasting my money! What if I train them and they leave?"

When discussing training for staff and employees, I have had prospetive clients express concern about the effort and expense.

They often express one of their biggest fears: "What if I SPEND all this time and money to train them and then they LEAVE?"

My response seems to always surprise them: "What if you DON'T TRAIN them and they STAY?"

Then I shut up and let them consider this. And the facial expressions are typically very interesting at this point.

training What happens next? Typically, we talk about why people leave or stay with a firm. If the person is being successful they may leave. But many just want to be appropriately compensated for their efforts and progress. And be in an environment that is successful and continuing to work to be more successful for all.

The big problem for brokers and employers is the waste of money and loss of customers from poorly trained employees that are left to "figure it all out" by themselves. It may not be as obvious as writing a check for training but it is a big and ongoing cost. And far more than training costs.

Staff, agents, and employees rarely ask for training. For some reason, they feel like they are supposed to magically know how to do things. Divine inspiration I suppose.

Or they are afraid they will look incompetent. So instead, they muck through tasks at the expense of the company, their coworkers and the customers. Some even adapt the company philosophy that efficiency and customer service are less important than just showing up for the appointed period of work time. If management accepts this behavior, then it becomes acceptable and permitted.

Dog And others in management take a different approach. They keep telling everyone to do better. But they don't train them HOW to do better. That is like lecturing my dog "Rosie" on the latest developments in newtonian physics. It may make you feel like you've given good information or direction but all it did was confuse everyone (or the dog).

Winners want to work with winners. What culture is your work environment?

Do you work in a place that works to help you and those around you succeed? If not, do you want to (and does your broker or boss know that)?

P.S. Thanks go out to Jimpsie Rose "Rosie" Phillips (pictured above as a pup from a rescue shelter) for being a great dog and listening to me no matter what I ramble about.

Posted by Glenn Phillips on 08/13/2008 11:25 AM

Comments (61)

"Not Wasting My Money! What if I Train Them and They Leave?" in the Training Channel

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61 Comments on "Not wasting my money! What if I train them and they leave?"

AUG

2008

You hit the nail on the head! Great article. Just because you become an agent (now business owner) responsible & in charge of everything doesn't mean you will suddenly be gifted the skill set to be an effective manager or trainer either. Agents trying to master it all, including time management, often fall short. Needing to hire but not taking the time to hire or time necessary to train appropriately can be a costly mistake.

Hi Glenn~ As a real estate virtual assistant I see this time and time again in agent's businesses. And you are SO right. Getting a people hired, trained and with the skill sets that are needed for ones business is complicated and time consuming, but can end up costing a BUNDLE in the long run. Great topic to blog about:)

That's an issue I have as well. I try to treat my staff very well...so it makes it very hard to leave

What seems to me to be a step backward is when agents spend considerable time and money (advertising, business cards, etc.) and then decide to leave for maybe a 10% increase in their split and some charging no desk fees, have to start over. They have to change all of their advertising, get new cards, new business cards, etc. I say it is not worth it and one should stick with it and build their business so as to earn the better split--if anything, it is incentive to produce and we all need incentives to get us motivated when we work on commission only!

This is an excellent point. Brokers and owners should evaluate what it was that enticed an employee to WANT to join the firm in the first place. Was it simply money - or the promise of growth and advancement in the team/office/business/industry? Of course, employees would like to share in the success of the group, be counted as part of the team and all that. But it is true that many who enter the gates are sheepish about revealing their competency. They DO want direction even if they will not ask for it. They want to be just as competent and capable (i.e. valuable) as their peers in the organization. It is the responsibilty of the Broker/Owner to provide that investment - not only for the agent/employee, but more importantly, for the organization as well. New brokers should consider (heavily) the option of hiring outside trainers (or as in my office initiating a mentor group to offset the drain on the broker's time and expertise resource). Mentor groups are excellent alternatives which can provide an almost daily resource for the newly/untrained and can be done (with some commission splitting for salespeople) until the bird is ready to fly. In the end, well trained and respected employees have a hard time leaving (I think a crowbar may be necessary). But people will leave - and for reasons which may not be avoidable at any cost.

The problem I see is, when you have an agent who has alot of experience and feels they don't need to be retrained. This affects everyone especiall new agents because they may feel it's not that important.

Absolutely right, Glenn. Too often we hire out of convenience via the "fog a mirror" method. True professionalism involves training, and if you want your business and personal life to go to the next level, the only way to achieve true freedom is through leverage. We must always be "Talent Seekers," looking to discover and cultivate people that are not our subordinates, but potentially our business partners in years to come. Gary Keller once told me, "You have to be willing to make your world big enough to accomplish the dreams of others first, and once you do, your dreams can't help but be attained." After 5 years of being a Talent Seeker, I have to agree with him. I have lost a few agents or assistants along the way as my leadership skills have evolved, and that's okay, but I can't imagine ever going back to my former mindset of operating from a fear of loss rather than the opportunity ahead.

I love your come-back line! Thanks for validating my approach and philosophy in management, namely, my "product" is my agents, and if I don't develop, support, and train them, then I can have no realistic expectation of ever developing my company and increasing business. I'm trying to avoid being penny-wise and pound-foolish, but balancing cost versus rate-of-return is always a battle, for managing broker owners and agents alike.

~Ninah

I agree with offering training. It is essential as thr product out on the street, the loan officer in my case, is what my company sells. They must become experts. I do not often hire loan officers with no experience but from now on my feeling would be similar to FHA. Yes Mr / Ms loan officer prospect, licensing and training does cost money. And just like FHA, you have to have 3% into the deal.......

Glenn, You are SO right. I've heard this more than once... I think it's important to employers to provide training to their employees. The employee recognizes that extra effort their company is putting forth, rather than digging their toes in the sand, trying to teach themselves from a text book. So there is the cost of hiring someone, training them and then having to compensate them for more as their experience expands. Well, it's cheaper than having to flip through turnover. Plus, the more experience, the more that the person brings back to the company. I think that's what employers are missing. Of course you want to compensate people for bringing them more business, right? GREAT ARTICLE

WOW! I enjoyed every single phrase in your blog, you are so right, so much at the point! I'm not a real Esate Agent but the deep meaning of your article applies evrywhere and it s-o-o-o true.EXCELLENT!

I tried the 100% commission type office before but I did not like the "your on your own" attitude and lack of training. I don't mind a fair commission split if I am receiving support and training. I like being around top producers and the idea exchange.

David -

No such thing as 100% commission. They would not be in business. The company is getting their money from the rate, per loan, commitment fee, somehow. It just does not work otherwise.But, if there was a 100%, 95%, 90% whatever huge split offered, I would not expect them to help you unjam the copier, pay for your stamps, pay for the credit reports etc.....

I like the comments where you state you want to be around producers and mentors and receive support and training but help me understand what you think that is worth......

With that said, as an owner, I would love to hear what you and other LO's consider a fair commission split. This is not a test and there will be no criticisms or negative comments towards any perons idea of a fair split, but I am curios to hear from all. I would imagine it will be different depending on what part of the country you are in but myself and I am certain many, many others would love to hear everyone's input.

Great BLOG! Got me thinking. Thank you.

I loved your post, and you really hit the short sighted owner's concern on the head. Why train if you can have a group of employees that will sink or swim, a group that will sell to their sphere of influence (family, friends, etc) and then fade away or become semi-successful?

This style of hiring, this focus on the turn and burn your employees is a short term business model only, and is only successful in a thriving, high demand market. The employees hired in this fashion generally will work for less than the industry standard because they don't know any better, but burn through leads and lead sources because of the lack of training and/or experience.

What is the cost to the company? From a mortgage company perspective I can tell you the cost is HUGE, both in dollars and reputation. I have seen our competition drop like stone kites this last year because the market demand was no longer allowing less than high quality people who, without the experience or training (or blatant honesty to say I don't know, let me find out and I will get right back to you, and then do so) to make a living. They could not be recommended by peers in sister industries because, lets face it, a poor recommendation reflects poorly on the recommender.

The fear of an expensively trained employee leaving is fairly easy to fix: Attract and retain the best in your industry by treating your employees as you would want to be treated, and by paying the best.

Glenn,

The number one agent in my city closed his successful franchise and came to
work for me. I have also hired him as my trainer. We have a weekly training session and if my agents will just listen to him and practice what he preaches, then they to will be good agents.

Taking 20k-25k per agent is enough. If the company does not mkae money on someone then they have a decision to make. Taking 40-50k of an agents commission is too much.

Great post!!! As a real estate agent with Century 21 our office has alot of individual training that I feel helped me alot with contracts,prospecting and a action plan. I think training and education helps everone. We all need to be the best we can be in anything we do!!

Tinker

Jean Groesbeck (Windermere Real Estate/Anacortes Properties) Thank you much!!

Laura Daley (Web TCS - Transaction Coordinator / Virtual Assistant) You are very accurate that owners and brokers are not suddenly gifted managers! We even reworked our interview process to be sure we hired better fits for our companies.

Laura Monroe- Real Estate Virtual Assistant (Creative Agent Solutions.com) - Your work as a virtual assistant must give you a great way to see how others do things (good and bad)! Skill sets, as you mentioned, are so important, whether the come with those skills or you train.

Travis Newton-Today's Mortgage Group You are smart to treat staff so well they don't want to leave. We all want to work at places like that!

scott hendrix (Century 21 Select Properties) You bring up a great point. Agents that switch offices for a slight compensation change often don't get "money" and the cost of changing (as you noted). I think some folks just like the be courted or they are not as successful at one place and don't realize it might be them. Instead of training (or finding ways to train themselves), they keep looking for a quick fix or a greener pasture. Good post!

Joseph Quiroz (Remax Integrity Realtors) You are so on target on all the comments. Don't we all want our place of work to be so great it would take crowbars to pry folks away! That is a place with success and passion! Thanks for your comments!

Bryan Spann (Lone Star Realty & Mortgage) Bryan, this is a great point. Experienced agents that "know" everything and resist training can be a hazard not only to their own success but the attitude of the rookies that see them as a role model. Lots of self-esteem issues going on. Maybe I'm not very bright but the more I learn the more I find I have to learn. Rookies need to know that the experienced folks did not start experienced, whether the training was formal or through hard knocks.

Jeff Bonham (Keller Williams/The Real Estate Masters Institute) That is a great quote from Gary Keller and I'm going to keep it in mind. Very True, Very True!

Great blog post - very insightful. I am sure that there are many who jump when they consider a better offer has been presented. Education, team work, and honesty are keys to retaining talent in my opinion.

CENTURY 21 Action Realty Ninah, yes, it is always important in business to be aware of the balance of cost and the infamous ROI (Return on Investment). To some extent, training is a leap of faith by all. And not all training is created equal or matches the need. But thinking about training and the needs it is to address is important. I encourage goals to be set before training and the means to measure or follow-up on the success of the training, whether it is objective or subjective reviews.

Open Mortgage - Annapolis, Maryland Mortgage Advice Lewis, you make a point we all have to remember... our team/staff/employees are the product we put on the street and they need to be experts!

Erika Beede - www.goomzee.com (Goomzee Corporation) You are exactly correct. Training cost so little compared the cost of flipping through new employees! Good stuff!

Tim and Pam Cash - Clarksville TN & Ft Campbell KY Realtor (Crye-Leike (Sango)) Folks that jump too often are often the one's being "sold" and they are the folks that turn their job into getting jobs... instead of becoming successful. Great point and thanks for posting!

Michaela, thanks for posting! I am not a real estate agent either but work in the field as well as my other business ventures. While I direct my thoughts and words in AR around real estate, these are things I believe that apply to most any successful venture! Thanks!!

Akron Ohio Homes for Sale. David M. Childress (Realty One Real Living) Excellent observation. A work place should not only be about what we earn but what we are becoming and the help you can get in growing!

Mark Watterson (Principle Realty Group, Inc) Much appreciated. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. Have a great day!

Hollis Jensen (American Acceptance Mortgage, Inc) You are right on! Your observation about how the market changes flush out those with bad hiring and training habits is very insightful. Everyone should be aware not only for themselves but those they do business with every day. Who will do the right things to stay in business when you need them next time!

Mike Frazier, Dyersburg Tn Real Estate (Carousel Realty of Dyer County) An in-house mentor!! Excellent! We have one of those and it has been incredible! You are so on target!!

Eric Bouler (Prudential Gardner) Some folks see their staff as disposable and thus treat them as such, making as much off of them as quickly as possible knowing they'll be gone soon. But the folks in it for the long haul, they know that folks need to have an appropriate incentive and appropriate support. Good stuff!!

Tinker Hulsey Century 21 Indian Realty Jonesboro Ark (Century 21 Indian Realty) Great to hear that training has been seen as useful in your success! Best of luck on continued success!!

I am so glad that you wrote the this post. There is one mega firm in my area that hire more and more bodies and gives very little traning. I think this is a real problem and is part of the reason Realtors get such a bad reputation.

that has been always a fear of mine, the what if they don't do as good of job as I would syndrome.

There are those that will always leave no matter what you do. Nothing will stop them. I suggest asking more questions in the hiring process to see what kind of background they have. What are their passions? Do they like working with a team? Do they use the word "me" too much instead of "we" when you meet them for the first time? Even the best screening process up front will not stop people from leaving though. Hire, train them, treat them right, and you'll have better results in the end.

Great posting!

Aaron Zapata

AUG

2008

Good post. Success breeds success. People do want to work with others who they feel are successful. Pity only goes so far.

Training is very important. Many brokerages don't even attempt to train their agents. They hope to get a couple of deals at high splits before said agent crashes and burns....Its pathetic.

You said the most powerful argument for good training in your post... "What if you DON'T TRAIN them and they STAY?" That would be the recipe for shutting down the business in this current climate.

Joan Whitebook, ABR, e-Pro, CEBA (Buyer's Option Realty Services) Yes, there are firms that are about volume and size and not quality and service... And they will get business from customers that are uniformed and just assume big is better. However, the best customers will often seek out the winners. This happens is so many industries, not just real estate, so to some extent it is a fact of economics and capitalism.

Perhaps think of it this way... without Darth Vader and the Empire, Star Wars would have not been very interesting or fun.

Overland Park Homes & Real Estate:: Michael Russell (Overland Park KS Realty Executives ) Wow, that is a great and honest point we all need to consider. We do want to have things great and what if we delegate and others do not meet that standard.

My mentors pointed out this problem to me. I had two choices. Continue to do too much and never grow the company and never have a life OR learn to delegate, train and mentor my team. They won't get it right everytime. But they will only learn and improve by doing and coaching.

Aaron D. Zapata You are so right... the hiring process will never be perfect. But you do what you can to keep the best and know that some will leave. And that will be okay. We never want anyone to stay that believes they will be happier somewhere else or doing something else. We've had some leave, try other things and come back though. It encourages us that we are doing things right.

Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector (King of the House Home Inspection) "Pity will only go so far." That is a great line! And a great post... success does breed success! Thanks!

Ruthmarie Hicks (Keller Williams Realty) Turn and burn is unfortunate. It takes advantage of everyone. The agent, the buyer, the seller. It treats staff as disposable. Some folks have been successful making themselves money doing this but over time the model turns on them. Strangely, they seem to be honestly confused when their success fades. It seems to surprise them since it worked in the beginning.

Kathy Anderson of KenMeadeRealty - Located in the heart of Sun City Grand (Ken Meade Realty) Yes, Kathy not training and having employees stay is a recipe for failure. We've seen many companies here that thought they had "made it" when it was really just the market generating so much money for everyone. But as things have gotten tight, the solid companies with goals, training and focus are the ones still doing well. The others? Its tough, very tough. Hard lesson to learn and some folks won't learn it... they will blame the market alone ignoring that some companies that did things different are still chugging along. Good stuff!

Glenn, you are so right. It is sad that companies have swayed from training and leadership courses because they don't want to spend the time and money. In the end they are causing themselves to spend more time and money fixing the mistakes and not moving forward. Winners breed winners!

Lauren Wicevich (Silver State Bank) Yes Lauren, the repeated mistakes and stagnant business practices are costly to everyone. Great point!!

Glenn, you hit the nail on the head! You have to watch out for number one though... Good luck!

Aaron Cullen ~ Brokers Inc. (Brokers Inc.) Aaron, I've always thought that looking out for your team is how you look out for yourself best!

Coming from an industry where training is practically non-existent, I wholeheartedly agree that it makes a huge difference. I made it on my own but not everyone necessarily can do that. And I would have probably been successful sooner if I would have had more help. I will say this. If I ever have the opportunity to train and mentor, I will take the time to teach that person the right and correct way to do this business. Thanks for the post!

Paul

Paul, we all ask ourselves this...I have lost a couple that became major competition with my teachings and knowledge. All we can do is hope for loyalty. It's hard to find but if you do??? Reward it like crazy and don't let it go! Later in the rain~Deb

AUG

2008

Paul McFadden (Exact Financial Group) Paul, very encouraging. I like the point about likely having more success sooner with more help. I think many folks assume the "do'ers" will figure it out and succeed.... and they may. But at what cost. While I get to mentor and enjoy it very much, I still seek out mentors for my work as well. I still have so much to learn and it is fun to discover something every day!

Deb at Brooks Prime Properties Deb, great point. You do sometimes lose good ones. But as you seem to agree, it is best to have a great team remaining (which helps make the good ones great) than have all the eggs in one basket that just walked out the door.

SEP

2008

Well put. We need training. I try to help those I work with gain an understanding of being self employed and to see their responsability from the corporate side and to understand what a potential employee sees. If they can see why an employee is working for them and what helps them stay or what motivates them to leave they will be miles ahead of the situation.

DEC

Rick Trowe - Go With Trowe (Farmers Insurance Group District Office) Rick, great approach. We all need to better "see" ourselves from the perspective of others! Thanks! G

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