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“Hire character. Train skill.” – Peter Schutz, former president and CEO of Porsche

As a real estate leader, we know how much you want to build a strong team, but that can be tough to do when about 60% of agents who get their license don’t even last two years in this business, and 90% of the agents coming into the business now won’t be around in five years. That makes building a resilient team harder, but there are some things that you can do to help them stick around and thrive.

Related reading: Real Estate Agent – Seller’s Agent vs Buyer’s Agent: The Age-Old Question

Help Agents Prevent Burnout

Burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion often resulting from prolonged stress or overwork. It manifests as feelings of fatigue, cynicism, and a reduced sense of accomplishment, making everyday tasks feel overwhelming and unmanageable. Agents experiencing burnout may become detached, lose motivation, and find it difficult to concentrate or maintain productivity. This condition can affect various aspects of life, including work performance, personal relationships, and overall well-being, leading to a cycle of stress and disengagement if not addressed.

One way agents can avoid burnout is by steering clear of highly competitive crowds. Doing so can also help prevent spending money quicker than it’s earned. This is particularly critical in a market with low inventory paired with rising home prices and inflation, however, even in a balanced market, the old adage remains true: “you have to list to last.”

Related reading: Buyer’s Agent or Listing Agent? Should You Choose?

Related reading: Medium – “You Must List to Last”

How to Avoid Competitive Crowds

To illustrate the downside of a buyer-heavy focus to an agent, walk your agent through this example:

Look at the MLS and determine how many other real estate agents are in their area. For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume it’s 1,000. Then, find out what percentage of these agents primarily focus on buyers. A common answer is 70-80%. Next, inquire about the number of transactions each month. For the purpose of this example, let’s say it’s 200, meaning 200 listings and 200 buyer-side transactions.

Now, let’s do the math:

• 1,000 agents x 80% buyer-focused = 800 agents chasing 200 sales
• 1,000 agents x 20% listing-focused = 200 agents securing 200 listings

The disparity is clear, and its obvious why so many agents burn out — they are running out of time, money, and success. They are competing in a saturated market, scrambling for the same 200 transactions that 799 other agents are after. That’s also assuming each agent has only one buyer client. With two, the competition intensifies.

This imbalance makes being a buyer’s agent an unsustainable goal.

You might still be skeptical. After all, this scenario might not quite reflect your particular market, but here is a list of additional benefits for you to share with your agents directly:

• Each buyer you serve results in only one deal, but when you work with a seller, 50% of the time it results in two deals, as they first sell, and then buy another home immediately.
• Listings offer greater flexibility. Other agents are often willing to manage your listing for a referral fee while you’re on vacation. As a buyer’s agent, finding another agent to show properties to your buyers while you’re away can be difficult, and buyers may be hesitant to work with someone who isn’t as familiar with what they are looking for.
• Over 80% of sellers interview only one agent before hiring them. Often, you are not competing with other agents for that listing, but working with your own sphere and farm areas who are already are familiar with you, and inclined to hire you already.
• Listings, and thus listing agents, garner a lot more online attention, as there are very few (if any) searches for buyer’s agents on REALTOR.COM or Zillow. From “For Sale” signs in the neighborhood and flags announcing open houses, listing agents get a lot of promotional traction while buyers’ agents have no such signage or events to promote their services.

This is in no way suggesting that you tell your agents to abandon buyers altogether, but rather, suggest balancing their sales strategy to emphasize sellers over buyers. That being said, today’s buyers will eventually become sellers, and having already experienced the expertise and service from your agents, will be more likely to hire them again when it comes time to sell.

Related reading: Using a Real Estate Buyer Presentation That Gets You Hired  

For Your Agents…

Imagine transforming your career by shifting your focus. In a market of 1,000 agents, 800 are chasing buyers, leading to intense competition for just 200 sales. This is why many of you might feel burnt out, struggling with limited time, resources, and success. But here’s the opportunity: the 200 agents who concentrate on listings are securing all 200 listings, setting themselves apart. By becoming one of these listing-focused agents, you can break free from the crowded, competitive space and pave your way to greater success and fulfillment. Embrace this change and watch your real estate career soar.

Darryl Davis is an award-winning international speaker, real estate and business coach, and best-selling author of three books, all published by McGraw Hill Publishers.

For more than 35 years, Darryl has spoken to and trained more than 100,000 sales professionals around the globe to more than double their production year after year. His book,  How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate, tops Amazon’s charts for one of the most sold books to real estate agents.

He was awarded the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation by the National Speaker’s Association, which is given to less than 2% of all speakers worldwide.

Whether from a stage or Zooming into a virtual room, Darryl’s extraordinary humor, relatability, and natural gift for teaching real-world, results-producing skills and mindsets to audiences have made him a client favorite throughout his career.

Audiences will laugh, learn, and ultimately walk away better prepared for a changing world, with the tools, skills, and training they need to build their businesses with more ease and less stress and to design lives and careers worth smiling about.

Bring One of Darryl’s W.O.R.K. Topics to Your Organization! 

By providing your agents with the knowledge and insights they need to stay ahead of the game, you can ensure that they are equipped to handle any situation that comes their way!  Contact us here to learn more!