Commission splits, do they matter?
Many real estate principals looking to grow their sales team, think if they offer a slightly better commission split sales agents will flock to their office. Commission splits are a contributing factor to the agent's decision to move but generally not the sole reason why someone will leave one office for another. Understanding what matters to sales agents when they are looking to jump ship and join a new office is vitally important. These are factors that sales agents consider alongside commission splits:
Location
An experienced agent will have traction in a particular area, and they will be looking to retain that. As a rule, making a move to a new office means they will usually be seeking the opportunity to continue working the same geographical location with minimal internal competition.
Noncompeting principals or sales managers
The less competition, the better especially from the top.
Support
Many sales agents are good at listing and selling but not necessarily the administration and marketing side of business. Many sales agents will self admit to being unorganised when it comes paperwork and admin. Sales agents will seek out support as a high priority.
Profile and branding
Sales agents will be looking to see how this aligns with their brand or aspirations of where they want to take their sales career.
Remuneration
This covers commission splits, commission payment terms, desk fees, commission only, debit-credit, base salaries, sales targets, sliding scale commissions etc.
Professional development
Through access to external coaches, training and mentoring along with internal skills training.
Culture
From staff turnover, leadership styles, rules around buyers, databases, lead distribution etc. it all makes up your sales culture.
When recruiting sales agents consider all potential factors they take into consideration when looking for a new office to join. Commission splits are important, but not the sole deciding factor.
