The inventory below is designed to assess your office and company on the primary factors that attract agents from the competition. Read each statement carefully. Determine which response best fits your situation and then place the appropriate number in the space provided. Once you finish your rankings, total up your score. The interpretation is provided on the following page.

Rank each item as:

1. Strongly agree
2. Agree somewhat
1. Disagree somewhat
2. Strongly disagree

_____ 1. My company has a reputation in the general community as a first class, professional organization.

_____ 2. In the brokerage community, my agents have a first class reputation.

_____ 3. I have minimum production standards for my office.

_____ 4. Our company has a dominant market share in many of our locations.

_____ 5. In my office, ad calls are directed to the listing agent if the agent is in the office or is available by pager.

_____ 6. Our office location is excellent.

_____ 7. My agents and staff make my office an excellent environment in which to work.

_____ 8. I am a full time manager and do not compete with my salespeople for clients.

_____ 9. My office facility is well maintained and is a pleasant place in which to work.

_____10. Our company has national relocation network.

_____11. Our commission structure is competitive based upon the level of service that we offer.

_____12. My office has an excellent support system both in terms of staff and technology

_____13. Our agent recognition program takes place both at a corporate as well as an office level.

_____ 14. My company usually "promotes from within".

_____ 15. I have an excellent reputation among the agents who work in other companies or offices.

_____ 16. My company provides agents with a forum where senior management can be aware of their views.

 

Scoring and Interpretation:

Add up the total points.

16-24: You are in an excellent (and enviable) position for recruiting virtually anyone you want. Your company's image and support services coupled with the strengths of your own office, should make competing for new and experienced agents easy. If you are having difficulty recruiting, you need to focus on "telling your story" better. Do you have a recruiting brochure that outlines not only the company's strengths, but that of your office and staff as well? If you are a full service brokerage, can you articulate the benefits you provide compared to the discount brokerages? Do you have a profile of the type of agent who is the "best fit" with your current staff? Do you recruit using that profile? Any difficulties you are having are probably of your own making.

25-32 While your office and company have a number of characteristics that attract both experienced and new agents, you still have some hurdles to overcome. While it may be very difficult to change your office location, company policies, or general reputation, you can make sure that the specific office characteristics that attract agents are in place in your office. What can you do the improve your office, both in terms of the facility as well as the people who work for you? Do you recognize your agents on a regular basis for both business and personal achievement? Do your most productive people receive the bulk of the directable business? Have you done everything within your power to make sure that you and your team have the best possible reputation? Does your support staff work smoothly with your agent team? Making improvements in each these areas can significantly increase the attractiveness of your office.

33-46: Before you can effectively recruit, you will need to take careful stock of your office. What can you do to improve your office environment? Are there negative agents or staff who are exerting a significant influence on the atmosphere in your office? Do you have too many unproductive people? Is your facility as clean and up to date as it should be? If not, it's time for some serious house cleaning. Get rid of the negative influences. Focus on improving the office environment to the greatest extent possible. Look at each of the items in the inventory. Before you can effectively recruit, you will need to change the conditions so that at least eight of them items reflect a "1" response and your total score does not exceed 24.

47-64: You have an incredibly difficult chore in front of you. Until you deal with the problems within your own office, you will not be able to effectively recruit. Take the inventory and note which, if any of your responses received a "1". This is your starting place. Next, identify those areas that received a "2" response. Are there any of these responses that can be raised to a "1" with some effort on your part? If so, rank order them and start on implementing these changes immediately. Now look at your "3" and "4" responses. While you may not be able to change certain aspects of the company, create a game plan for how you can improve those items that are in your control (i.e. those that relate to your specific office). Also, you may want to approach senior management to determine, what, if any steps, they can take to improve this situation in light of the present state of affairs.

Need help? Our Top 10 Lists for Managers have lots of suggestions for improving your managerial style and building your team. For individual help, contact one of the coaches on our coach referral list.

Copyright 1999-2003, RealEstateCoach.com All rights reserved. No reproduction, distribution, or transmission of copyrighted materials on this site is permitted without written permission.

«« Back to Manager Assessment Directory