“You just call out my name, and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running, running, yeah, yeah, yeah, to see you again.”

Well, maybe Carole King wasn’t singing about your broker, but being available by phone, email or text is an essential part of the job of a real estate broker.

“I can always reach my broker if I have a situation and need help,” says Bonnie Rivkin, a Realtor® with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Alexandria. “I even got an immediate text response from her when she was on vacation overseas.”

The Virginia Administrative Code, which regulates the Virginia Real Estate Licensing Board, establishes the broad responsibilities of a broker, which basically require the broker to be available to agents for essentially every business-related need.

“I am in my office and always accessible to my agents,” says Lorraine Arora, managing broker of Weichert, Realtors® in Fairfax. “My agents know I’ve got their back unequivocally and will be ready to face the public if a mistake has been made.”

Brokers have broad responsibilities. On the basic side, they are responsible for reviewing and approving documents, providing training and written policies to agents, supervising the management of the brokerage and updating agents about regulatory changes. Also, each brokerage can determine how to structure its office, establish its own policies and train and interact with its own agents.

“Every broker should have an office policy manual, which should be a good indication for agents of the level of involvement they should expect from their broker,” says Sarah Louppe Petcher, NVAR General Counsel. “Agents should also read their independent contractor agreement so they know what to expect.”
For a complete list of broker responsibilities mandated by Virginia regulations, visit nvar.com/VABrokerDuties

COMMUNICATING IN THE AGE OF THE HOME OFFICE

A big challenge for many brokers is that many of their agents are working from home and don’t come into the office, says Petcher. She says there are a variety of tools brokers can use to address that lack of face-to-face communication.

“We don’t see the agents who work from home very often,” says Athena Petersen, managing broker of Long & Foster Real Estate in Reston. “I go through my roster of agents periodically and just call the ones I haven’t seen in a while to see how they are doing and whether they need anything from me.”

Petersen says building a new office with an open workplace and lots of windows was one of the best things her company did, since it encourages people to come into the office and collaborate.

Petersen also schedules purely social events once each month and makes it a point to connect there with the agents she rarely sees.

“One great way to communicate with people who aren’t in the office is through Facebook forums and similar group sites,” says Bic DeCaro, a Realtor® with Westgate Realty Group in Falls Church. “It’s a good replacement for weekly meetings to get information and to collaborate with agents without needing to be in the office.”

DeCaro says internal sites connected to a brokerage could be used to upload new forms and even to record the weekly sales meeting so that agents could watch it later if they must miss it.

Petersen’s office is structured with two brokers so that one of them is always available for their 180-plus agents.

“I never delegate my accessibility to agents if I can help it, because that’s what I want to do the most,” says Petersen. “We have mentors and trainers to help the agents, too. If someone specifically wants me to do one-on-one coaching, I do that, too.”

DeCaro says that her broker, Vinh Nguyen, is always available via text or phone even though the brokerage is large. She says Westgate also has an office manager to provide quality assurance and to double-check every contract. The office manager acts as support for the broker, too.

Arora asks her agents how they prefer to communicate, such as via text, email or phone. She also uses BombBomb™ videos, sent through email, to share news or a special listing with her agents.

“Although I’m in a large office, my broker is always available by cell phone,” says Scott Shawkey, a Realtor® with the Capital Area Real Estate Group of Keller Williams Realty in McLean. “We also have a compliance specialist on our team who watches over everything we do and checks all our documents, plus a compliance officer for the entire office who reviews all contracts.”

Shawkey says he has a team leader, an assistant team leader and a leadership committee with mentors at his office to handle business planning and career advice, which frees the broker to handle specific situations.

“If agents aren’t happy with the support they are getting from their broker, they should talk to the broker, find a mentor or ask for help at their association,” says Petcher. “They need to figure out the kind of brokerage model that will make them comfortable from a risk management perspective and from a business perspective. If the structure at their current brokerage isn’t working for them, they can start interviewing elsewhere.”

ADAPTING TO VARIED PERSONAL STYLES AND LEVELS OF AGENT EXPERIENCE

Depending on the size of the brokerage, brokers could have dozens of new Realtors® working alongside mid- range agents, as well as top producing agents. Realtors® of all skill levels could all be eager to take their business to the next level.

“We provide a wide range of meetings and training sessions so that agents can get exactly what they need,” says Petersen. “New agents meet one-on-one with mentors, and I provide one-on- one coaching with some agents, too, for accountability.”

Some brokers work with their agents to set goals and write a business plan, while others are more hands-off.
 
“It’s not mandatory, but I do an annual goal-setting meeting with my broker,” says DeCaro. “But I also get outside coaching, which a lot of other agents do, too. Agents who have been in business awhile tend to rely less on their broker, at least on a regular basis.”

The frequency of interactions between a broker and an agent should be different with each agent, says Petersen.

“Brokers need to be careful so that they are not overbearing and not micromanaging, but they also need to provide the right amount of attention when someone needs it,” she says.

Arora says she tries not to bombard her agents with too much communication, but she sends out an email every Monday to all agents updating everyone with what happened over the weekend. On Fridays, she sends an email asking about open houses and reminding her agents to send information about listings, traffic and sales to her on Monday.

“I sometimes also send small group texts or one-on-one texts about specific issues,” says Arora. “There are lots of different methods of communication to use. I meet one-on-one quarterly with each agent and work on business plans with each agent in September.”

Arora says she works more closely with new agents to help them make decisions about how they’ll handle their work and to talk about their strengths and the kind of work they like best.

“I have a business planning session once per year with each agent to set goals and do time-blocking for the year,” says Petersen. “Accountability is a big part of this business, so we work in groups or individually to track expectations and success.”

EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO SUPPORT AGENTS

The amount of training provided by brokers varies from office to office, but DeCaro says what agents want most is relevant training that relates to what is happening in the market now.

“My coach is out-of-state, so it’s very helpful to have a broker with lots of news and local information that we can use to help our clients,” says DeCaro. “It’s also good to get perspective on housing market statistics and hear from lenders about what’s happening with financing.”

Arora schedules a sales meeting every Tuesday and offers in-house training every Thursday, taught by affiliate leaders, outside teachers or sometimes by her, depending on the topic.

“I teach the [terms of the] contract, paragraph by paragraph, to help agents avoid mistakes,” says Arora. “We also provide technology training, marketing training and budgeting.”

Arora says her agents requested that she reinstate weekly meetings when she reduced their frequency because they like to engage with other agents in the office. Anywhere from five to 40 agents attend each week.

“We get almost too much training,” says Rivkin. “It’s great for new agents, though.”

Rivkin says she tries to attend weekly meetings where she can learn about loan products and contract changes from the in-house lender and title company. Petersen provides twice-per-week training and accountability sessions for new agents and once-per-week training for mid-level agents.

“We also have our core service partners teach classes twice per month for continuing education credits,” says Petersen. “I teach a post-licensing class for new agents and a ‘Ninja Selling Services’ class four times per year for three-and-a-half days each session.”
 
Shawkey says his office provides a variety of training sessions three or four times per week, taught by senior agents, the broker and other office leaders.

He asks his team members to take at least three classes per month and asks everyone to attend the weekly meeting when the broker provides updates and ideas about what’s happening in the local market.

While training agents provides the foundation for a strong brokerage, both agents and brokers say that the most essential function of a broker is for support during special situations such as a tough negotiation, an uncooperative client, or a conflict with another agent. Arora says, “Your broker should be a buffer between you and a client or a difficult situation.”

Rivkin says great brokers have a calm personality and can cope with lots of different agents with various personalities. “It’s important that agents feel comfortable with their broker and don’t feel a separation between themselves and their broker,” she says.

Petersen says an important part of the broker’s job is to listen well to agents and to teach agents to listen to their clients and peers.

“Even if someone is knowledgeable, it’s important to ask questions and wait for the answer,” says Petersen. “Clients and agents need to know that someone will listen to them and work toward their goals.”

It is important for each practitioner to set goals and enlist the help of their brokers to achieve them with success. The chemistry between the Realtor® and the broker must be right for both parties or it might be time to find a better match.