REALTOR® Magazine Online: Why Salespeople Leave

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Retaining Top Personnel
THE COST OF TURNOVER

The Cost of Turnover

Orientation

Motivation

Coaching and Mentoring

Training

Goal Setting

Performance Assessment

Resignation and Termination

More Resources: Retaining Top Personnel

Code of Ethics: Retaining Top Personnel

Why Salespeople Leave

You can’t always convince a salesperson to stay, but it’s often worth a try. Here are responses you can offer to reasons why a salesperson might want to leave.

To become a broker.

Counter: Remind them of the financial risks involved in opening an office; broker/managers often miss the public contact that is such a part of sales because more time must be spent managing others.

To earn a higher commission split.

Counter: Find out if expenses will be higher at the new company; probe to be sure that this reason does not conceal the real reason for the change.

To get away from current associates.

Counter: Offer a change to a different branch office; encourage salespeople to work from home.

To move for the sake of change.

Counter: Probe to determine a concealed reason; counsel on the lost productivity of changing offices.

Adapted from Human Resource Management in Real Estate, John T. Bonner, Jr., Borsuch Prentice Hall, 1990

How Top Companies Reduce Turnover

William Ferguson, partner in the executive search firm Ferguson Partners, says a survey of the country’s best-managed companies found that these organizations had improved employee retention by:

Increasing communication (67 percent)

Offering more training (55 percent)

Enhancing career development (46 percent)

Expanding recognition programs (44 percent)

Source: “Employee Retention in the REIT Industry,” William Ferguson, Real Estate Finance, Spring 2001

TIP: The cost of losing a worker is usually estimated at one to five times annual earnings.

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