Use the real estate team retention strategies to retain more agents by creating clear paths for growth for all team members.
Today I want to dive into one of the most important topics for any growing real estate team—real estate team retention. If you’re a real estate agent, team leader, or broker-owner, this is something you’ve either dealt with or will have to address as your team expands.
But here’s the thing: retention doesn’t begin when you notice agents leaving. By that time, it’s usually too late. Instead, successful retention begins well before an agent considers moving on. It’s about how you structure and manage your team to foster long-term loyalty.
In this blog, I’ll explore key real estate team retention strategies that can help you build a strong, cohesive team while keeping turnover to a minimum. Whether you’re just starting to grow your team or are managing a large operation, these insights will help you retain top talent and create a thriving real estate organization.
Be sure to listen to this episode of The Brian Icenhower Podcast and subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode!
VIDEO: Real Estate Team Retention Strategies
1. Preventative Retention Through Team Structure
Let’s be clear—real estate team retention doesn’t mean scrambling to keep agents from leaving after they’ve already made up their minds. Retention starts with how you run and structure your team from the very beginning. As your team grows, it’s normal to see some turnover. With larger teams, it can be harder to keep track of each individual, and agents may feel overlooked. This is why some leaders avoid scaling, but I encourage you to shift away from that scarcity mindset.
It’s true—when you’re managing a large team, you may not be able to keep tabs on every agent all the time. However, as long as you’ve structured your team for retention, you won’t need to worry about constant oversight. Growing your team allows you to diversify your agent base. If someone leaves, your business can continue to thrive because you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket. Larger teams can distribute the workload, increase income, and reduce stress on team leaders.
2. Accountability: The Core of Retention
One of the first real estate team retention strategies I want to emphasize is accountability. As your team grows, you’ll naturally need to loosen some of the accountability measures you had in place when your team was smaller. However, it’s still important to maintain accountability, especially for newer agents who are heavily reliant on the leads you provide.
For agents new to the business, high accountability around their activities is crucial. Instead of focusing on results-based accountability (like the number of closed deals), concentrate on activity-based indicators such as the number of contacts made, appointments set, and contracts written. This approach ensures that you’re monitoring their efforts, not just their outcomes, which can be influenced by factors beyond their control.
By keeping the focus on activities rather than results, you’re helping agents develop the habits they need to succeed. Plus, it creates a more supportive environment where they’re encouraged to stick with the process, knowing that the results will come in time.
3. Embrace the Diversity of Your Team
As your team grows, you’ll have agents with different strengths, weaknesses, and working styles. Some agents may excel at prospecting, while others bring in leads through their social connections or from their sphere of influence (SOI). It’s important to recognize that not every agent needs to fit into the same mold.
When managing a large team, I’ve seen some leaders try to turn their agents into carbon copies of each other—essentially building a team of “robots” that all do the same tasks. This approach doesn’t work for real estate team retention because it ignores the unique strengths that each agent brings to the table.
Instead, consider the different ways your agents can contribute. Some may focus on geographic farming, others on social media marketing, and still others on traditional cold calling or door knocking.
By diversifying your team and giving agents the freedom to work in the areas where they excel, you create an environment where they feel valued and motivated to stay long-term. Plus, it makes your team more adaptable to changing market conditions.
4. Building a Deep Bench
Another critical aspect of real estate team retention is always having a “deep bench” of agents. No matter how good your retention strategies are, you’ll still see turnover—agents may leave for various personal or professional reasons. To manage this natural ebb and flow, you need to keep recruiting and building your bench.
When you’re consistently bringing new agents onto your team, it’s easier to let go of those who aren’t a good fit without feeling like you’re losing a vital part of your team. At the same time, you can identify which agents are performing well and which might need additional support or training.
Having a deep bench also helps you maintain a level of accountability across your team. If an agent isn’t meeting expectations, you have the flexibility to redirect them or, in some cases, let them go without disrupting your business. When there’s always new talent coming in, you’re less dependent on any one agent, and you can focus on fostering a culture of growth and opportunity.
Learn more about the Agent Management Portal
Looking for the best way to add value for your agents? The Agent Management Portal is a powerful learning management system. You get access to all of our state-of-the-industry training materials, as well as tools to help you create your own training content for your agents.
5. Focus on Sphere of Influence (SOI) Development
A big mistake some team leaders make is focusing solely on company-provided leads. While these leads are important, especially for new agents, they shouldn’t be the end goal. For long-term real estate team retention, you must encourage your agents to build and develop their own sphere of influence (SOI). This is the network of people they know personally or professionally who can refer business to them.
When agents first join your team, they’re often dreaming of becoming a real estate agent of choice for a certain group of people—usually their SOI. They’re not imagining a long-term career as a telemarketer converting cold internet leads. By helping agents grow their SOI, you’re showing them that they can build a sustainable business that isn’t entirely dependent on team-provided leads.
Encourage your agents to start developing their database from day one. Show them how to market to their SOI and leverage the team’s resources, such as just-listed or just-sold postcards, open house invitations, and other marketing materials, to build credibility. By their second year, agents who focus on their SOI will begin to see the fruits of their labor as their network starts bringing them business.
6. Tailor Your Commission Splits
As your agents become more successful and start generating more of their own business through their SOI, it’s important to adjust your commission splits accordingly. I advocate for what I call the “matching standard.” Once an agent is consistently closing deals from both team-provided leads and their own SOI, it’s appropriate to offer them a higher split on the deals they bring in.
This doesn’t mean giving away the farm—it simply means rewarding agents who are growing their own business while still contributing to the team. When agents feel like their hard work is recognized and rewarded, they’re more likely to stay on your team for the long haul.
When there’s always new talent coming in, you’re less dependent on any one agent, and you can focus on fostering a culture of growth and opportunity.
Brian Icenhower
7. Retention Through Positive Team Culture
Lastly, one of the most important real estate team retention strategies is creating a positive, supportive team culture. Fear-based leadership, where agents are constantly worried about losing their place on the team or missing out on leads, creates a toxic environment.
Instead, focus on building a team culture where agents feel supported, valued, and motivated to grow.
Promote collaboration, celebrate successes, and offer opportunities for professional development. When agents see that your team is a place where they can thrive both personally and professionally, they’re much more likely to stay and contribute to the team’s long-term success.
Conclusion: Retention is the Key to Growth
At the end of the day, real estate team retention isn’t about preventing agents from leaving at the last minute. It’s about structuring your team for long-term success by fostering accountability, embracing diversity, building a deep bench, and encouraging agents to develop their own SOI. By focusing on these strategies, you can build a real estate team that not only grows but thrives in any market condition.
I hope you found these insights helpful, and I encourage you to implement these strategies within your own team. Retention isn’t something you achieve overnight, but with the right approach, it can become a natural part of your team’s growth.
