How do you attract good agents to your company? You are your own best asset, says Dallas broker Virginia Cook of Virginia Cook REALTORS, a traditional full-service brokerage. "Your brand is your reputation," says Cook.

According to Cook, building a better brokerage starts with the leader. She says the core ingredients of a top broker to pass along to his or company are:

Good reputation - "Reputation is based on the quality of our relationships and the productive application of our skills within those relationships. Productive relationships build trust and vice versa. Your reputation internally in the company must match your reputation outside the office and in the community. Your corporate culture must include fairness to everybody that demonstrates principles of trust."

Vision - "You have to have a vision of the real estate industry. You have to have core convictions of how you want to do business and how you want to be known in the community. Your personal philosophy must be strong enough that your agents will want to follow it. My vision for our brokerage is based on standards of service (full-service) that we want to be known for."

Good communication skills - "You have to have good relationships with the media, make public appearances and make contributions to the community. You have to be part of things. The community won't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Enthusiasm - "You've got to love what you do or otherwise you are really working hard. I believe it's okay for work to be fun."

Technology and training - "Your job as a broker is to advance the agent. You need to understand technology as a tool and help your agents buy into that philosophy. We give all associates software packages that allows them to do business anywhere in the world, and we train them to use the software effectively for customers whether they are in Paris or Dallas.

Cook also reminds her agents of their responsibility to other brokers and agents. "We sell the cooperative opportunity and depend on our colleagues," says Cook. "Two-thirds of the time, our listings will be sold by cooperating brokers so we have to be good Realtors to our fellow Realtors."

Cook supplements her philosophy with an open-door policy so that all agents find her accessible when they need her. "We have meetings every Monday - that's our quarterback time," says Cook. "You can't require agents to come because they are independent contractors, but we get 100 percent attendance because we make the meetings so vital. We review what is happening, review the listings we have, get input from each other, and that gives us talking points with sellers. We never forget that the price of a home is determined by what the buyer will pay and what the seller will sell for, not what the Realtor thinks. The Realtor's job is to bring the home into a price range that reflects the market."