If you asked most agent members of the National Association of Realtors why they joined, most would tell you because their broker required them to do so. If you asked most real estate agents if they were aware that they had to join an association before they started real estate licensing school, a large number would tell you they had no idea.

If you asked most brokers/owners why they joined they would probably say “MLS and education.”

And as most of us know, when an agent pays dues and completes the eight hours or so of indoctrination, mostly learning about the code of ethics and MLS, the agent may proudly wear the Realtor insignia.

They may also get a certificate to verify to the world that they are professionals in real estate, one the public can fully trust to apply their real estate sales skills and knowledge to the most important investment they will make in a lifetime.

But, if being a Realtor truly means being a professional in real estate, then give it some meaning related to the practice of real estate.

Let’s be honest. A new agent is no more professional in real estate by joining the association than joining a NASCAR fan club makes them a professional racecar driver.

Who above all others better knows they are not qualified to render professional service to buyers and sellers than the newly licensed Realtor? Most brokers will tell you that most of these new agents will be out of real estate within 12 months.

To its credit, NAR leadership recognizes the need for better-trained agents and is doing something about it, but what I am about to say needs to be said.

During the last two months, I have been conducting a poll on my home page to determine new agent expectations. I have the survey results from 62 participants.

Here is who they are:

• Present status: I am attending licensing school - 48 percent; waiting to take licensing exam - 16 percent; licensed but not placed - 10 percent; licensed and considering changing brokers -26 percent.

• Sales experience: none - 37 percent; some - 44 percent, good sales background -19 percent.

• Prospecting experience: none - 37 percent; some - 15 percent, understand the importance of prospecting - 47 percent.

About one out of four agents (23 percent) expects to make $60,000 or above their first year. Three out of ten expect to make $40,000 to $60,000 or above. More than half (53 percent) expect to make $40,000 or more their first 12-months.

How do these expectations compare to the reality in your office or your association of Realtors?

For the last 18 months, I have conducted eleven free “Battle Plan” seminars for those in real estate licensing school, waiting to be tested for their license or those who have just received their license but have not placed it.

These three-hour seminars take participants through a 13-page reality check about the real estate business.

Battle Plan seminars typically are not a lot of fun for the new agents, but they leave encouraged once I show them a 12-month cash flow spreadsheet that includes both their personal and business expenses and how they can know what their reserves should be, what their goals must be, and how they can reach them.

You can imagine their surprise, dismay, and confusion when I share that, according to the National Association of Realtors, the average income for a new agent is about $22,000, This is literally a breathtaking spite of news, second only to sharing about the $1000 dues they are required to fund within the next 30 days or so to join the local association.

I should allow time for the paramedics to come in with oxygen bottles, before we discuss what they might have to pay in desk fees, marketing fees, franchise fees, MLS fees, and more.

Discussing the need to read the company policy manual before they affiliate, reviewing the Realtor Comparison checklist, and showing them what a commission request form looks like are the lighter part of the seminar. The truth hurts, but is also creates a positive attitude. They know they are getting hard-rock truth about the real estate business.

To a person, they seem to be grateful. A few decide that general real estate is not for them. That day. Others decide they will try part time for a while. Others move forward with revised and honest expectations

Bringing expectations into line is critically important, but it is not the end of the story. These agents, most of them, still have no idea how to prospect and sell.

When I say, “sell,” I am referring to the ability and skills to lower sales resistance from 100 percent to zero, build buyer acceptance from zero to 100 percent and know where they are in the process.

Who is responsible to teach them this? Their broker? Their association? Themselves?

My vote? The association. Why? Because it would be consistent. There would be accountability. It would get done. The association should teach them enough about selling to give them direction and the motivation to learn more.

Many professional and successful broker/owners do a great job of training their agents how to do a lot of things. They care about their agents. It hurts when these agents leave, emotionally and financially. It is a serious problem. They get discouraged and I don’t blame them.

Most broker/owners I know who are not "100 percent" offices, care greatly about training their agents. But in their hearts, broker/owners know that investing in new agents is a great risk of money and time. They may not have the stats to back it up, but they know the chances of new agents becoming a producing, profitable agent for their company are slim and none, whether it is verbalized or not.

So, what should be done to help the new agent learn to be successful?

It seems to me that the local association of Realtors needs to require successful completion of the following before allowing an agent to be called a professional in real estate.

1. Teach business planning from an EXCEL spreadsheet.

   Help the new agents understand clearly that they are in their own business. Their broker doesn’t owe them a dime. Then, provide a 12-month business plan template that forces the agent to put his/her personal monthly expenses and income on a spreadsheet, think through their marketing plan and expenses and ties those to sales and commission requirements. This will show the agent that their real goal is to get through their first year, and that they are going to need cash reserves to do it. If they recognize that they cannot afford to be in the business, refund their dues and thank them for their time.

2. Provide six hours of basic skills training and six hours of basic listing training.

   Franchises might selfishly balk at this, feeling they may lose a competitive edge, but in the long run everyone benefits by raising the level of training. Besides, franchises training could ride the associations' coattail anyway. Mortgage lenders and title companies would be lining up to fund the training.

   The big question cannot be how does it benefit the association or the broker. It has to be 'how does training benefit the agent?' If it benefits the agent, it will benefit the broker and the association, so let’s don’t get off the trail here.

   Benefits to the agents would include:

   • Knowing what the first year cash requirements really are.

   • Knowing how much commission he/she will need to cover personal and business expenses.

   • Knowing how many sales he/she needs to make goal.

   • Knowing what his/her marketing plan is and what it will cost.

   • Knowing how many closings must be made by when.

   • Knowing how to prospect

   • Knowing how to build and maintain rapport and trust.

   • Knowing how to qualify the buyer.

   • Knowing the importance of making a professional presentation.

   • Knowing how to overcome objections

   • Knowing how to present an offer and counter offer

Let the broker be responsible for legal and escrow training regarding deposits and agreements.

Isn’t this really what a professional in real estate should know? Aren’t these really the kind of skills and knowledge that will give the agent a fighting chance?

I don’t see a downside here for anyone. Do you?

Published: July 15, 2004

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David Fletcher directs the condominium conversion team for Keller Williams Realty in Orlando, Fl and provides downloadable sales and listing training solutions for real estate agents and broker/owners through Agents Boot Camp, Inc., a company he founded to provide affordable training systems newly licensed real estate agents. He has been involved with more than $3 billion in Florida residential sales, chaired the Florida Homebuilders Associaton's Sales and Marketing Council, and been a featured speaker at NAR's national convention. You may see his training products at www.agentsbootcamp.com or contact him directly at 888.222.1935.