Commercial Real Estate Agent Performance Review

In commercial real estate agency there should be a regular focus on team performance and the results that each salesperson is achieving.  In this way you can stay ahead of market trends and just how team members are responding to them.

In an ideal agency situation, performance reviews should occur quarterly across the sales team.  Key performance indicators should show you how an agent or salesperson is responding to market conditions and pressures.  If problems are occurring then adjustments need to be made.

In every calendar or financial year there are seasonal changes to property enquiry, listings, finance availability, and consumer confidence.  The sales and leasing activity of the agency and each agent will be impacted accordingly.

So what things should you track as part of assessing the team or your performance as an agent?  Try some of these:

• Number of new listings per month will tell you something.  Differentiate between open and exclusive listings as the exclusive listings are far more important to you growth of market share.  Also differentiate between listings for sales versus leases.
• Monitor the numbers of sales and leases negotiated and closed per salesperson per month.  The ratio between sales commissions and leasing commissions will change.
• Assess the size of the average sale and the average lease per agent per month.  In this way you will soon see the agents that are getting the larger and higher quality properties to list.
• Time on market will be an issue to watch.  If some of your agents have a longer time on market factor, then they are not listing or marketing their properties correctly.  There can also be a problem with the quality of the listings that they are bringing in.
• The number of signboards in the local area per salesperson will be a valuable indicator of market dominance.  The same can be said of listings on the internet.  Track these numbers weekly and monthly.
• Track the monetary amount of vendor paid marketing that is negotiated by each agent.  Top agents generally have far greater success with attracting vendor paid marketing funds.
• The size of a salespersons database will be an indicator of systematization (or lack of).
• The numbers of outbound prospecting calls should be tracked to ensure that prospecting activity is occurring successfully.

So let’s say that you are tracking all of these things.  You will need to interview your sales team regularly to review performance and new targets that are required.  Here are some strategies for that staff interview:

1. Approach the process on the basis of a discussion.
2. Have your numbers ready to show the agent or salesperson.
3. Encourage comments of relevance to the person, the market and the team.
4. Take notes as you will need to come back to your notes and the interview results later.
5. Encourage self-assessment on the part of the agent.
6. Have graphs and trends available to show the team member.
7. Suitably sensitize the team performance so each team member is gauged against the averages across the office.
8. Set goals and targets from each appraisal session.
9. Encourage the agent or salesperson to take ownership of the current results and see how they can proceed positively into the future.

The process of change can be threatening to many an agent or salesperson as they strive to get results in commercial real estate.  Look for the agents that need help to build their level of skill and knowledge.  Give them the confidence and the tools to get the job done efficiently and effectively.  If necessary create a ‘buddy’ system to match top performers to those agents that need more ideas and skill development in the industry.