Have you noticed the same select group of agents attends every office meeting?
It’s great that they show up to participate and support, but they aren’t the ones you need to reach. The highly attentive, compliant agents who always show up to voluntary meetings are not the ones who typically cause issues for the broker.
You’re there sharing best practices and compliance tips with the agents who don’t need them. You’re pushing office updates to the agents who read their email and already saw them.
So, how do you reach the agents who don’t frequent the office or show up to the meetings? In a previous article, I wrote about taking meetings virtual to be able to reach more people.
This time, we’re going to dive deeper into the office meeting content. Here are a few ways to drum up a little excitement around your meetings.
Find out what’s on agents’ minds
Design your office meeting around what your agents want. Too frequently, leaders focus on what they need to say instead of what their people need to hear. If there’s not perceived value in the meeting, people won’t show up in strong numbers.
When building a meeting agenda, start by asking yourself what your agents want to learn. What have you been asked about recently? What’s going on in the market that’s worthy of group discussion? What could you discuss that would have a positive impact on every single attendee in the meeting?
Maybe there’s a topic you need to cover that’s just plain boring. Build it into a more interesting topic for discussion! Instead of “how to properly fill out the listing agreement,” you could have a session on “being the best listing agent” and wrap the listing agreement details in there.
Taking this approach to meeting design will increase the quality of your meetings. Agents talk — and you’ll see noticeable attendance increases every week.
Welcome them
You’ve got a minute or two to say hello, thank everyone for being there, and let attendees know why they’re there with you.
Pro tip: Start exactly on time — show your agents you respect their time. The ones who show up a few minutes late will learn to be prompt if you stop waiting for them.
Recognize your agents
Take a few minutes to recognize agents who are making a difference.
Don’t just thank the same top producers every week — call out agents doing outstanding community service, newer agents who have a big closing, agents who are mentoring newer agents, and so on.
This is your chance to show your agents that you notice the effort they put in every day and appreciate it.
Teach something
Don’t just regurgitate a bunch of information at the audience. The goal of every office meeting should be to make your agents a little better than before they showed up.
Share something that will help them in their business. The topics available are nearly infinite, from sales tips to business practices to leadership skills development and more.
Be interactive
Attention spans are short, and cellphones have made us all worse. Change up the style of delivery. Invite a guest speaker to break up the meeting. Invite an agent to teach on a topic or share some best practices.
Present a meeting topic as an open discussion rather than a one-way conversation.
Gathering input keeps everyone attentive and helps them retain the information at a higher clip.
Keep it concise
There’s no need to draw out a topic if it’s short. As you prepare each topic for discussion, try to come up with the fastest way possible to get through it without sacrificing the message. Agents will appreciate your pace and urgency, showing that you respect their time and you’re not just up there to hear yourself talk.
On a similar note, there’s no rule anywhere that says a meeting needs to be any certain length. If you only have 20 minutes worth of content, have a 20 minute meeting — and send everyone on their merry way.
Have fun
Some people are naturally fun. They’re the life of the party everywhere they go, so it’s natural for them to host a high-energy meeting that has everyone laughing and learning.
For others, it’s got to be a very intentional effort. It’s easy to get bogged down in the work — the risk management, the policies, the education, the office updates — it’s not exciting stuff. Keep in mind that fun can keep attendance and participation high.
Run a contest. Friendly competition brings out the best in people. Have a giveaway. I always liked to share a joke of the day. Build a few funny moments into the meeting plan. If all else fails, get someone else involved in hosting or presenting who has that natural ability to light up the room.
Recording and streaming the meetings online can make your meetings more accessible, but it’s only a boost if your meetings are adding value. Deliver high-impact, interactive meetings, and you’ll find your agent base is better informed and more eager to actively participate in growing the office.
Share the meeting agenda in advance, and make it exciting
You’ve designed the perfect meeting — let your agents know about it.
Put it out in your intranet, your Facebook groups, however you communicate with your agents. Don’t send a bland black-and-white document out in email with a list of topics.
Take a short video, and talk about what you’re excited to cover with everyone. Announce a special guest. Use a graphics program like Canva to make a flyer for the meeting.
Demonstrate that your plan is to add value to every agent who shows up.
Matthew Szalecki is the director of brokerage operations for Fathom Realty in Raleigh, North Carolina. Connect with him via Facebook or LinkedIn.
