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Jon Cheplak’s 35 years in the real estate industry have earned him the right to dole out a little tough love every now and again.
The real estate coach and leadership guru did just that when speaking with attendees at Inman Connect Las Vegas’ Broker Track on Wednesday.
Jon Cheplak
“I’m going to ask those of you who are in the room, Why did you ever leave the basics?” Cheplak challenged the audience.
In the 2,000-plus coaching calls Cheplak has conducted thus far in 2023, he’s heard just how challenging of a time it’s been for real estate professionals as the market has shifted to a higher interest rate environment. He’s coached individuals with six-figure incomes and six-figure losses and urged business leaders in the room to become more active participants in their companies and lead through example, rather than allowing automation to take over.
“What’s most important is what you do from this point forward,” Cheplak said.
“To lead, you need to focus on your emotional intelligence and emotional maturity,” he continued.
“Your challenge is, How am I going to move a human being to move transactions?”
Cheplak explained that no one can make anyone else do anything. But you can facilitate the best condition for someone to choose what they will do. Without strong leaders practicing what they preach to agents, it doesn’t matter what kind of tech a broker has, Cheplak explained.
“Party’s on!” right now for agents who were licensed in 2008 or 2009, Cheplak said. But those licensed in the last two to three years are leaving the business, and this is a phenomenon that will continue.
Brokers need to pay close attention to agent performance and work on their relationships in order to keep the agents that are performing best.
“Until you understand human behavior, you’re going to spin,” he said.
He also pointed out that “being crystal clear on expectations” is paramount to recruiting successful agents with sticking power.
“Stop interviewing,” Cheplak urged. “You need to interrogate. You can do all the potlucks and all that meet-cute stuff … But you can’t sell me culture. Culture is something that has to be experienced.”
When agents join, it’s a broker’s job to create a realistic experience of what it will be like for them working in the brokerage and set those clear expectations.
“You need to start firing people quicker,” Cheplak said. “You need to send a message.”
“This is what you signed up for in leadership,” he added.
Within the first 30 days of an agent being onboarded is the best time to let them go if it seems like things aren’t working out, Cheplak noted.
But if a broker sees a sign within the first week that the agent isn’t performing on what they committed to, it’s best to give them a warning that they’ve only got until next week to correct their mistake. “That is integrity,” he said.
In other words, allow the agent to recommit to the brokerage and their role within it, but shorten their deadline for delivering on their commitments.
The broker’s responsibility in turn is to be sure to “close the feedback loop,” as Cheplak put it, or be sure to give the agent feedback on their performance in a timely way.
In closing, Cheplak left the audience with three key ways to recruit agents:
- “Scholarship agents” by paying for their real estate school: According to Cheplak’s analyses, a broker can expect 20 percent of agents for whom they cover real estate licensing costs to get a real estate license and join their brokerage.
- Host career events: “I call it ‘A day in the life of a real estate agent,'” Cheplak said. He holds a Zoom meeting and goes through everything he does during a typical day.
- The “multi-channel marketing machine”: “You’re all worried about chasing technology,” Cheplak said. “I’m worried about getting shit done, and a bunch of you need to think about that a bit more.” Every week, Cheplak’s team creates an educational marketing piece that’s blasted across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
But really, it all boils down to one thing, Cheplak said.
“Here’s the one thing you need to do: Outrecruit your attrition.”
