A real estate brokerage that trains and mentors its agents is winning
The commercial real estate brokerage business is an amazing career—but can it be even better? Absolutely. The path isn’t complicated, but it does require an investment of time and money.
The estimated percentage of commercial real estate agents who leave the industry within five years is approximately 87%. This figure is widely cited by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which identifies four main factors that are driving this high turnover:
1) Long sales cycles and delayed commissions in CRE
2) Income instability, especially early in a career
3) High competition and difficulty building a client base
4) Lack of training, mentorship, and support
I agree with all of these, but let’s focus on the last one—lack of training, mentorship, and support.
When someone decides to become a commercial real estate agent, they generally understand that it will take time to earn their first commission, that competition is intense, and that it may be a year or more before they see any income. But what most don’t know—unless they specifically ask—is what kind of training, support, and mentorship will be provided by the company.
With strong training, mentorship, and support, the other three challenges can be managed far more effectively.
Think about it—what other industry would put a new hire on the phones doing business development without at least a few weeks of training? Yet some brokerages have new agents dialing within a day or two, with a sink or swim attitude. This not only limits the agent’s chances of success but ultimately costs both the agent and the company money.
When a commercial real estate brokerage invests time in properly training new agents, they will see an increase in revenue per agent much sooner. Giving them time to build market knowledge and confidence before they hit the phones allows them to speak intelligently with prospects. This, in turn, improves lead conversion—driving more revenue for both the agent and the brokerage.
In our firm, training is a top priority. We hold class every morning from 8:30 AM to 9:15 or 9:30, and every Tuesday and Thursday at 5 PM we hold a 15-minute debrief. During these sessions, agents discuss what’s working, what isn’t, and what they could improve. Since implementing these briefings, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in deal flow—and it’s also built a strong bond among newer agents, especially when they realize the other newer agents have the same questions they do.
Here’s a tip that took us a while to figure out: Not everyone learns the same way. As a trainer or mentor, you must adapt your teaching style to the individual. Some agents need visual aids, while others learn better through hands-on interaction or discussion.
Mentorship is something many brokerages do very well. Some even focus solely on mentorship rather than structured training, which can work—but typically it’s a slower path to profitability. A great mentor can open doors and offer real-world guidance. So if you’re a new agent, be sure to ask about mentoring programs. And if you’re a brokerage, it’s essential to build a strong mentorship program to ensure agents stay on the right path.
Support is the final key ingredient in the recipe for success. Without consistent support from the company and mentors, the odds of a new agent making it in the business drop significantly. Support creates comfort—it helps new agents feel like they’re not alone, that someone is there to keep them on track, and that they’re equipped with the best tools to succeed.
At the end of the day, we all got into this business to make money. Many of us had to grind it out with little to no support when we started. That experience made us battle-tested—and now we have the opportunity to give new agents what we didn’t have.
Provide the training, mentoring, and support they need—and everyone wins. Sounds good to me. How about you?
