The Boutique Broker’s Guide to Delighting Agents and Winning Star Talent

Whom to hire first?

To manage agents and maintain high levels of support to agents, brokerages need to think about staffing, and that usually means finding a handful of people who can provide transaction and marketing help on a full-time basis.

Whether the title is office administrator, transaction manager, operations associate, or some other terminology, this person (or group of people) will be perfectly positioned to keep an eye on which tools your agents are using, which ones they seem to be neglecting, how well those tools execute what they’re supposed to do, whether there are any glitches or operating issues, and can possibly even take over managing some of those platforms for your active sales staff.

This person can also keep tabs on the other needs you might have for staffing in the brokerage and help you determine the best ways to fill those needs. Ideally, they’ll help you determine what can be automated within your brokerage and how to make that automation happen. When an agent gets a listing, what are all the tasks that need to be completed—and do you have the writers, designers, photographers, web support, and other contract or full-time staff on hand to get the ball rolling immediately?

Consider how an operating coordinator or administrative manager can help you systematize and streamline your brokerage. (This will also ensure you’re leverage all of the expensive tools at their highest and best use!)