8 Questions To Ask The Property Agency Trying To Recruit You | Propertylogy

8 Questions To Ask The Property Agency Trying To Recruit You

By on June 18, 2014

If you are just starting out, you could be thinking too highly of yourself if you want to play an agency against another and draw them into a bidding war for your services.

Yet since you do not have a track record of being a failure at being a real estate agent, who is to say that you will not turn out to be a sales superstar in a very short time.

Managers in realty companies know the law of numbers. It typically means that the more people they recruit, the higher the chances of getting someone who absolutely kills it in every deal he gets involved in.

So while you are now holding your head up high and making an informed choice on which agency to join, here are 8 questions to ask whoever is attempting to recruit you.

1) What kind of training can I expect as a newbie?

The old-fashioned way of throwing you into the deep end of the pool to get you swimming is irrelevant in the modern organisation these days.

Rookies need proper training and guidance in order to excel.

Even if you feel that you have all the desired qualities needed for success, going through training will make your success arrive that little bit faster.

2) What can I expect in the training curriculum?

Agencies that only train you with laws and regulations are probably conducting training for the sake of doing it.

Don’t get me wrong.

Getting updated on the latest regulations to follow and processes to complete a transaction is as essential as anything you can think of. But those are the very basics you should expect from an agency.

A company who is serious on making you a superstar will no doubt squeeze sales and marketing training in their program for both newbies and old-timers.

And looking at how technology is advancing these days, it wouldn’t be a surprise for good companies to conduct workshops for their agents on how to exploit the use of latest technologies to improve your productivity and have an edge over everyone else.

3) How many rookies are recruited each year?

It wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that the agencies who recruit the most agents will have the most comprehensive training and orientation programs conceptualised. But a high number of recruitments could also mean a high turnover rate of employees.

It would be wise at this time to ask about the success rate of rookies. And how many agents who were recruited a year ago are still with the company.

4) What kind of help will I get in finding new business?

The career of a real estate agent is unique in the way that the longer one stays in the industry, the more likely success will come. This also means that newcomers will be battling against all odds to make it as an agent.

If you put the sums together, you need all the help you can get when you first kick off a career in this line.

You can’t really expect people to give you their clients. But you want to get whatever you can get to make things easier for you for a start.

property agency manager5) Who is going to mentor you or partner with you?

Colleagues might see you as competition and reserve their best knowledge to themselves. This is why you need someone who does not see you as competition to guide you along.

That person has to be your manager or someone who is not doing sales. Because their success will depend on your success, you will get more help from them than your colleagues who see you competition.

So if the agency operates on a buddy system, you might want to request a different arrangement or move on to another realty company.

6) What kind of technology and software will be provided?

Can you believe that many agencies require their agents to buy their own tablets even though it is a necessary device to tap onto their internal portals?

You want to have the company provide all the equipment to work efficiently. Agencies also often have corporate subscriptions with market data aggregators so that you can do your research or make presentations to clients.

If you need to buy these services yourself, at retail price, it says a lot about how the company views their staff.

7) What kind of costs can I expect to incur just to start working?

License fees, business cards, flyers, business suits, websites, etc. You will need to spend before even attempting to earn. You want to know how much money you need to set aside.

Preferably, the company will have some kind of program where they will pay for your expenses and deduct from your commissions at a later date.

8) Why should I join you?

As much as you are being interviewed, you are also interviewing your manager. If the manager is unable to provide a convincing answer, you will have an idea just what kind of a fool you will be working for.

That hardly builds your confidence in that particular agency right?

Research staff compensation

Other than the questions mentioned above, it would be worth the effort to find out how non-sales staff are being remunerated in the company. Information can be easily found in recruitment sites.

You want to see if they have a fair system. If an administrative staff is paid more than you, it really raises the question of why the risks are all on you only.

I once worked in a sales job. And we are always being touted as the people keeping the company alive by generating revenue. That is why sale people are the highest paid and work the longest hours.

But when I found that administrative staff are paid as well as me annually because of jumbo bonuses, it had a great impact on how I felt about fairness. They do office hours and enjoy the weekends while I slug out each day way into the night and even the weekends.

If that is going on in a company, wouldn’t you rather work as an administrator and enjoy a stable income instead of living in uncertainty each day? The remuneration is the same anyway.



You May Also Like...

hair1 eye1 abs1
Latest Singapore home loan rates
Hidden items that bring up mortgage costs
Hiring a competent agent
How to burn more calories in the office

Send this to a friend