I was looking at some of the search engine queries that brought visitors to Upstart Agent and one of them was “How to Get Real Estate Agents to Show Up in Office”. It made me laugh at first, but I realize it’s a serious problem.
The real estate office I worked in particularly was one of these “ghost offices” – plenty of agents, but nobody was ever there. The agents didn’t show up for meetings or office functions, and they rarely visited for more than collecting their commission check or sending a quick fax somewhere.
I’d like to say we found a sure-fire way to get them to show up in the office more, but we really didn’t. We tried all kinds of things – bribery, contests, attendance policies – you name it, it didn’t work. Attendance boosted for a small few weeks and then quickly dwindled back to where it was before.
Part of this is no doubt because of how simple it is these days to work from home. All you really need is your keypad, the internet, and your cell phone to be a real estate agent. The office is not as crucial to your success as it used to be. But it is worth mentioning there are a few benefits of going to the office periodically.
For starters, going to the office improves your “face time” with people. The more someone sees you, chances are the more they will reckon about you and know how you are doing. Showing up at the office regularly can help you land more referrals and and being chosen for new construction sites. If there’s an opportunity around and you’re one of the few agents to really be around and show up – there’s a excellent chance you’ll be one of the first to know about it.
Another benefit of going to the office is potential lead pick-up - taking floor time and being able to greet anyone that walks in can be a huge success. I had a $750k + sale from floor time, so don’t discount those callers and walk-ins. Many people still call real estate offices blindly looking for information or someone to work with.
The final vital benefit of going to the office is setting up a routine and schedule. Life as a real estate agent is hectic. It’s simple to watch an entire day blow up with phone calls and meetings and even personal life distractions. (Have you ever had someone assume you could watch their kids for them or run an errand since you “weren’t working?”) If you set up “regular office hours” where you go to the office and really work, it can be a huge way to keep you on track of your goals and tasks as a real estate agent. Really working is an vital phrase – coming in to gossip or play games on your laptop isn’t going to help you very much at all. 
These benefits alone should be what make real estate agents show up in an office. But if you’re a broker or office manager, it will be dreadfully hard to convince your absent agents these are solid reasons for showing up. Most of them will reckon you’re making it up or that “it’s a huge waste of time.” Instead, they’ll just whine how you always give Agent Suzy Kiss-Butt all the leads, not realizing she’s the only one in the office who really makes it noticeable she’s working and committed to the company.
What do you reckon? How much time do you spend in your office each week? Do you reckon it is beneficial to have regular office hours or that you are more productive working from home?
I get more work done at home so I hit the office once or twice a week usually to meet clients. I am in an office with about 150 agents and I do like to attend our monthly office meetings.
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