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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 short few weeks and then quickly dwindled back to where it was before.
Part of this is no doubt because of how easy 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 think 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 actually be around and show up – there’s a good 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 anybody that walks in can be a big 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 important benefit of going to the office is setting up a routine and schedule. Life as a real estate agent is hectic. It’s easy 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 actually work, it can be a huge way to keep you on track of your goals and tasks as a real estate agent. Actually working is an important 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 awfully hard to convince your absent agents these are solid reasons for showing up. Most of them will think you’re making it up or that “it’s a big 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 actually makes it noticeable she’s working and committed to the company.
What do you think? How much time do you spend in your office each week? Do you think it is beneficial to have regular office hours or that you are more productive working from home?
14 Comments
I almost never go into the office. While I am well known and respected, the office has never given me a lead. Thank goodness we don’t really need them.
Yes queries enter in the search engine are some time looking amazing, but i think in the future search engine will take a very important part in real estate business.
i know of people who avoid going to the office, mostly because of the high price of gas, as well as heavy volumes of traffic where i stay.
For those of you suffering from long commutes and high gas prices, the next best alternative to showing up in the office is to check in with your broker by phone. Take it from me, a broker. I give leads to the ones who are checking in, calling to report on their status of deals, emails me updates. One guy on our team lives about 30 minutes from the office so he doesn’t always come in but he always keeps us posted on his activities. As such, I know he is working hard and I WANT to help him succeed.
I think that it is important for colleagues to be in the office with each other. I don’t think that it is bad for people to work at home sometimes, but not all the time.
I have worked from home for many years at another business with no problem. Real estate is different. I need the structure,the face to face contact with other people and the person I work for always has something new to teach us about optimizing our websites that make it interesting and productive. I figure it is worth the $5.00 in gas to drive there.
I am glad I found your blog, it is funny…there was a blog on Activerain yesterday that was basically saying the same thing, they couldn’t get anybody to come to the office. My broker solved part of the problem with a weekly web class. I can’t tell you how beneficial this has been. In order to be on the lead rotation, we have to attend the classes, blog, write articles, man the phone 3 times a month and some other criteria. All of this is done to help us boost our sales and it works.
So far I’ve been one of those agents that is having a bit of trouble making it into the offices everyday. You’ve sold me on the fact that if I went in more often I’d probably get more things done that are work related and that I should stop being so lazy. Well well well look at that!
nice blog chelle.
where are you located?
I actually enjoy working from home. Although, I do go to the office twice a week. I’m typically only there for a couple of hours each time and that is for a few special meetings I participate in.
I agree with most points, especially that office time improves your relationship with people, talking to someone on the phone or online is very different than talking to him/her in person.
Ismail
This is funny as I’m sitting from home right now because there’s a power outage at the office. Even though I can work from home, I am going stir crazy. I guess I’m one of those types who need the structure and the a place where there’s no distractions and get serious and take care of business.
And yes, the getting face time to network is ultra important.
Its wierd because you really dont want people to come to office unless they are going to be productive.
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.