The Case For Brokerages Keeping Their Tech Stack (Even When Agents Don’t Use It)

If you’re a real estate broker or team leader, I’m sure you’re experiencing what I’m about to describe. I call it the 80/20 rule, and it’s not the 80/20 rule you’re thinking about.

The 80/20 rule we usually think of is that 20% of the agents do 80% of the business. It’s probably closer to a 90/10 rule now, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

What I’m talking about is the 80/20 rule when it comes to the deployment of the technologies, tools, and services you provide to your agents.

As a brokerage owner or team leader, you invest in all this tech and all these tools, and then 80% of your agents don’t use them. You’re spending thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of dollars, and you’re thinking, “This is crazy. Maybe I should just stop providing this stuff.”

That’s a mistake.

First, you have 20% of your people who are actually using these tools, and those are usually the people producing. If you stop providing the tools, you’re hurting that group.

But there’s another reason you should continue offering these things. People like the idea that the tools are there for them if they want to use them.

Think about how many things we buy as consumers. We have tools in our homes, apps on our phones, and technology we’ve purchased that we don’t fully deploy ourselves. We’re guilty of this too, but we like knowing it’s there if we need it.

It’s the same with agents. When you’re recruiting and you say, “Let me show you all the bells and whistles we have,” they like knowing those things are available.

Even though 80% won’t use them, 20% will. And here’s the key—this isn’t about them using it.

Hear me clearly: it’s about the fact that you have it available and that you can recruit to it.

Your ability to recruit is everything. Your ability to re-recruit your agents is everything. These people are your customers, and you have to show the customer all the bells and whistles.

Think about your car. How many features are in your vehicle that you rarely use like a sunroof? How many times in the last year have you actually opened it?

Very few of us do. Some of you do, and you’re part of the 20%.

This is the same thing. We still need to offer the bells and whistles. We just need to be strategic. We can’t offer everything, but we do need to be smart about what we provide.

Now let me give you a strategy. That was a big buildup, but here it is. This strategy can help move that 80/20 closer to a 50/50, or maybe even a 60/40 if we’re lucky.

I call it the “Checklist Strategy.”

Here’s what you’re going to do. Grab a yellow legal pad and write down all the tools, systems, and technologies you have at your company—training, mentorship, everything. Put it all on one list.

Then take that list into Canva and use their AI system. Tell it to build you a checklist based on that laundry list. It will create a clean, professional checklist for you.

Take that checklist to your next office meeting and say, “Hey guys, we have a lot of tools here that can help you close more transactions in the next 12 months.”

Hand out the checklist and say, “Put a checkmark next to the tools you actually used in the last 12 months. Then circle the ones you should be using in the next 12 months to help you close more transactions. Next to that, write how many transactions you think it could add to your bottom line.”

Instead of going out and buying more stuff, let’s look at what’s right in front of us.

At the end of the session, ask, “How many people here think they could close more transactions just by better using the tools we already have?”

Then go after it. Is there training we need to offer to help agents deploy these tools? That will become clear in the meeting.

I’m telling you, this strategy will help you build your business.

If you want to take your business to the next level and really ramp things up, sign up for a discovery call with me and explore our brokerage coaching program.

Book your discovery call here.

If you want recruiting strategies that add experienced agents to your company like this every week, book your call. Together, we can make a real difference in your bottom line over the next 12 months.

Sign up for a discovery call with me, and we’ll talk about your goals and where you want to take your company in the next year.

Have a great day, and good selling.