What's the number one motivator for someone to move from Company A to Company B? It's not the commission plan, so get that out of your head.

The answer is this: the reason I'm going to move from Company A to Company B is because I believe Company B can help me close more transactions.

Transaction count is the number one motivator for all agents. Yet, when I talk to most brokers and ask them to list the top five reasons someone should join their firm, the first things they often mention are: "We've got a great culture here. It's a family organization really connected to the community. People just trust each other. We've got a great staff."

These are all fantastic qualities, but let me tell you what that is: soft value.

Soft values are what keep agents at your company. People love to work at places with great culture, a charitable spirit, an open-door policy, and strong support staff.

But soft value isn't what moves an agent from Company A to Company B.

What moves agents is one thing:...

Have you ever lost an agent? I have.

If you're a broker owner or a team leader, you probably have too. At some point, an agent decides to leave, and it feels terrible—like getting punched in the face. It's emotional, and you might wonder: Why did that happen? Was it my failure, or is it just part of the industry?

Here's the hard truth: it often is a failure on our part.

Specifically, it's a failure to understand where that agent was in their career. And that failure stems from a lack of communication with the agent.

Retention—that's what we're talking about here. Keeping agents starts with building relationships. And relationships come from spending time with your agents.

Time leads to relationships, and relationships lead to retention. So, the first step is spending more time with your agent team.

Now, you might say, “Jim, I’ve got a 200-agent office. There’s no way I can spend more time with all of them.” But it’s not about hours of...