Rookie to rockstar: What every new buyer’s agent needs to know

by Verl Workman | Jun 30, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

Since the NAR commission suit settlement, buyer agents have faced new rules, new documents and a new normal. This month, Inman drills down on Today’s Buyers Agent with the fresh marketing strategies, skills and tools buyer agents are using to prosper in changing times.

Starting your journey as a buyer’s agent on a real estate team can be one of the smartest moves you can make in the industry — especially early in your career. If I had it to do all over, or when a friend or family member asks me the best way to start or get going in real estate, I 100 percent of the time tell them they need to start on the right team.

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You gain access to mentorship, they teach you how to prospect and work your sphere, and, oftentimes, provide a steady flow of leads and systems designed to help you succeed. But while being part of a team offers you a head start, your growth ultimately depends on how you show up.

Do you work full-time? Do you show up for work early and ready to show homes? When not showing, are you prospecting?

Here’s what every new buyer’s agent should know to hit the ground running and build a thriving career.

Understand your role and own it

As a buyer’s agent, you have three main activities that, when focused on, you can’t fail. 

1. Prospect 
2. Show homes: That means getting great at buyer presentations and getting a buyer’s agency agreement signed. If you’re waiting for the listing agent to tell you how you are going to get paid, you’re not doing it right. 
3. Negotiate contracts: That means making sure your client is the most informed person in the transaction and can decide what and how they want to proceed. 

A primary responsibility is to guide clients through the homebuying process from the first showing to the final signature at closing. You’re not just opening doors; you’re helping people make one of the biggest financial and emotional decisions of their lives.

Your role may be focused on buyers, but it’s a vital part of your team’s success. The more value you deliver, the more repeat business and referrals you’ll generate for both yourself and your team. Remember, as a buyer’s agent, you’re a specialist. Don’t focus on what you’re getting paid; focus on your clients’ needs. Become the expert your clients need and expect you to be.

You should always be focusing on the relationships with your clients. To do this, I recommend Building Relationships with Trust (BRT) – and there’s a system for that. The key is to be interested; not interesting. One way to do that is by using the F.O.R.D. method, where you ask about their Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Dreams. Once you really get to know them, you can serve them better by helping them get what they want and need.

Leads aren’t magic. Follow-up is everything

One of the biggest perks of being on a team is having leads sent your way. But don’t make the mistake of thinking they’ll convert themselves. The truth is, lead generation means nothing without consistent follow-up.

Successful buyer’s agents follow up quickly, often, and with value. They personalize communication, track client behavior, and stay top-of-mind over days, weeks, or even months. Even if your team supplies leads, developing your own prospecting habits—calls, texts, social outreach—ensures you’re not 100 percent dependent on someone else’s pipeline. Proactivity is what separates agents who just survive from those who thrive.

I encourage agents to have a system set up in their CRM for calling and contacting their A, B, and C leads. I call it the ABCs of Lead Management:

• A leads: These are individuals who are ready to buy or sell within the next 30 days. An A lead is someone with whom you have a scheduled appointment.
• B leads: These leads are expected to be ready to buy or sell within 30 to 90 days. The follow-up cadence for B leads involves calling them twice a month, specifically during the weeks of the 1st and the 15th.
• C leads: These are individuals who are 90 days out or more from making a buying or selling decision. C leads are contacted once a month during the week of the 8th.

These timelines help in organizing and prioritizing follow-up efforts to maximize lead conversion. Why? Consider the following widely cited statistics: 

• 48 percent of agents never follow up with a prospect, only 2 percent of sales are made on the first contact.
• 25 percent of agents only make the second call, then stop. However, only 3 percent of sales are made on the second contact.
• 12 percent of agents only make three calls, then stop. Yet only 5 percent of sales are made on the third contact.
• 10 percent of agents only make more than three calls and then stop, but 80 percent of sales are made between the 5th and 12th contact!

Persistence pays off.

Lean into training and mentorship

Most high-performing real estate teams offer structured training, onboarding, and even mentorship programs. Our eight-week Buyer Agent Mastery Program is designed to help you close a minimum of two deals per month.

Also, 30-60-90-day onboarding programs are not uncommon. These programs often include role-playing sessions, daily huddles, and shadowing senior agents, all of which accelerate your learning curve by providing a clear roadmap as to what to do each day for the first 90 days on the team.

Become a student of the game. Set yourself up on auto hot sheets, act as if you are a buyer in each price category, study neighborhoods, HOAs, and recreational properties. Know what is on the market, what sells fast, and what takes longer. This knowledge helps you provide expert advice and options to your buyer. 

Sit in on listing presentations. Follow top buyers agents around. Ask questions. Watch how top agents manage objections and difficult clients. The more you absorb early on, the faster you’ll grow into a confident and capable professional.

Time management is a superpower

Your clients want to see homes on their schedule — which often means evenings and weekends. But you’ll also need time for follow-up, paperwork, training, and self-care.

Top buyer’s agents block their time like pros. Use scheduling tools and calendars to stay organized, prioritize client needs, and carve out time to stay ahead of your business instead of drowning in it. Remember these: 

• Working hard is great — working smart is even better.
• Time management is actually “me” management.

Embrace technology like a pro

Your customer relationship management system (CRM) will quickly become your best friend. It’s your command center for managing leads, automating follow-ups, and tracking communication. Learn it inside and out. Use it every day, throughout the day.

Well-run teams take much of the paperwork and admin work off the plate of their agents and allow them to focus on money-making activities (MMAs). 

Many teams also use tools for document signing, transaction tracking, and client communication. Embrace these technologies and explore ways to leverage social media and online marketing to build your personal brand and reach new clients. In today’s real estate world, digital savvy is non-negotiable.

Leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) for prospecting, role playing, lead conversion, messaging and marketing. AI can assist in pricing strategies, neighborhood information, and data analytics. Ask great questions, review and double-check responses. AI in your practice can be a game changer and a time saver. 

Master the local market

Your edge as a buyer’s agent is your market knowledge. Know the neighborhoods. Track school ratings. Understand commute times, price trends, and what’s coming soon. Preview homes, even if you don’t have a client. Learn the inventory. Become the master of your market.

When buyers ask, “What do you think of this area?” they expect more than a shrug. The more you know, the more confident and trusted you’ll become. What are the activities, walk score, average sales price, school test scores, etc?  Don’t send them elsewhere to find information, be the source for expert information and advice. 

Know how you’re getting paid

Real estate compensation structures vary. With the recent class action lawsuits, all eyes are on commissions. On a team, a typical model might be a 40/60 split for your first two closings each month, with small increases as your production increases. Don’t get caught up in percentages. Focus on volume, support, and opportunity. Sometimes a smaller slice of a bigger pie is much sweeter.

Buyer’s agents following the right system should close between 30 and 50 homes a year.  As a buyer’s agent doing what the average agent does and covering all of your own expenses, including marketing, transaction management, etc., you may do what the average agent does and close three to seven deals a year.

I like to ask this question, “What’s more important to you; the split you’re on or the amount of money you take home to your family?” Forty percent of 24 to 30 transactions is a lot more take-home than 100 percent of seven deals.  The more you sell, the better you get at the business.  

Build relationships and network constantly

Your long-term success in real estate will come from relationships. Read that first sentence again! Get to know your clients, vendors, other agents, and people in your community. Stay visible. Attend local events, join networking groups, and connect with people on social media. Relationships lead to referrals — and referrals are gold.

Set goals and track everything

Don’t just hope you’ll succeed — plan for it. Set monthly transaction goals, income targets and personal development milestones. Break those down into weekly action steps and track your progress. Whether it’s through a lead tracker, accountability partner or digital dashboard, seeing your numbers keeps you focused and motivated.

My clients use our Daily Success Habits Tracker to track their activities: ideally, dollar-producing activities. They shoot for 61 points a day, and the tracker helps them stay focused on what matters and not “fake work.”

Beyond that, we encourage them to use our scheduler to really focus on their time, their goals and how they can work on dollar-producing activities.

You’ve got this

Starting out on a real estate team as a buyer’s agent is a rewarding journey packed with opportunity. By owning your role, mastering follow-up, leveraging training, and focusing on relationships and systems, you can build serious momentum — fast.

Remember, success in real estate isn’t just about closing deals. It’s about showing up, staying consistent and delivering an unforgettable client experience. Do that, and you won’t just grow your income — you’ll grow a lasting career.

How to rise above the pack and become a rainmaker on your team

by Verl Workman | Jun 26, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

Small, medium or large? Choosing your Goldilocks real estate team

by Verl Workman | Jun 12, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community, and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!

Building a real estate team can be a game-changer for your business, but choosing the right size is just as important as having one in the first place. Too big, and you may struggle with inefficiencies and unnecessary overhead. Too small, and you may find yourself overwhelmed, unable to scale or leaving money on the table. It should all start by matching the size of your team with your work style, business goals and the lifestyle you want to create.

Most team leaders don’t start off wanting to grow a specific size or type of team. They feel overwhelmed and stressed with more opportunities than they can handle or the pressure of not being present when they’re with family or friends because they’re focused on work all of the time, which causes them stress or anxiety.   

Believe it or not, there is a mathematical process to determine when and who to hire. Let’s lay it out. For every listing you have active, it should generate 1.5 buy-side closings. 

Each listing, when marketed correctly, should generate six to eight leads per month. Every 25 leads generated in a 30-day period from all lead sources requires you to hire one additional buyer’s agent. So if you have 10 active listings, you should have three buyer’s agents on the team to hold them open, follow up with buyer leads and convert the opportunities into deals.  

If you look at your numbers and see that you are not getting 1.5 buyer sides to each listing, then chances are you don’t have the time or energy to follow up with the B and C leads, so you put them on drip campaigns or auto hot sheets and hope they call and turn themselves in. Hoping is not a strategy. 

Understanding the different types of team structures

There is no right or wrong in creating a real estate team. Some are good as lone entrepreneurs, whereas others thrive well with an organizational structure and specific roles with different levels of leadership.

At the most basic level, there are small teams, where the team leader still acts as an active participant with clients. These teams are mostly composed of a team leader, a buyer’s agent and an administrative assistant or transaction coordinator. This arrangement works best for agents who enjoy interacting directly with clients but require support for efficiency.

Mid-sized teams will take delegation further by including listing partners, inside sales agents and dedicated marketing staff. More volume can then be accommodated while maintaining healthy client relationships.

Larger and mega teams operate more like corporations, with a CEO or team leader overseeing multiple departments. A VP of sales might manage a group of buyer’s agents, while a chief operations officer ensures transactions and marketing efforts run smoothly. This structure is ideal for those who prefer leading rather than working directly with clients.

Matching your work style to your team size

Your work approach is the greatest determining factor for the size of your team. If you enjoy immediate client contact and the high-speed environment of closing deals, having a small team may be your best option. But if you are more concerned with leadership, business development and creating a long-term brand, you need a large team with distinct roles and delegation.

One of the key considerations is control. Solo agents and small team leaders maintain full control over every aspect of the business. They decide marketing strategies, client interactions and how deals are handled.

With a larger team, control shifts into leadership and management. The team leader is no longer the primary point of contact for every client, but instead, they are responsible for mentoring agents, tracking performance and ensuring systems are in place.

Lifestyle is another reason. Some agents want to expand their business to the maximum level, while others prefer a well-balanced workload that allows time for personal issues. A lean, high-efficiency team will give you very strong earnings without the need to oversee a huge team. But if you want to step away from production and focus on long-term growth, then a structured team with clear leadership roles will be the perfect fit.

Key considerations when choosing your team size

Regardless of the size of your team, certain elements need to be in place to ensure profitability and smooth operations.

Clearly defined roles are important. Whether you have two people or 20, everyone needs to know what they are responsible for. The job of the team leader, especially in larger teams, is to replace themselves in day-to-day operations by hiring the right people for each position. This means gradually shifting tasks like buyer consultations, listing presentations and lead generation to specialists as the team grows.

Compensation design is essential to profitability and drive. Small teams often have simple commission splits, whereas larger teams need a well-designed pay system that includes salaries, bonuses and production incentives. It’s an art to keep agents and staff motivated without compromising profitability, but a carefully designed commission program will have every team member impacting the bottom line.

In addition, lead generation and conversion efficiency must also be considered. Most agents believe they require more leads, when, in actuality, they require better conversions. A small team can be highly effective with a strong follow-up system, but bigger teams require a dynamic lead distribution strategy so they do not get left out of opportunities.

Technology and systems help streamline operations at any size. A solo agent may only need a CRM and a transaction coordinator, while a large team benefits from automation tools, AI-driven lead scoring and data tracking to maximize performance. The right tools keep your team focused on income-producing activities rather than administrative tasks.

Planning for growth — or staying lean

One of the mistakes that most real estate agents make is growing too fast without thinking whether they actually need a bigger team. Just because you can hire more agents does not mean you should. A well-organized small team can be as profitable, if not more so, than a large team weighed down by inefficiencies.

Conversely, if your intention is to step back from production and create a business that operates independently, you must prepare for leadership succession. Succession planning will keep your team strong even when you step back, and it also provides room for agents in your team to develop into leadership positions.

Whether you want a small, agile team or a full-scale operation, your business should support your lifestyle, not the other way around. Choosing the right-sized team for your work style is about more than just numbers — it’s about creating a business that works for you.

Verl Workman is founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Instagram.

10 unexpected places to find your next top producer 

by Verl Workman | Jun 4, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

Since the NAR commission suit settlement, buyer agents have faced new rules, new documents and a new normal. This month, Inman drills down on Today’s Buyers Agent with the fresh marketing strategies, skills and tools buyer agents are using to prosper in changing times.

The real estate industry thrives on talent, but identifying the next top-producing agent isn’t as simple as scanning resumes. The best agents aren’t just those with prior real estate experience — they’re individuals with an innate ability to connect, persuade and solve problems.

While traditional hiring pools may yield solid candidates, thinking outside the box — way outside — can lead you to discover exceptional talent where you least expect it.

I’ve identified what I refer to as the 12 pillars of recruiting. From developing an agent referral program to new licensees to co-op agents, I’ve discovered that all of them work. Agent attraction is an active, not passive, pursuit. I’ve learned that the inability to identify, attract and bring in great talent is more related to a lack of activity than what is going on in the market.   

Pillar Four is “Always be recruiting.” Wherever you are, you should have the mindset of always recruiting. This pillar focuses on people who are not currently in real estate.

You may encounter a restaurant server, for example, who displays exceptional customer service, someone who is a natural with people and genuinely cares about their job and your satisfaction. Learn to identify exceptional individuals and, along with giving them a great tip, you can offer them a great opportunity that may be life-changing to that person.

The DNA of a top producer

Before exploring where to find your next superstar agent, it’s important to understand what makes a top-producing agent in the first place. I often say that great agents aren’t recruited, they’re developed. So recognizing great people is the first step.

These individuals possess exceptional people skills, resilience and an entrepreneurial spirit. They excel at selling, negotiating and managing their time effectively. They are self-motivated, persuasive and relentless in their pursuit of success.

With these qualities in mind, let’s examine some unconventional places where you might meet your next top agent.

High-end retail stores

Luxury retail employees, particularly those working in high-end boutiques, jewelry stores and car dealerships, have a natural ability to cater to discerning clients. They master the art of relationship-building, customer service and handling high-ticket transactions.

If someone can sell a $50,000 watch or a $100,000 luxury vehicle, imagine what they could achieve in real estate. These professionals already know how to listen, build trust and close deals — making them prime candidates for a career transition.

The fitness industry

Personal trainers and fitness coaches are often natural entrepreneurs. They build and maintain their own clientele, foster long-term relationships and motivate people to achieve their goals. Success in fitness requires persistence, discipline and strong communication — qualities that mirror those of a top-producing real estate agent. Trainers who understand the value of networking and personal branding may find that their people skills translate seamlessly into real estate commissions.

Hospitality professionals

If you’ve ever received five-star service from a hotel concierge, you’ve encountered someone who would likely excel in real estate. Hospitality professionals know how to anticipate needs, solve problems quickly and keep clients happy. Bartenders, too, have an uncanny ability to engage people, read personalities and make compelling recommendations. These individuals are accustomed to working under pressure and managing multiple demands simultaneously — valuable skills in a competitive real estate market.

I recall the story of a broker who encountered two young bartenders, Sarah and Veronica, in Pacific Palisades, California. The broker saw something extraordinary in them, engaged in a conversation and worked with them to incorporate transition time. Soon enough, they were earning seven figures in real estate. 

Car dealerships

The best car sales professionals aren’t just selling vehicles; they’re selling dreams. They understand the psychology of a sale, how to overcome objections, and how to close deals with confidence. Many top real estate agents started in car sales because the ability to handle big-ticket negotiations and guide customers through major financial decisions translates seamlessly into real estate transactions.

Educators and teachers

Teachers might not be the first professionals you consider for a sales role, but their ability to break down complex topics and build relationships is invaluable. They are organized, patient, and excellent at guiding people through processes — just like a real estate agent helping a client navigate a transaction. Their ability to communicate effectively and adapt to different personalities makes them strong candidates, especially in markets where explaining contracts and finances is crucial.

Freelancers and small business owners

Entrepreneurs already have the drive and resilience required to thrive in real estate. They’re accustomed to creating their own opportunities, managing their schedules and taking financial risks. Whether they’re marketing consultants, photographers or designers, those who have built a successful business on their own are often highly self-motivated and willing to do what it takes to succeed—key traits of a top-producing agent.

Social media influencers and brand ambassadors

Influencers and brand ambassadors understand the power of marketing, personal branding and audience engagement. Many have built loyal followings by mastering the art of persuasion and content creation. Since real estate success is closely tied to effective self-promotion and lead generation, individuals who already excel in digital marketing and audience engagement can bring a modern edge to your team.

Military veterans and law enforcement officers

Few professions instill discipline, resilience and problem-solving skills quite like the military or law enforcement. Veterans and officers are highly adaptable, remain calm under pressure and excel at working with diverse individuals. These qualities make them strong candidates for real estate, particularly in high-stakes negotiations and fast-moving markets.

Nonprofit fundraisers and charity event planners

Fundraisers have a knack for networking and persuasion. They know how to cultivate relationships, build trust and secure financial commitments — skills that align perfectly with selling real estate. A person who can convince donors to contribute to a cause can just as easily help buyers and sellers navigate the largest transactions of their lives.

Mortgage and banking professionals

If someone already understands the financial side of real estate, they’re halfway to being a great agent. Mortgage loan officers and banking professionals are familiar with lending, contracts and financial negotiations, making them a natural fit for real estate sales. Their ability to analyze numbers and guide clients through financial decisions can be a huge asset in a competitive market.

Finding talent where others aren’t looking

The best agents don’t always come from traditional backgrounds. Sometimes, the ideal candidate is already excelling in a different industry, just waiting for the right opportunity. By looking beyond the typical talent pool and considering professionals with transferable skills, you open the door to discovering high-performing individuals who have the potential to dominate in real estate.

So, the next time you receive exceptional service at a luxury store, chat with a charismatic fitness coach, or meet a top-performing salesperson in another industry, consider asking: “Have you ever thought about real estate?” The answer might surprise you — and lead you to your next top producer.

Need support as a solo agent? Here’s how to get it

by Verl Workman | Jun 3, 2025 | Industry, News Feed