This May marks Inman’s sixth annual Agent Appreciation Month. Look for profiles of top producers, opinions on the current state of the industry and tangible takeaways you can implement in your career today. Plus, the prestigious Future Leaders of Real Estate return this month, too.
Let’s be honest: In today’s real estate market, agents have more choices than ever. With remote-friendly models, tech-forward platforms and mega-brands offering all the bells and whistles, it might seem harder than ever to keep agents rooted.
But here’s what I’ve learned running a brokerage of 130-plus agents in sunny Southwest Florida: You don’t need louder recruiting — you need deeper retention.
I know that sounds catchy, but it’s true. I used to be in the recruiting world, growing a college admissions program by 400 percent in a single year. So believe me when I say that getting people in the door is not the same as getting them to stay.
You can wine and dine your heart out, but if what they experience after onboarding doesn’t match the sales pitch? They’re gone. Poof. Ghosted.
In fact, a SkySlope stat shows that 56 percent of agents have either left or seriously thought about leaving their brokerage. That’s not just a number — that’s a revolving door of potential walking right out. So if you want to future-proof your brokerage in 2025, it’s time to stop focusing only on bringing in the new and start creating a place your people don’t want to leave.
Here’s how we do it — what I call our Talent Magnet Strategy. It’s built on five foundational pieces that have turned our brokerage into a community agents choose to be part of every single day.
1. Build a culture that feels like home (not like a pitch deck)
Culture is the vibe that lingers when no one’s in the room. It’s not the swag. It’s not the logo. It’s the heartbeat. And it’s why people stay when things get hard.
At our brokerage, culture isn’t something we “work on.” It’s something we live. Our motto? Support over splits. Because yes, top producers are amazing, but even they hit walls. Especially in this market. Especially when life happens (like Southwest Florida’s three hurricanes in three years kind of life).
How do we build it? Like this:
- Weekly masterminds: short, sweet, zero pressure but full of value
- Agent branding kits: logos, colors, templates tailored to them, not us
- Brokerage caravans and community events: laser tag, softball tourneys, potlucks
- A private Facebook group: our water cooler where memes, wins and support live
- Natural mentorship: no forced pairings, just real peer support
Culture isn’t a buzzword. It’s our retention engine. And when agents feel seen and supported, they’re not going anywhere.
2. Make joining feel like a privilege, not a pitch
We don’t have a “Join Our Team!” tab on our website. There are no Facebook ads shouting, “Now hiring agents!”
Why? Because exclusivity builds curiosity. And curiosity builds connection.
If someone wants to join us, they need to fill out a “New Agent Interest Form” that they can only get from a current agent or staff member. That’s intentional.
The form is more than paperwork. It’s a vibe check. We ask the real questions, the kind that weed out the 100 percent commission chasers and attract the ones who actually want to build something.
From there, it’s a process:
- Application
- Discovery call
- Culture-fit interview
And we say no. Often. Because we’d rather protect our community than plug holes with warm bodies. It’s not about the quantity. It’s about the quality. (Just like real estate.)
3. Be the kind of leader they’d choose to follow (even if they didn’t have to)
Let’s break the myth: Agents don’t stay because of a logo. They stay because of leadership.
And leadership, in 2025, looks like this:
- Checking in after closings, not just before them
- Remembering birthdays, kids’ names and anniversaries
- Showing up with flashlights and coffee after a hurricane knocks out power
- Coaching through hard seasons, not just celebrating wins
Agents don’t want a manager. They want a mentor. Someone who’s in the business with them, not barking orders from the sidelines.
Being approachable, available and authentic goes further than any stock option or incentive ever could.
4. Give them the tools — and teach them how to actually use them
Tech overwhelm is real. It’s not enough to say, “We offer BoldTrail Pro!” and call it a day.
We do use BoldTrail Pro + BackOffice, but the real magic happens when we:
- Build custom GPTs to write listing descriptions and emails
- Create marketing request systems agents can access 24/7
- Share Google Sheets with everything from community amenities and builder reps to HOA contacts
- Offer plug-and-play workflows that remove 90 percent of admin stress
Here’s the truth: Your agents don’t need more features. They need less friction.
5. Care more about keeping your people than collecting them
Let’s wrap it with this: Recruitment without retention is just noise.
Instead of shouting “look how many agents we have,” we focus on how many are still here after 3, 5, 10 years. We obsess over:
- Are they growing?
- Are they supported?
- Are they inspired?
Because when agents feel like they matter, they stay. When they see you investing in their dreams, not just your bottom line, they buy in.
And that kind of brokerage? It grows. Organically. Authentically. Without chasing.
So, what’s the real retention play in 2025?
Stop recruiting. Start creating a place people never want to leave.
Your agents don’t need more empty promises. They need real leadership. Real support. Real connection.
And you? You don’t need to be perfect. Just present. Just honest. Just committed to building something that feels as good as it looks.
Because when you build a business that prioritizes people, everything else follows.
Jessica Souza is a broker-owner and author. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram.
