Want your agents to look forward to meetings? Broker Joseph Santini shares five tips for making your office meetings must-attend events (and five things to avoid at all costs).
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Office meetings are important for many reasons. They keep your agents updated on what’s happening in the business, and they also keep all of your agents connected to you, your staff and your office.
With everyone being mobile and a lot working from home post-COVID, your office meeting is probably one of your few opportunities to get everyone into the office together on a regular basis, so it’s important to take advantage of this time.
Most agents are not big fans of office meetings. That mindset is why they chose to sell real estate instead of working in an office and have a more traditional job.
After doing this for a while, I’ve found that it’s not necessarily the meeting that’s the issue, as they do like to come into the office and see everyone. Who doesn’t like free food? The real problem is the way that the meetings are conducted and the content that is presented.
5 ways to keep meetings fresh
Below, you will find five ways to make your office meetings standing-room only. Underneath that, I have also added five things that you should avoid at all costs. After implementing these simple but very effective ideas, you may need to buy a few more chairs.
1. Deliver exceptional content
There is a very big difference between throwing a meeting together in 20 minutes and winging it versus taking the needed 2-3 hours to put together a valuable, 1-hour presentation that the agents will be thanking you for as they are walking out the door.
Start collecting topics and supporting materials way in advance of the meeting so that when you sit down to do the planning, you have many topics and materials in front of you to choose from. Only feature valuable, useful information to share with your agents at your office meetings.
2. Think new voices
Outside speakers are super valuable, and selecting the right ones will give a nice boost to your meetings. Select speakers who will add value to your agent’s business, and be sure to preview exactly what they will be sharing with them. Agents will have little tolerance for long infomercials from outside vendors. Get this wrong, and you will have many empty seats.
Have your speakers bring the food, and be sure to ask them ahead of time what they will be providing to get the opportunity to speak in front of your agents.
3. Don’t let ’em go hungry (or hangry)
Great food and refreshments are key, and why not let the agents take care of their breakfast or lunch while attending your meeting at the same time? Put some thought into the food. Make it nice for the agents. Switch it up so it doesn’t get boring, and always spend a little extra to make it great.
4. Change locations
Getting agents into the office is important, but having your meetings at outside locations will also really boost your attendance.
Try having your meeting in one of your spectacular listings. What seller doesn’t want a lot of agents to come to preview their property? Places like new construction projects and interior design firms also work well. Keep things exciting for your agents by using different locations.
5. Keep things fun, upbeat and moving
Strategically plan how you will roll out your content to your agents, and keep things moving along. Long-winded speakers and lots of slow, off-topic questions are probably the top two reasons people avoid office meetings.
Keep the pace up and switch topics to keep the energy up, especially after that big breakfast or lunch that you provided. Keep it positive.
Why agents don’t like office meetings (avoid at all costs)
What you stop from happening is just as important as what you do when trying to have a great meeting. Here’s what should not be happening at your office meetings.
- Starting late: Nothing bothers busy agents more than this. They are busy, and their calendars are full, so respect everyone’s time. When you start on time, your agents will be eager and ready to listen.
- People who talk too much: Good, timely information is great, but when it starts to be a monotonous, boring, self-serving monologue, it’s up to you to shut it down. If left uncontrolled, people will avoid your meetings like the plague.
- Uncomfortable seating and room temperature: Make it a pleasure to be at your meeting by setting up the room ahead of time. Ensure everyone gets a good seat.
- Running overtime: When you say 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., don’t let anyone prolong the meeting. Wrap it up on time, and your agents will always look forward to supporting you at your office meetings. Nobody likes being held hostage when they have things to do. This takes skill and discipline, but you can get good at it.
- Too many off-topic questions and interruptions: Questions are good, but you have to learn how to move the irrelevant ones on. Be diplomatic, and make sure that what’s being discussed is relevant and valuable. Keep control of what’s happening at your meeting, and your agents will love you for it.
When office meetings are done correctly, your agents will look forward to these monthly events and the information they provide. Your top producers will be regulars, and it will be standing-room only.
Become a meeting expert, and use these simple tips. They’ll make a big difference in your attendance. Nothing could be more important as more and more agents work from home these days. Happy agents who come into the office a lot make more money and stay with you.
Joseph Santini is a managing broker at Coldwell Banker Realty in Boca Raton, Florida. Connect with him on LinkedIn.