Meeting attendance down? Increase it with these tips

The real estate professional’s job is always changing. Not only are the changes based upon what’s going on in the market (and the world), but the agent’s daily activities also vary as technology advances and new tools enter the industry. One thing that doesn’t change, however, is the weekly office sales meeting.

The weekly office meeting is a great time for agents to get together to share important information and to keep focused or motivated – even in tough and challenging times.

If you are a broker or office manager, it is likely your responsibility to organize those meetings. The idea of planning and motivating agents to attend 50 meetings per year can be a bit daunting. Not only do you have to get the agents in the door, but you’ve got to have interesting information and motivating subject matter in order to keep ‘em coming throughout the year.

Weekly Meeting Topics and Schedules

Believe it or not, you can plan your entire year of meetings in one sitting. Check out these suggestions for quarterly and monthly activities, which should help to increase meeting attendance.

Quarterly

• Contracts and paperwork. Several meetings a year should cover contracts and paperwork. Whether the broker is seeing a common error made by many agents or if there is a new listing agreement or purchase agreement being adopted by your state, there needs to be office-wide training on contracts and paperwork. It probably goes without saying that when agents understand how to complete that paperwork correctly, everyone’s job is made a whole lot easier. These meetings can be conducted by the broker, the sales manager, or even a trainer from your local association.
• Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Training. Most MLS systems are so robust that they cannot be learned in just one sitting—or even two. Schedule a representative from your local MLS to come to your office and conduct quarterly training. Have the trainer vary the instruction and include not only simple searches but also more advanced information on automated searches and customized CMAs.
• Paperless Platforms and Contract Software. If your office uses a paperless electronic platform or a contract platform, it’s a good idea to review the processes and procedures for creating contracts and getting them into the office filing system. Couple that with information on electronic signatures, and you’ve got yourself another three or four meetings per year.

Monthly

• Speakers. Consider inviting a variety of speakers whose information will benefit your agents. Include exchange facilitators, accountants, attorneys, local loan officers, and marketing specialists, among others. Keep the speakers flowing in order to engage your agents in different aspects of the industry.
• Sales Training. Conduct monthly sales training on subjects such as seller objections, buyer objections, scripting, open houses, prospecting, cold calling, and other relevant topics. Pass out scripts and practice role-playing. Get all the agents involved in these dynamic and interactive training sessions.
• Technology. Nobody would argue that technology is the direction of the industry. With this in mind, use several trainings per year to cover topics such as video, blogging, websites, social media, email campaigns, online database management, search engine optimization, and Craigslist advertising among other topics.
• Hot Topics. Since the industry is continuously changing, you never know what hot topics may arise during a given month. Assess current industry news and devote at least one meeting currently to addressing hot topics. Current hot topics may include Realtor® safety devices, how agents can compete with large syndicators such as Zillow and Trulia, and the legal battles surrounding independent contractor status.

If you’ve spent all this time preparing the meetings and nobody shows, it is a real drag. The best way to get agents to attend your weekly meetings is to make them interesting. Couple that with some email and text reminders and your weekly sales meetings will be a smashing success.