On today’s episode, how to choose the Brokerage that’s right for you in your business, whether you are a brand new agent or the top agent in your marketplace, choosing which brokerage to affiliate with is one of the most important decisions that you’re going to make and continue to make in your real estate business. So no matter how many houses you’ve sold, whether this year or in your whole career, this episode is for you. If your thinking about whether you are at the right Brokerage or how to pick the right brokerage for your business. Welcome to this episode of Confessions of a Top Producing Real Estate Agent. I’m your hos, Jennifer Myers. Listen in as I share exactly what I did to go from not being able to sell a house for years to becoming one of the top 1% of agents in the US even opening my own Brokerage full of agents helping me serve all the clients that were coming my way. I taught those agents the same strategies I used in date two became a top producing agents. Now through this Podcast and agent Grad School dot com, I’m sharing those same modern marketing and business strategies with you. Most of which I learned from looking outside of the real estate industry, no fluff, no theory, no outdated sales techniques or paying for leads, just the exact steps to get you to real estate business you’ve always wanted. And the life outside your business, you’ve always wanted to lets make it happen and dive into today’s episode. Well, admittedly, this is a loaded topic I’ve chosen for today, choosing which Brokerage is right for you and kind of advocating for assessing that in various parts of your career. I know that some brokers listening to this might not like what I have to say about choosing a brokerage. And before I begin and just to remember, I once was a broker, I started my own brokerage and ran it for years, but here’s the thing I didn’t like being a broker. And the main reason I didn’t like being a broker is because I had a conflict as a broker. You see, throughout my career or whether I was my own agent or when I was a founding member of the first Keller Williams franchise in Washington, DC. And then when I went on to start my own brokerage, and even now with the agent Grad, School, there’s one thing throughout all these years that I’ve focused on and that is the individual real estate agents success, not a team, not a Brokerage, but the individual agents path to success and how to stay successful once you get there. Which by the way, when I define an individual agent that doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have people assistants working for you and things like that. So if you want to learn more about kind of how I define being an individual agent, there is a episode about soft call to the team or not to team. And I’ll link to it in the show for this episode over at agent Grad School dot com, as you can kind of dive more into what I mean by individual agent success. But typically what I mean is agents who are either kind of brand new, never having sold any houses all the way up through kind of those agents who are doing anywhere between 50 ish or right around 50 transactions a year. And whose goal is not necessarily to grow a team, but have two or three assistants or like people on staff assisting You and growing and, and running that business. So that is the model that I used as an agent. And it was really efficient, really profitable, profitable. And that is the business model that I, I teach now at insight agent Grad School. So when I say the individual agent success, that doesn’t necessarily, some people think that means like not having an assistant or anything like that. It’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about how as you grow, you hire people to help you, but it’s not growing a team. There’s a difference. So that is specifically not only who I’m talking to on this podcast, but every podcast that I do is I’m talking to the individual agent agents who are brand new or no, that there are maybe they’ve been around for a while and they know that they could have more clients more consistently and just spend less time running their business. That is who I’m talking to you today and in every episode. So I wanted to make that clear before I dive in, because obviously depending on who you’re talking to or who, you know, is doing the talking, Right, you’re going to have a totally different mentality. So that is my mentality. How do you, how do we make individual agents successful and reach their goals, whatever those are. So also know that that mentality of, of how do we make individual agents successful being focused on the individual agent success doesn’t make me a good broker. There is some inherent conflicts that I realized when I was a broker. There’s some inherent conflicts of interest between a brokerage being successful and an individual agent succeeding. And when it came down to it, I was always on the side of the agent, not the Brokerage a perfect example of something like this. So the decision that I had to make multiple times as kind of a leader of organizations is charging admin fees. As an agent, I hated ’em. I thought I just hated them. I thought, why do I have to pay my brokerage part of my commission and an admin fee for every transaction I did like shouldn’t my commission cover the expenses associated with my transactions that they’re making money off of. So I understand, however, when I put my broker hat back on why they’re a lucrative piece of revenue for the Brokerage and in many cases are kind of necessary to have a profitable Brokerage because having a Brokerage is not always the most profitable. Well, it’s definitely not as profitable as being an agent. So that’s a perfect example. As I was always conflicted what’s right for the Brokerage charge the admin fees because the margins are so slim, the revenue is slim, but as an agent and as somebody who advocates for agents, I couldn’t ever charge them. So I never did. And I always voted down for them and I didn’t always win. So decisions like that don’t make me a good broker. So I want you to know that I am really talking to you as an agent. I’m an agents agent. So I am as an advocate and a supporter of what is best for an individual agent, but just know that to all your brokers out there that are succeeding at running a Brokerage where you have happy and loyal agents, I truly commend you. I think it’s the hardest job in, in the real estate industry and oftentimes a pretty thankless job. You kind of feel like you’re always giving, giving, giving, and then you are being asked to give more. So I totally get it. And I, and I know that as I has, I give advice to individual agents about which Brokerage they should choose. So especially larger brokerages eye, you know, it is a very tough job to run a brokerage and make agents happy and profitable in their own rights. So, although I love brokers and I respect brokers, but at this Podcast, and like I said, and everything we do here at agent Grad School is not about creating an XX successful Brokerage it’s about how to create a successful agent. So with that in mind, I’m going to get started. Okay? All you agents out there, when you think about which brokerage to affiliate with, and this goes for whether you’re a brand new agent or you’ve been in bed at the same Brokerage for years, and you’ve got to think of only yourself and meeting your needs. When it comes to this one decision in your real estate business, you’ve got to only be thinking what’s best for you. What’s best for my business. And just in this one instance in your business, this is the one place that you can be unabashedly selfish when it comes to making this decision. It really is the one and only place that you should put your blinders on, know who you are with clarity, know what you need, know what goals you have for yourself in your business, and really ask yourself, what am I getting out of this relationship in this case with your Brokerage, right? We can’t have those conversations. We shouldn’t be asking those questions necessarily to our real estate clients, right? Because they are the ones asking that question of the us. But when it comes to the Brokerage you’re with not only is it one of the most important decisions that you can make for your business, but, but ultimately it will be one piece of the pie that helps you be successful in real estate. Now, what I mean by that is who you choose to surround yourself with and who you go to for guidance and support and advice as you grow your business, especially as you’re starting out your business, because this is so crucial at that point, but truly all along these kind of big echelons that I’m going to walk through, ah, on today’s episode, there’s kind of three echelons that really are these pivotal moments where you have to be asking yourself, am I at the right Brokerage, but it really choosing the right Brokerage really plays a whole, a big role in how quickly you’ll get from where you are to where you want to be in, in your real estate business. And so it’s really important that you do the proper due diligence. You go slowly when it comes to choosing a brokerage and, and, and that, and that goes for not just brand new agents, but even agents who are at the top of their game, or maybe the, the, the top producing agent in the marketplace. This is a decision you should take seriously, every step of the way, not just in the beginning of their career, but it’s equally important as you grow your business. And especially if your business gets stuck or stagnant at the same production level for a few years, that’s definitely first of all, when we should talk. And second of all, when you really should be thinking, am I in the right environment for success now also know that as your business changes as the number of homes that you sell changes as the market itself changes and as new Brokerage players come in and out of your knee of your area, you should be asking yourself at every marker is the Brokerage I’m with giving me what I need to meet my goals. And you also share kind of like be inquisitive and kind of expect that answer to change a long, the way as you grow and evolve as an agent, which I hope that you’re always kind of focused on doing. So assuming that you kind of have that mind frame you’re going slowly or really like, kind of being selfish about choosing, you know, you’re really focused on what your goals are, how do you start making this decision? Well, this decision really is no different than every other decision that you’re going to make in your real estate business. I always say it starts with getting super clear about what you want and that way you can make decisions based on like, does what you want. And what you’re going to deciding on is, is it a match? So getting clarity, you know, we always talk about having clarity when it comes to not only your goals, but your strengths, your weaknesses, your needs, as an agent, clarity around what I call the North star on your business, which I’ll talk about in a second clarity around which niche your talking to what’s important to them. And when it comes to what you’re saying in your marketing, all of that kind of clarity comes from the same place. And it always starts, whether it’s any of that stuff or choosing your broker, it always starts with what, what is it do you actually want? And I know, right, sometimes as an agent and just what we do on our own business, sometimes we don’t like think it’s that easy The but truly, if you don’t define with clarity, what it exactly is you want in your business, you’re never going to get it. So start with like, what is it that I want from a broker? And once you have clarity on essentially the vision for the type of the real estate business that you want to have, what the goals are that you have, and sometimes that’s not selling as many homes as you, as you can. And sometimes it’s not, you know, working as much as you actually can, but it’s about having clarity on the slice of that real estate pie that we talk about, that you, you, you plan on it claiming which leads the type of clients you want to attract decision that leads to that. And once you have clarity on all those things, that then leads to clarity on the decision about what Brokerage you Choose. And that that decision becomes very easy to make. So no, that where you need to do start is having clarity about what it is that you want. What do you want your business to look like? And do you have a map with in this case, choosing the Brokerage? So let me how to add some clarity to this conversation on how you choose which Brokerage is right for you. Now, I’ve kind of split this up into three big milestones when it comes to your real estate career. So these three milestones really start too. This is when you hit any of these milestones, you kind of had need to pause. It does. And I assess with what I’m going to talk about today. Assess asking yourself these questions, whether the Brokerage that you’re at, or if you’re a new agent and whether the Brokerage that you’re thinking you’re going to choose is the right place for you and for your business to grow. So those three milestones and kind of how we’re going to talk through how to make decisions. Really, it goes into three kind of segments. One is Whether, you are a brand new agent. The next is when you kinda start to see some success, maybe your selling a house or two consistently every single month, and then last but not least is when you are the top producer or whether it’s in your office or your marketplace. But when you are really kind of running your own business and you are doing like at least four transactions a month, those are the kind of three markers in your business where you really need to assess are you in the right place? Because these three very distinctive segments of agents and most Brokerage, this is kind of the three different distinctive segments that you’ll kind of go through as an agent and evolutions that you’ll go through as an agent. And you’ll kind of change very drastically through each one of these kind of phases in a real estate career. And here’s the thing. Most brokerages are not best suited for each of those kind of time periods in your business. So for example, the Brokerage that’s best for top producing agents. Isn’t likely to be the same. Brokerage, that’s really good when you’re a brand new agent. So every Brokerage similar to How, every agent kind of should have. It’s like here’s who we are best at serving and should be very clear kind of who fits into that and who doesn’t clear to the Brokerage and Claire to the agents when agents are interviewing with that brokerage. So that’s really the first step to choosing the right broker has take a really honest look at where you are in your career and what your needs are based on kind of where you fit in those three different echelons. The needs of a new agent are going to be drastically different than the needs of a top producer and The and a Brokerage really has to fit your needs depending on kind of where you are in your career. Now, it doesn’t mean that one brokerage is better than the other is just saying, like, here’s where I’m at. Here’s what my needs are for my business. Here’s what my goals are. And I need to find a Brokerage to meet those, right? So it’s not saying like, Oh, don’t be like beat yourself up. If you’re kind of middle of the road agent being a middle of the road agent creates a really good life. So don’t kind of use this as an opportunity to tell yourself you’re not a good enough or anything like that. That’s not what we’re talking about here. It’s just taking an honest look at like, here’s my, I am. And so this is what it means I need for my business. And therefore I need to find a brokerage and a broker who can help me where I’m at. That’s all that we’re trying to do here. So start by writing down all their brokerages that you’re considering. Typically, agent’s kind of, I have a list of a few that rise to the top. And so I want you to write those down and then next I want you to do kind of a personality audit and a reputation audit of each of the brokerages that you’re considering. Now, there’s really two pieces of the personality of a brokerage and the reputation of a brokerage. The first is the reputation and kind of personality when it comes to agents. Right we as agents know a lot more about the differences between the brokerages and kind of, you know, the inner workings, right, where our clients, they don’t really need to know all the inner workings. They just kind of know what is this like public brand and persona that is being portrayed to them. So a perfect example is like, for example, Keller Williams is known amongst agents, whether they like it or not, it’s kinda known as a family atmosphere, agents helping other agents, some agents would say, it feels a little kind of culty or a rah, rah. I’m not saying I agree with it. And I’m saying, that’s what I hear from other agents, whether it’s true or not. I don’t know, but the public Right like our clients don’t have that same perception of Keller Williams or at least in my experience, they, they don’t. Oftentimes what I see is that clients don’t really even see the Keller Williams park come through. And that’s because Keller Williams, at least in my experience is a little more lenient about having the agents brand shine through and kind of Keller Williams takes the back seat, which I personally love that about Keller Williams. So for perfect examples like signage, or at least in my market, Keller Williams allows agents to kind of create their own signs. And the Keller Williams logo is there because it’s required, but it’s not like front and center. Whereas when you compare like a Sotheby’s or a compass where the public kind of sees these brands as higher end, they tend to be more luxury homes, or at least that’s the perception amongst our clients. And the other thing I hear a lot about these companies is like, all the marketing looks the same. And so the public’s perception is like, it’s a luxury brand. And whenever I see he see or hear them talking about an agent at compass, they don’t really say the agent’s name. Cause it’s not the agent who’s individually shining through. It’s more the compass branding. And this is where Hannah, the one cohesive black and white compass on the forefront. Now, again, I’m not judging it. I’m not saying one is better than the other. I’m just saying these are examples of what I think you should write down when you’re thinking about Brokerage is when it comes to the personality and the reputation, both inside the agency or industry among agent, and also outside of the industry, the public sees. I’m just trying to give you examples, how you judge those examples of like, whether those are good or bad, you know, it doesn’t mean that like is better or Keller Williams is better. It just means like that’s kind of the perception, at least in my marketplace. So this exercise, by the way, she’d kind of, again, lead you back full circle to the place where I always say to begin, and that is, you know, what your niche do you plan to market too, right? Because we just talked about how, if you’re a luxury, if your kind of going to go higher end, then you know, you might really consider the Sotheby’s, Compass’s kind of the higher end brokerages. And that can kind of sift through a lot of the different options because as we talk about in the paradox of choice, which again, we, we that’s one of our summer book clubs. First thing you have to do is narrow down your options so that you can make the right choice and not have kind of remorse about the choice that you make. So I’ll also link to that episode. I actually think when it comes to choosing a Brokerage, you can apply a lot in that book, in that book club discussion that we have. So I’ll also link to that at vert agent Grad School dot com for this episode. So you can look about, you can learn about how it’s important to first narrow down your options before you make a choice. So write down which Brokerage is you’re considering right down the reputation, the personality that both agents have and the public hat has, and really start thinking about your niche that you plan on working with and whether or not there’s kind of a match between that company’s personality and the niche that you’re kind of going after and ask yourself, is there any obvious correlations here? Is there anyone that I should definitely take off the list because of this? So that’s where you start next. I want you to again, get really clear about what you need at each stage of these echelons that I mentioned. So if you’re a new agent, for example, what you need and when you’re a new agent is you need training, you need, and you need leads. Like you need to just point blank, ask the brokers that you’re interviewing, how will I get leads and what, or how are you going to teach me to be a real estate agent in Grad clients? That is the question you should just point blank ask, and don’t sugarcoat it and see what they respond. Do the ways that they like respond resonate with you from talking to so many of you every single week. Some of you are just disappointed with the answers that, you know, things like you’re being told to door knock or a cold call. And you know, this is in 1995. So if you need more or want more modern ways of getting clients and have the brokers, you’re talking to don’t know these ways, then, you know, maybe keep looking or find a team at one of these brokerages that is doing things a little bit differently. So for you, you knew agents, you should be willing to trade a big part of your commission for leads and training and support that you need as a new agent. And you also financially should not be signing up with a broker that charges large decks fee desk fees. You know, every brokerage has their own kind of revenue model. And so some revenues have high splits. Like, you know, maybe you make 95%, but you have to pay $900 a month and desk fees. Now for a top agent, that’s a really good deal for a new agent. That’s not going to work. So be prepared and expect as a new agent to give a lot of your commission because you’re not going to hardly have any settlement. So you get to hang out, learn, get some leads and only pay anything if you’re actually successful and go to the settlement. So that’s the type of company that you want to find. Also, you know, you might want to think about the environment and the culture at the company. And as a new agent, you really want to kind of be hanging out with other agents a lot. You want to be able to learn from them. And it can be really lonely as a new agent because you’re not really that busy and you don’t have a ton of clients, and you’re really not sure what to be doing all the time. And so you want to choose an environment that offers a lot of opportunities to be with other agents that are actually successful and selling whether that be sales meetings, training classes, you know, nowadays that’s a lot of online meetings, that kinda thing, just to make sure that you don’t have to pay for this kind of stuff that its kind of included when you join there. So ideally you want to join a Brokerage where there are agents you can learn from and are willing to share any extra leads they have with you, give you open house opportunities, maybe even pay you to do home inspections or show property for you or for them every now and them, whatever you can do to get experience and kind of have that kind of environment where people are willing to help you along the way, that’s the type of environment and culture that you’re going to be wanting to look For. And you know, you shouldn’t expect more, much more than a, probably 60, even 71% split would be really high as a new agent. Now as a new agent, once you start getting successful and once you start getting kind of one or two sales a month, pretty consistently, then you start to enter the next echelon of agents where you might want to start reassessing whether the Brokerage is the right fit, fit for you. For lack of a better word, I’m going to just call them kind of mid production agents. Those are the agents who are doing about one or two sales per month consistently on average, but you can, you know, that you’re capable of more and you are in this stage of your career, really focusing on marketing and growing your business, putting systems and structure in place like a database marketing. And you know, you really, you, you, you wanna kind of be in an environment where you have some support. So whether that’s from your Brokerage, maybe there is a like a marketing department that they can help, can kind of help you with getting things out the door. Maybe there’s newer agents that can do your open houses now for you and do your inspections. You’re at the phase in your business where you really start to need some help. And so you need to be looking for a broker that not only has the systems and the support and the things like a PL maybe a plug and play database that’s included, but you don’t have to pay extra for, or the marketing department that you’re not paying extra for. I mean, obviously you would have to pay for like printing and things like that, but at least you don’t have to pay for someone to put together, like, you know, something for you. Those are the kinds of things that you’re going to want to be looking for. And so as a middle Producing agent, one to two months, you really start happening. You really have to start looking at what am I getting? And your split should be hire at this point, but you should be getting some things for it because you’re actually, Producing, you start to be kind of a valuable asset to the Brokerage if you’re at that level of pre production. And so you are an asset at that, you start to become an asset at that point, but you really, really need to have systems and structures in place and make sure that your brokerage is giving them to you as part of kind of being their, you don’t have to pay extra for them to help you grow, to get to that next echelon. And that next echelon again, when you’re starting to think about, when should I be thinking about if I’m in the right price as a broker or that next echelon was when you start to become a top producing agent that tends to be in most markets when you hit that kind of one a week sales. So four ish transactions a month consistently month after month, and you continue to grow. That’s when I would put you in kind of this top producing agent category, you tend to kind of, again, this is not as a team. This is an a bit as an individual agent and you’re doing that level of business then chances are, you’re probably the top producing individual agent in the office or close to it. And well, to be perfectly honest, sometimes it’s really lonely at the top being a top producing agent. And it can be a really kind of, I don’t, I don’t think I can curse, but you know, like a mind Hmm. Beep where I see a lot of top agents kind of get stuck out there, current production levels because they like being at the top. Right. And it feels good. Like if I believe me, I’ve been there, I get it. Like, it feels really good. Kind of feeds your ego a little bit. You get the re awards. It’s exciting to feel like you’re the best in the bunch. Right and there’s nothing wrong, you know that. But at some point, you know, I got to get honest with yourself and you’ve got to look around and, and be like, wait a second. I don’t know that I want to be the big fish and the smaller pond. I don’t know that I want to be around agents who are doing less than me. I want to surround myself with people who are doing even more than me. And I want to keep growing and learning and doing better. I just don’t want to just kind of hang out as the top person. So that’s, when, if you’re starting to have those feelings in those thoughts, then you are probably, it’s probably time to kind of reassess again. And as you reassess, you have to be thinking about what your needs are as a top agent, which are different than a mid Producing agent and especially different than a brand new agent, chances are at this point, you’ve got your own systems. You got your own email address. You’ve got your own website, you’ve got your own database. I mean, most of the things that you’re doing in your business, you were doing kind of on your own and not really plugged in necessarily to what your broker is offering. So at this stage, what’s most important to you obviously is profit so that you can invest more back into your business. And so you’ll need to hire people. You’ll need your split to be higher. And you know what may go through your mind at this at some point during this kind of decision making or Azure, as you are making this decision is whether or not you should have your own brokerage. And that’s a valid question that you should be considering, but not a question that is kind of a whole episode onto itself of whether or not you should have a Brokerage that’s not where we’re coming today, but for Top agents, you know, if you want to continue to evolve and do better, not necessarily always sell more houses, but just maybe run a leaner organization or have more time to yourself rather than working all the time. That kind of thing then really it’s that you want to surround yourself with other top agents who are hopefully doing even more than you. And you want to have a broker that really understands the business of real estate and running a real, Estate a successful real estate business, not just kind of a busy, successful agent, but really turn that success and busy-ness into a business. And so what you need from a broker at this point are things that are going to save you time and save you money so that you can just pour more of the money it into your business as an investment in people in technology. And give yourself back some time because you probably have been running ragged for a while. So the things that are important or, you know, what the technology is, what people power is your broker providing you so that you can save time and money. Now, these are just the kind of the three big milestones in a typical real estate career, but all along the way, you’re going to hit smaller milestones. And you may need to kind of think pause and think and make a decision about which brokerage you’re at or which Brokerage, or you should choose kind of sooner. I just, for the sake of structuring this conversation just kind of broke up those three really kind of big milestones in your career. Now, all that said one thing that you really need to decide on it at some point is how, what is your North star? And I said, I would explain us. And here we are. So what I mean by what you have to decide what your North star is is its it’s a concept. I’d talk a lot about insight agent Grad School, but essentially your North star is the, the bright, shiny thing that you decide gives you direction in your real estate business. So I’ll give you an example for me, it was that my marketing and my branding could shine through above the The brokerage’s branding. So every decision that I made him along the way, including what brokerages I affiliated with, including, and most importantly starting my own bird Brokerage was is my brand, is my marketing shining through or is the requirement’s when it comes to marketing and branding for the Brokerage kind of trumping my own. Am I starting to look like anybody who could or could be at that company or do I really stand out? So if the Brokerage for example, require that every single agent signage looked the same and required that the Brokerage be front and center with the agent’s marketing and, and the agent’s marketing took a back seat, I was less interested. And so that was a way that was my North star. A star is, will my branding and will my marketing is shining through because that was what was most important to me in How what my path to success was. That’s how I answered, you know, why should somebody choose me first and foremost was because they knew about me. Whereas another agent I know has a totally different North star. So her Northstar, one of our students is that she wants to be home with her kids. The more time she can be home or the kids, that is how she makes decisions. So that’s how she decides what to say yes, to what to say no to what marketing tactics to use. You know, everything that she makes decisions about in her business comes down to, will it take me away from my kids? And if the answer’s yes, then her answer is no. And so you can see how well I should say her North star is not only can I stay with a home with my kids, but at the same time, make multiple six figures. So yes, she could have a much bigger business, but she chooses not to because her North star is being home with her kids. And as her kids grow, that may, that may change. So those are just two completely opposite examples, both of which are fine and good, and there’s no right or wrong, but as you likely see, could result in two totally different decisions when it comes to what’s important in the business, including which Brokerage is best Right. So last, so no, your North star know what the kind of pivotal thing or things like top three things that are most important to you and your real estate business. And somehow your Brokerage needs to support that in some way. So last but not least is your thinking through this, these decisions throughout your career. I want you to remember one really important thing, and this is something I hear a lot from agents, whatever decision you make for yourself, there is no need to bash all of the other options out there. There’s truly, I truly don’t believe that there is no Brokerage broker or brokerage that’s good or bad, or like, you know, they’re not like us. And like, there’s listen. It really comes down to what an individual agent needs. There is not one size fits all. There should not be a C oftentimes at some seminars, this is a debate about which version is of a Brokerage is quote unquote best. And I think it looks like the answer is like there’s enough business to go around. And the real question is like, which brokerage is best suited for which type of agent and why versus am I better than yours? And that’s one thing that like, I really can’t stand. And the real estate industry is like, there’s this constant battle between who’s better. Who’s new. Who’s this who’s that all it really should be is which Brokerage is doing, is his kind of targeting which agents and why are they the best person or the best broker for those types of agents. And they should be focused on that. So there is enough there’s enough business, there’s enough agents and abundance and money to be made for everyone to make their own decisions about which Brokerage they join with hat without having to call the rest terrible or bad. Right? Because when you really start to dive deep into these questions and, and kind of assessing where you are in your business, what your North star is, what the personnel personality is of the Brokerage that you’re considering and kind of what that means for your niche and things like that. It’s, it’s just kinda cool and, and kind of enlightening to see how many different options there are out there. How many choices are out there and how really truly, if you really start to kind of slice up the pie, you start to fit in one place or another, because you have this clarity and you have this kind of depth of what each Brokerage in your market stands for and who they help the best. I truly believe that each Brokerage, if not already, should be focused on uniquely positioning to add value to a certain set of agents. And it’s your job as the agent to know where you fit based on what it is that you need for your business. And kind of what you know is important to you, and just know that as your business changes, your Brokerage might need to change too. And that’s okay. As you become a more successful agent, you might need different things that your current brokerage can’t supply and that’s okay. Like, no Brokerage should be offended because you’ve, you’ve kind of outgrown. That’s a very good thing to do. So as you are making these decisions, don’t burn any bridges, just do what’s best to get you in your business, from where you are, to where you want it to be. And Kim in keep the relations that you’ve built intact along the way last point I’ll make about choosing which Brokerage is, and this is the kind of fun. So you know how we always talk about needing to answer that question for a question for your clients? Why should somebody choose you? Well, here’s, what’s really fun because this is the one place in your real estate business that you get to flip the script and ask the question. Why should you, why should you choose them? Right? So when it comes to choosing which Brokerage do you want to be a part of, you get to be the one asking that question, why should you choose kind of X Brokerage above all other options out there, including staying right where you’re at and doing nothing at all. I think what’s really cool. If you start to think about how your Brokerage or whatever, whichever Brokerage, you’re considering kind of answers that for you. Not only could it help, you know, which brokerage is right for you at this moment in your career, but going through this exercise will hopefully help you understand how to answer that question for your clients and realize that both you and your Brokerage have to shine in some slice of the real estate pie for your broker it’s to you and for your clients. You have to be the one to say why they should choose you. So its kind of a neat exercise because you start to like put yourself in your clients’ shoes and you realize just like not every brokerage is perfect for every agent and that’s okay. Like you can’t help every client and not every client is best suited to work with you either. And so you get to define and draw boundaries around who your best at serving, right? Just like how a broker should be drawing boundaries about who their best at serving, by the way, that’s one question that in your interviews, as you talk to other agents link who are either Brokerage brokers really point blank asking who, what type of agent is your company? And you’re Brokerage best at helping in why? Right. That’s a question that our clients, a lot of times will ask us and we have a good answer. And sometimes we don’t right? Sometimes they’re like, this is who we specialize in. So we might not be a good fit, but it’s really up to you. And here’s why I think we can help you. So that’s a question you should be asking, who are you best at serving broker and what type of agent and why? So it’s fun to kind of flip the script and be the one who gets to ask that question. Why should I choose You and really understanding how that choice is made and what resonates and what doesn’t and realizing that like, you know, you can kind of fit in this box and then you start to be like, Oh I get it. I am that agent. Therefore it makes it an easy choice, similar to how your clients will be like, Oh, she has specializes in the first time home buyers. I’m a first time home buyer. This is an obvious choice versus I’m an agent who can help anyone. I’m a broker who can make any agent successful. You don’t want to hear that because it’s really not true. So key takeaways as we come to a close is it really is all comes down to clarity, starting with clarity, we’ll lead you to all of the decision making that you need when it comes to which Brokerage to choose, starting with just thinking about which niche are you serving, what is the reputation and the public’s eye, AKA your client’s eye of each of the brokerages that you’re considering. What is it like? Where are you, which echelon do you fit in when it comes to your real estate career? Or are you a new agent? Are you kind of one or two settlements a month kind of mid Producing agent? Or are you a top producer? And what does that mean for what you need right now in your business, which Brokerage can deliver those needs and really point blank, just asking what type of agent are you best at serving and why? And then reassessing, every time you can hit one of those new Ash salons in your business, do another assessment of your current needs. And hopefully those needs have changed. You should hopefully need different things as your business grows. And you know, ask does my current broker meet those? If not, you know, where do I go and find the best? What I need? Are you in the, am I in the right place? If not start looking about looking around about where you can get your needs met, but don’t just move to move. I see so many agents moving to move and I don’t really get that like really? What is the reason you’re moving? And I see agents go from one company to another that are like essentially the same. So really know why you’re moving and what, what your decision factors are and go slow, get to know each Brokerage its personality, what they offer, what they’re best at and how it fits into the vision you have for your business. Also put your blinders on. Don’t worry too much about what your office agent BFF is doing. Do what’s best for you when it comes to these choices in your business and the brokers. I really hope I haven’t made any enemies. So don’t send me hate mail. Just know that I’m rooting for you. I love Brokerage brokers. I love brokerages. There’s enough business to go around for each and every one of you. I just support agents, really having clarity about what they need and coming to you and just finding the right place, the right home it’s best for them and for you. So maybe this episode even helped a few. You brokers out there. I don’t know, but I hope this episode especially has helped the individual agent think about how to pick the Right Brokerage whether you are at brand new or you’re kind of halfway mid career, or you’re at the top, no matter where you are, just know that as your business evolves, as your business changes, your Brokerage might need to evolve and change with you. And that’s okay. So I hope this episode has helped you to help you kind of know what questions and what things to be thinking about when it comes to prune to choosing a Brokerage. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening. And if you liked this episode, please leave a review. Wherever you’re listening, whether that’s iTunes, Spotify, I don’t know where else Stitcher. We put the show on for free to help agents who aren’t students. And it would help our little show Get in the hands of even more agents, just like you who need help if you’d leave us a review. So I really appreciate it. And I can’t wait to see your comments in there. Thank you so much. And I’ll see you next week on another episode.