LEADING REAL ESTATE COMPANIES OF THE WORLD: PREPARING REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND LEADERS FOR COMMISSION RULE CHANGES
Last year, the Department of Justice reopened investigations into the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the largest trade association in the United States for real estate professionals. The group faced several lawsuits accusing it of antitrust behavior violating the Sherman Act. In March 2024, NAR agreed to settle and pay $418 million while implementing key changes to the way agent commissions are paid. This was a seismic shift in the industry, affecting all real estate agents, and on a tight timeline: All changes were required to be implemented by August 17.
A by-invitation-only network, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE) is home to 400- plus U.S.-based independent residential brokerages. Its agents needed current, accurate, and trustworthy training to understand these changes, be equipped to explain them to their clients (buyers and sellers), and create a plan for success in the new landscape. That meant LeadingRE needed to “fly the plane while building it,” i.e., develop, create, and deploy high-quality content about the changes as they were taking place.
Program Details
In response, LeadingRE created Webinars featuring a wide range of real estate gurus such as legal experts; real estate leadership coaches; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and Fair Housing experts; economists; the Chief Marketing Officer of a multiple listing service; CEOs of reputable real estate consulting agencies; and more. These Webinars addressed the antitrust lawsuits and settlement details and trained on how to explain buyer agent value, important changes brokerages and agents need to make to avoid legal trouble and best serve their clients, tips on how to thrive in the new environment, and insights into the economy and real estate market.
The recorded Webinars were made available on LeadingRE’s learning platform, Institute. The organization also:
• Developed related content in new eLearning courses available to all members on its platform
• Created “Buyer Representation” and “Post-Settlement Webinar Series” areas of the platform for easy navigation
• Promoted the learning in its bi-weekly member newsletter
Results
LeadingRE trained more than 8,000 agents and leaders. In a post-training survey to brokerage leaders who shared the Webinar series with agents, results showed:
• 100 percent of leaders responded that agents exhibited positive behavior change because of the training.
• 46 percent of leaders said their agents had a better understanding of the legal situation.
• 44 percent noted their agents gained insight into how to move forward in the new landscape.
• 46 percent said their agents felt more confident in discussing the changes with potential or current clients.
• 0 percent felt agents were more confused or unchanged as a result of the Webinars.
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE: SONIC FIXED OPERATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (SERVICE OPERATIONS ACADEMY)
Building the Fixed Operations segment of the business is crucial to Sonic Automotive’s bottom line and return on shareholder value. The retailer combined two practices, Talent Reviews, and Leadership Development, to create a long-term process for managing its Fixed Operations talent roster across its 117 stores. The learning strategy for the Sonic Fixed Operations Development Program (aka, Service Operations Academy) is based on the idea that leadership and management skills are the foundation of a successful Fixed Operations manager (company research shows they can swing bottom-line profits by plus or minus 20 percent per store).
Program Details
The Service Operations Academy program comprises different components designed to help the learner master the foundational knowledge and skills required to be a successful Fixed Operations manager:
1. The Field Study Program Guide serves as a roadmap and key resource for the entire training program. It features activities including observations, self-awareness, reflection, and manager check-ins.
2. Application Labs are two one-week, interactive, immersive, instructor-led training sessions. The Transitioning to a Leader Application Lab focuses primarily on leadership and management skills. The Connecting Leadership to Business Acumen Application Lab focuses mainly on using leadership skills to reinforce the Playbook processes that improve metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and reporting functions. Role-plays with feedback are infused throughout the week.
3. Two one-hour Webinar sessions are conducted after the Application Labs. The Webinars include debriefing discussions during which learners share their experiences as they begin to employ leadership skills in their job functions. The Webinars provide a forum for learners to share common experiences as they complete activities in the Field Study Program Guide, ask questions, receive feedback, and build camaraderie among new Fixed Operations managers.
4. Two types of assessments are used to assess skill acquisition throughout the training program and determine performance improvement while on the job. These assessment types include:
• Role-Play Assessments: Two role-play assessments evaluate skill acquisition at the end of each Application Lab. Sonic Automotive developed comprehensive scenarios to assess high-probability behaviors, along with a rubric for the facilitator to score the role objectively.
• Field Study Guide Activity Completion: Managers are provided with a short checklist to verify the completion of Field Study Guide activities.
Results
• There was a 31 percent improvement in 360-degree feedback scores.
• The program contributed to an 18 percent improvement in employee retention and a 13 percent increase in customer satisfaction scores.
• The Service Operations Academy both covered its costs and contributed to increased operational efficiency and customer loyalty (7 and 13 percent improvement, respectively). The end result was an overall yearly ROI of 17.5 percent.