Why 80% of hired brokers drop out in the first 3 months and how to solve it

Article by Evgeny Kazimirsky — co-founder RED x RED Experts.

Why high turnover is not a market problem, but a hiring funnel problem

Most real estate agencies make the same mistake: they treat hiring a broker as a formality. They believe that there are plenty of brokers with expertise on the market who will come in and immediately start selling well in their company. But it's precisely this approach that breeds chronic turnover.

In reality, successful broker retention depends on two key factors:

First — the human factor. Any new employee experiences stress in the first weeks: new environment, new processes, new people. At this stage, it's critically important to show care and create a supportive atmosphere so that the candidate bonds on a human-to-human level.

Second — the professional factor. The broker must organically fit into your system. Two criteria matter here: compatibility with the sales manager, team, and company culture, as well as similarity to the sales model they worked with before.

For example: a broker who spent years working in a walk-in format, where clients simply walk in off the street, and a broker who works with leads from paid traffic — these are two fundamentally different specialists with different mindsets and skills. If you swap one for the other without adaptation — in 95% of cases the broker won't pass the probation period.

Where exactly the candidate is lost and at which stage most leave

The hiring funnel is the same kind of funnel as a sales funnel. Losses happen at every stage, and it's important to understand where exactly and why.

The job listing. A poorly written description attracts irrelevant candidates. The listing should clearly reflect the profile of the right person: compatibility with the team, sales manager, type of traffic they'll be working with, conditions, and expectations. The more precise the description — the more relevant candidates you attract.

The first interview. A key mistake is often made here — trying to give everyone a chance "so there's someone to choose from." This is a fundamentally wrong approach. The wider the funnel at the top without clear filters — the more resources are spent on people who will leave anyway.

The recruiter. A recruiter who successfully filled positions at other companies doesn't automatically become effective at yours. For them to hire correctly for your specific system, the recruitment process needs to be configured and documented.

Two approaches to hiring: which one suits agencies working with traffic

In broker hiring, there are two polar strategies.

Mass-market approach — you recruit the widest possible flow of candidates, run them all through a powerful training system, and keep those who survived. This approach works where an industrial-level onboarding system is built, and sales aren't tied to marketing traffic.

Boutique approach — you clearly understand who you need and search for exactly that person. For agencies that work with paid traffic and generate leads through advertising, this approach is significantly more effective. With proper selection, retention reaches 60–80% — meaning out of 10 hired brokers, 6–8 stay on the team and start selling.

To understand which strategy suits you, imagine a scale: mass-market on the left, boutique on the right. Most medium and large companies aren't at one of the poles — they have a lever that can be moved in either direction. The goal isn't to choose one approach once and for all, but to find the point on this scale where your hiring system starts working at maximum efficiency — and consciously hold it there.

Why an experienced broker with an impressive resume can destroy a team faster than a newcomer

It sounds paradoxical, but this is one of the most common hiring mistakes.

An experienced specialist with an impressive track record may not fit your sales manager, may not match the team's sales style, may clash with the type of leads you work with, may not be the right vibe, or may come in with a "star" mentality that's hard to manage.

Stars should grow within the team — this is the only way to get a strong broker who works by your rules and shares the company's values. If you bring in a ready-made "star" from outside, be prepared to create special conditions for them — otherwise conflict is inevitable.

Questions that help predict whether a person will stay or leave

Even at the interview stage with the recruiter, you can determine with high accuracy whether a candidate will stay or not. Here's one of the key examples:

"Do you have a financial cushion for 3 months?"

This question is not a formality. In most agencies, a broker works only on commission, without a fixed salary. First deals typically close in 2–3 months, first earnings come in 3–4. If a candidate answers evasively or admits they have no financial reserves — there's a high probability that after two months without a deal, they'll start getting nervous, lose focus, and ultimately leave on their own or be let go.

Questions like these don't just collect information — they test a person's real readiness for the specifics of working at your particular company.

How to build onboarding that retains brokers and saves advertising money

By our estimate, 95% of agencies and developers don't have a proper onboarding system. That's exactly why money invested in hiring and lead generation regularly "burns" along with brokers who leave before they even start selling.

Onboarding is not a two-day introduction to the team and workflow. It's a full-fledged training program lasting two to three weeks that includes several mandatory blocks, plus a probation period of two to three months.

• About the company. The broker must deeply understand the company's values and advantages, and be able to sell the company to a client just as confidently as they sell a property.
• About the market. Location, districts, infrastructure, investment attractiveness — the broker must be able to explain to the client why this particular market, this city, this country deserves attention.
• About the product. A minimum of 15 projects across three price segments — not just in theory, but in practice. Site visits and hands-on familiarity with what you're selling are a mandatory part of training.
• About sales techniques. Funnel structure, objection handling, guiding the client from first contact to deal — all of this must be documented and practiced.
• About CRM and processes. The ability to sell and the ability to work within a system are different skills. The latter also needs to be taught.

Each block concludes with a test and a final exam at the end of training. This is a management tool that allows you to draw conclusions about how a person absorbs the material and whether you're ready to accept them into practice or not.

How to filter properly — and why this is more important than the ability to hire

The most valuable skill in hiring is not the ability to attract candidates, but the ability to part ways with them in time.

A typical scenario: you've brought 10 candidates into onboarding. Two can't keep up in the first week — they absorb material slowly, don't reach the baseline level. Don't give them a second chance out of sympathy. Say goodbye politely but firmly. A few more drop out in the second and third weeks. The remaining ones move to practice, and here it becomes clear who works by the system and who ignores procedures or fails to build a relationship with the sales manager.

A normal attrition rate at the onboarding stage is 50–60% for medium and large agencies. For the boutique approach — 20–40%.

The earlier you filter out an unsuitable candidate, the fewer leads they manage to waste, the less team resources are spent in vain, and the faster you find those who will actually sell.

When the process is built correctly, an important shift happens: it's no longer the candidate deciding to leave because they "didn't fit in" or "couldn't figure it out." It's you making a conscious decision — whether to continue with a person or not. You manage the process, not the other way around.