Agent retention has little to do with commission splits. Brokers would like to believe it’s about money, and yes, money is important, but the truth is agents walk away feeling invisible. They need to feel like they belong. That means you need to feel seen, heard, and cared for.
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I recently spoke with Kathy Beard and Peter Morris, co-owners of Signature Premier Properties in Long Island, New York, on my podcast, Real Estate Unscripted. They built an independent brokerage firm from the ground up with no franchise or formal business plan, creating a company with more than 1,800 agents in 23 offices. What they shared was the clearest real-life evidence I’ve ever seen for everything I’ve been teaching for years.
Culture must be something we do, not something we declare.
Culture is not a mission statement. It’s the sum of your daily decisions. How you show up, how often, and whether your people can feel it. A company is defined by its shared beliefs, values, attitudes and actions.
Kathy and Peter are living this. Every Wednesday night, they take a group of agents out for a “date night.” There is no agenda, no pitch. Just two hours of serious conversation over cocktails and appetizers. “If we don’t unite with them, the next moment we lose them,” Peter told me.
This is not a retention strategy. It’s a connection. Never confuse talking about culture with practicing it.
Agents need to know you care before a crisis occurs
You don’t have to wait for difficult moments to show people that you matter. Then it may be too late. Investing in your team should happen in everyday moments like check-ins and handwritten notes. That way, trust is already there when things get tough.
Kathy and Peter learned this firsthand when the National Association of Realtors settlement issue hit Signature financially. Before we addressed the issue internally, our agent reached out to us and asked how they could help. They suggested canceling the holiday party. They offered to cancel one of the company’s most beloved traditions: the annual trip.
“I can’t tell you how amazing our agent was to us when we were at our lowest point,” Kathy told me.
This response did not result from fee splitting. It came from years of showing up at every moment, big and small, and telling agents, “You matter.”
You can compete with money, but you can’t buy culture.
One of the harshest truths I share with independent brokers is that if you try to compete on dollars, you will lose. There will always be a company with deep pockets that will write a larger check. This is where the strength of your company’s culture becomes your greatest asset. For many agents, it’s not the money that matters, but the sense of family and belonging that comes with working with a broker who genuinely cares about them.
When Compass arrived on Long Island and began signing top producers, Signature lost several agents and even some of Kathy and Peter’s close personal friends. At one point, he even considered selling it.
“It was a moment of weakness,” Peter honestly told me. “We were vulnerable and devastated.” But those didn’t match the checks. I didn’t panic and rebuild the split. They were more committed to what external brands couldn’t replicate: who they were to their employees. They hired aggressively, brought in a strong team, and never scaled back.
Many of the agents who remained did so by turning down large sums of money. “Not everyone bid to the highest bidder,” Kathy said, making sure those agents knew their loyalty was valued and valued.
Transparency: One of the most underutilized retention tools
I’ve seen brokers who believe that protecting agents from bad news is a form of leadership. They call it “acting from a position of strength.” In my experience, what destroys an agent’s trust faster than bad news is feeling “controlled” and not respected enough to tell the truth.
Kathy and Peter communicate openly and regularly with agents in what Peter calls a “State of the Union” when the company is facing difficult situations. Their updates don’t spin or be biased. “We share the good, the bad and the ugly. We communicate with them and they love it,” Kathy said.
Be honest and don’t show weakness. It shows respect. Respected agents don’t look for an exit.
A common purpose connects people to something bigger than a paycheck.
People want to be part of something meaningful. They want to be associated with companies that have bigger goals than just the bottom line. They can get paid anywhere. But a brokerage that gives agents a purpose is a completely different story.
Kathy and Peter have built that through consistent community involvement. Fundraising efforts by veterans. Autism awareness walk. Easter basket drive. A push-up challenge on a golf course that raised $130,000 and attracted 2,500 participants. These are not marketing stunts. They are shared experiences that bind a company together.
That sense of meaning is retention. Not because it’s in the recruiting brochure, but because agents remember it when they stand next to their co-workers assembling Easter baskets for kids who don’t have one. And they remember who made it happen.
conclusion
How many brokers are working hard on the wrong problem? They’re fixated on splits, scrambling to fit into technology platforms, chasing the next shiny recruitment tool in hopes of finding that magic thing that will make agents stick.
Kathy and Peter have built one of the most agent-loyal independent brokerages I have ever encountered. It wasn’t about beating our competitors, it was about being more considerate than them. Cathy says: “Sell with your heart, not your wallet, and you will be successful.”
That’s the whole playbook. Not just for agents, but also for all brokers who want to build something worth staying with.
