Paul Massey: Three Keys to Attracting and Retaining Great Agent Talent

The past year has seen an unprecedented shift in the landscape of commercial real estate brokerages in New York City. Established and up-and-coming agents alike are being presented with enticing opportunities to further their careers and newer, faster and smarter technologies to leverage on behalf of clients – the competition for talent in this ever-evolving market has been no greater than it is today.

When deciding to launch B6 Real Estate Advisors, I asked myself the question: as a leader in the industry, how do I effectively attract and retain both experienced and rising stars? How do I create an environment in which they could thrive and best service clients?

Here are three key elements that will make a brokerage, whether boutique, mid-size or large, attractive to top recruits in the industry.

1. Provide a brand built on experience and opportunity for mentorship. When we launched our commercial brokerage firm, B6 Real Estate Advisors, this past summer, we did so with the confidence in our combined decades of experience in leading the number one investment sales firm in New York, Massey Knakal, which held that honor for fourteen consecutive years. We understand the dynamics of the market, what it takes to build a business from the ground up and we have the mindset and ability to be innovative. By hiring top producers, experienced thought leaders and veteran practitioners, you provide and showcase that same confidence to your up-and-coming agents. It also offers an opportunity for these agents to learn and grow under the encouragement and mentorship of stellar leaders.

2. Facilitate an open and collaborative environment. A successful brokerage provides a level playing field for all its team members. At B6, we encourage open sharing of market insights and information across all our teams. This allows our agents to fully understand how to work effectively both with each other and with clients. Every B6 team member has a voice, is valued and knows that they have an important place at the table. The end result is a team that is knowledgeable, cohesive and intensely client focused. This culture of openness is imperative to success as it builds trust among your team members, fellow leaders and your clients.

3. Leverage technology to empower your agents to work more effectively and efficiently. It is no secret that our industry has long been behind the curve with regards to innovation through technology. This has hampered growth and caused multiple headaches, inconveniences and time loss for skilled professionals. The platform we are deploying at B6 is custom designed to streamline and improve our agents day-to-day work experience. Common, tedious tasks – such as uploading building photos, data entry, producing marketing materials – are now automated allowing our agents more time to spend on higher value activities and focus their energy on quality client service. The feedback we have received so far is phenomenal. Nearly every new recruit that we’ve shown our platform has said the same thing: “I’ve been looking for this my whole career.”

What’s more, our agents have access to superior analytics reports and up-to-date market intelligence in a user-friendly format that arms them with a deep understanding of their respective submarkets. This information is also shared regularly with our clients allowing them a clear window into the process of what is happening with their property listings in the marketplace. This transparency, tech-enabled nimbleness and ease of process is crucial for a brokerage to succeed in today’s fragmented market.

Attracting and retaining top talent is never easy, however brokerages can use these key elements of experienced, respected leadership, open, collaborative cultures and tech-forward tools and resources to ensure that their firms are enjoyable and profitable places to work for all team members and valuable partners for their clients.

Paul Massey is the CEO of B6 Real Estate Advisors, an investment sales and capital advisory commercial brokerage firm, which he launched in July 2018. He was the CEO at Massey Knakal Realty Services, which he founded with Robert Knakal. The company became the New York metropolitan area’s leading commercial investment sales brokerage firm, which was purchased by Cushman & Wakefield for $100 million on January 1, 2015. Massey served as the president, New York investment sales, at Cushman from January 2015 through April 2018.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and not those of ALM’s Real Estate Media Group.