How Engineering A Culture of Abundance Has Impacted LG Fairmont’s Growth and Retention

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By Eddy Boccara and Dakota O’Brien

Since New York City has entered a post-COVID-19 phase, agents have experienced a boom in business and firms are experiencing unprecedented levels of agent growth. However, with nearly 65% of agents that joined the industry in the last year switching firms, high retention rates are more difficult to come by.

With that being said, boutique firms seem to be breaking the trend with increasing retention rates, specifically with newer agents.

Special Note: Boutique firms are defined as firms with less than 300 agents.

Us data lovers at Corofy decided to take an in-depth look at the city’s growth and retention trends amongst boutique brokerages post-COVID-19.

LG Fairmont’s Unique Hiring and Retention Trends

Our CEO, Eddy Boccara, sat down with Aaron Graf and Zoe Kellerhals-Madussi at LG Fairmont to discuss their firm’s growth and retention rates and how they help the new agents that join their firm succeed.

LG Fairmont’s journey provides a unique look into the act of balancing hiring and retention at a growing firm. Although the firm’s agent headcount now stands at a third of what it was 18 months ago, LG Fairmont’s retention has increased significantly, from 41% in 2019 to over 63% this year.

“We didn’t want the level of turnover you experience when your firm is really large so we shrunk down to where we are now, which we feel is perfect for maintaining our brokerage’s culture.”

For many growing firms, a rapidly growing team comes at the expense of both their retention and brokerage culture. For LG Fairmont, it was important to maintain the values and offerings that make their brokerage a destination for so many new agents — leads, training, and a collaborative culture that their agents describe as family-like.

A Commitment To Hiring Properly

To maintain their collaborative culture and growing retention rate, LG Fairmont makes it a point to protect their hiring process.

“We’re maintaining the community that we already have by making sure everyone who joins really wants to build a career in real estate.”

By being strict in its hiring process, LG Fairmont has been able to expand its team with quality, long-lasting hires that are committed to growing their real estate careers.

Getting Agents Out In The Industry

Like many other brokerages in New York City, LG Fairmont relies on their training process to get their agents accustomed to the industry, thus making them productive and increasing the likelihood of them staying with their firm.

However, in contrast, LG Fairmont’s training approach works hand-in-hand with their lead generation system, which works to give new agents an outlet to work directly with clients so they can learn the ins and outs of the industry almost immediately after joining their team.

“Going out with a client is a big part of our training and that’s what sets us apart. New agents will get a client almost immediately and we’ll help them through the process without them having to join a team as you would with a larger firm.”

By being strict in its hiring process, LG Fairmont has been able to expand its team with quality, long-lasting hires that are committed to growing their real estate careers.

“Our new agents go out with a client within their first week with the firm if they finish their sales training.”

The Risk Of Sharing Leads With New Agents

Lead generation is a costly process, often making it a risk for brokerages to share these leads with newer agents.

LG Fairmont has engineered a system to be able to send leads to all their agents and manage all the agents that receive their leads, ensuring new agents get hands-on experience and make the most of the leads they are given.

“It’s a risk to give clients to new agents but we have it down to a science. It’s a combination of hiring the right people, training them properly before they go out, and staying with them on their deals in the beginning.”

The Importance of a Collaborative Culture

Before creating LG Fairmont, Aaron Graf, CEO of the firm, studied other brokerages to see what was impacting agent growth and retention. When it came to agents leaving their brokerage, an overly competitive culture seemed to be the biggest gripe.

In response, LG Fairmont made it a point to foster a collaborative, team-oriented culture amongst their agents. By sharing leads with their agents from the beginning, they eliminated the risk of agents competing against one another.

“We’ve engineered a culture of abundance. When you feel abundance, you’re okay with sharing. When you feel scarcity, it’s human nature, you don’t want to share anything.”

As a boutique firm with a surplus of leads for their agents, LG Fairmont has built a name for itself as a firm that helps new agents grow a successful career in real estate.

“Agents don’t feel the need to huddle around leads because everyone has clients. Instead, agents help each other and work together, which is a huge component of the firm’s culture.”

Hunger To Succeed In Real Estate

For LG Fairmont, it’s clear that it’s not just about hiring new agents, but about creating an environment that fosters their success and makes them excited about real estate. This is part of the recipe that has helped them increase their retention rate by nearly 14% in just 18 months.

“Everybody at LG has that hunger about real estate, which is something that we’re really proud of. Everyone is really obsessed with real estate and how cool of a job it is and we do everything we can to maintain that hunger.”

Our Feeling

With an influx of new agents entering the industry post-COVID-19 and a large percentage of those agents switching firms within their first year, it’s more important than ever that brokerages maintain a culture that supports agents as they make their way in real estate.

“Culture is a big deal when it comes to retention. Agents leave their brokerage when they feel there’s a drop off of support after a few weeks with the firm.”

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