Does Your Sales Team Need Another Agent or More Support?.
Before adding another sales agent, check where the team is losing time and opportunities. The next hire may need to handle sales, campaign administration or buyer follow-up.
Your agents are busy, but listings and sales are not growing as expected. Another salesperson might help. So might giving the existing team more time to prospect, meet clients and negotiate.
The decision starts with finding where work is getting held up.
What is taking agents away from sales?
Ask each agent to review a typical week. How much time goes into prospecting, appraisals, buyer conversations and negotiations? How much goes into preparing documents, coordinating campaigns and chasing information?
Look for recurring tasks that could sit with a capable support person:
Booking photography and preparing campaign material.
Entering listing details and checking advertising.
Organising appointments and updating CRM records.
Tracking campaign deadlines and supplier bookings.
Preparing information for vendor reports.
Check whether agents are doing these tasks because support is missing, responsibilities are unclear or they are reluctant to delegate. Hiring an assistant will only help if the work is actually handed over.
Are opportunities being missed?
Look at what happens after an enquiry, open home or appraisal.
Are buyers contacted promptly? Do appraisal follow-ups happen when promised? Are potential sellers sitting in the database without a next step?
Find out why. An agent who cannot return calls while attending appointments has a different problem from one who has time available but no consistent follow-up routine.
Extra support can create capacity. Clear expectations and accountability are still needed.
What would another agent work on?
Before recruiting, identify the opportunity available to them.
Would they develop a new area, handle enquiries the team cannot service or build their own business? Who would train them, and how much time would that take?
Be clear about lead allocation, database access and contact ownership under your agency’s policies. Bringing someone in without agreed responsibilities can create friction with the existing team.
A new agent needs a credible opportunity and a clear role.
What sort of support is needed?
Match the position to the work.
Campaign administration may suit a sales administrator. Buyer enquiries and inspections may call for a sales associate with the appropriate qualifications. An established agent with a demanding schedule may need a dedicated assistant.
Write down what the person will own, who sets their priorities and when matters return to the agent. “Help the sales team” is too broad to guide recruitment or daily work.
How will you know the hire has helped?
Set a few practical measures before recruiting.
For a support role, these might include campaigns launching on time, fewer missed follow-ups and more agent time spent with prospects and clients.
For another agent, agree on realistic activity and pipeline expectations, allowing for their experience and the time needed to build business.
Also decide how agents will use any time freed up. If prospecting keeps being postponed, removing administration alone may not improve results.
Complete this sentence before writing the job ad: “We need this person to take responsibility for…” If the answer is still vague, the role needs more thought.