Agent retention has very little to do with commission splits. Brokers want to believe it’s about money, and yes, money matters, but truthfully, agents leave because they feel invisible. They need to feel like they belong — to feel seen, heard and cared about.
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I recently sat down with Kathy Viard and Peter Morris, co-owners of Signature Premier Properties on Long Island, New York, on my podcast Real Estate Unscripted. They’ve built an independent brokerage from scratch into a company of over 1,800 agents across 23 offices, with no franchise and no formal business plan. What they shared was the clearest real-world proof I’ve seen of everything I’ve taught for years.
Culture has to be something you do, not something you declare
Culture isn’t a mission statement; it’s the sum of your daily decisions. How you show up, how often and whether your people can feel it. It’s the shared beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors that define a company.
Kathy and Peter live this. Every Wednesday night, they take a group of agents out for “date night.” No agenda, no pitch — just two hours of real conversation over cocktails and appetizers. “If you don’t get together with them,” Peter told me, “the next thing you know, you’re losing them.”
It’s not a retention tactic; it’s connection. Never confuse talking about culture with practicing it.
Your agents need to know you care before the crisis hits
Don’t wait for a hard moment to show your people they matter. It may be too late then. The investment in your team needs to happen in the ordinary moments, the check-ins, handwritten notes, etc., so that when things get hard, trust is already there.
Kathy and Peter found this out firsthand when the National Association of Realtors settlement hit, and Signature took a financial blow. Before they could even address it internally, their agents were reaching out, asking how they could help. They suggested canceling the holiday party. They offered to give up the annual trip, one of the company’s most beloved traditions.
“There are simply no words,” Kathy told me, “for how wonderful our agents were to us at our lowest.”
That response didn’t come from a commission split. It came from years of showing up at every moment, big and small, that said “you matter” to their agents.
Money can outbid you, but culture can’t be bought
Here’s one of the hardest truths I share with independent brokers: If you’re trying to compete on dollars, you’ll lose. There will always be a better-funded company willing to write a bigger check. This is where the strength of your company culture becomes your greatest asset. What’s important to many agents isn’t the money, it’s the sense of family and belonging they get from being with a brokerage that genuinely cares about them.
When Compass arrived on Long Island and started signing top producers, Signature lost some agents — even some people who were close personal friends of Kathy and Peter. For a moment, they even considered selling.
“It was a weak moment,” Peter told me honestly. “We were vulnerable and devastated.” But they didn’t match the checks. Didn’t restructure their splits in a panic. They leaned harder into the thing no outside brand could replicate, who they were to their people. They recruited aggressively, brought in strong teams and never took a step back in volume.
Many agents who stayed turned down serious money to do it. “Not everybody went to the highest bidders,” Kathy said, and she made sure those agents knew their loyalty was seen and appreciated.
Transparency: one of the most underused retention tools
I’ve seen brokers who believe that protecting their agents from bad news is a form of leadership. They call it acting from a position of strength. In my experience, what erodes agent trust faster than bad news is feeling “managed” and not respected enough to be told the truth.
Kathy and Peter communicate with their agents openly and regularly in what Peter calls a “State of the Union” when the company is navigating something difficult. Their updates don’t spin or deflect. “We share the good, the bad, the ugly. We communicate with them, and they love that,” Kathy shared.
When you’re honest, you’re not showing weakness. You’re showing respect. Respected agents don’t look for the exit.
Shared purpose binds people to something bigger than a paycheck
People want to be part of something that means something. They want to engage with a company that has aspirations larger than just the bottom line. They can get a paycheck anywhere. But, a brokerage that gives agents a purpose — that’s a different conversation entirely.
Kathy and Peter have built that through consistent community involvement. Veterans’ fundraisers. Autism awareness walks. Easter basket drives. A push-up challenge that raised $130,000 and ended with 2,500 people on a golf course. These aren’t marketing stunts. They’re shared experiences that bond a company together.
That sense of meaning is retention. Not because it shows up on a recruiting brochure, but because once an agent has stood next to a colleague assembling Easter baskets for kids who wouldn’t otherwise have one, they remember it. And they remember who made it happen.
The bottom line
How many brokers are out there working so hard on the wrong problems? They’re obsessing over splits, scrambling to match tech platforms, chasing the next shiny recruiting tool, all in the hopes of finding that magical thing that will make their agents stay.
Kathy and Peter built one of the most agent-loyal independent brokerages I’ve ever encountered, not by outspending the competition, but by out-caring them. As Kathy put it: “Sell with your heart, not your wallet, and you’ll have success.”
That’s the whole playbook, right there. Not just for agents — for every broker who wants to build something worth staying for.
Darryl Davis is the CEO of Darryl Davis Seminars. Get connected on Facebook or YouTube.
