It's an idea whose time has come, says one broker, recommending the kind of one-year apprenticeship he already offers new agents -- tapping not only his experience but his commission.
It's an idea whose time has come, says one broker, recommending the kind of one-year apprenticeship he already offers new agents -- tapping not only his experience but his commission.
“Coming from a banking background, I 100 per cent believe in this and the need for it,” Sean Chouman, president of Landmark Financial Group, told MortgagBrokerNews.ca. “What I’m suggesting is a true apprenticeship because once a new agent has tapped their inner-circle for leads, then what?”
That question is likely to loom even larger for new agents entering a market that continues to slow and where fewer and fewer first-time buyers qualify to their intended purchases.
That environment has already scared off many would-be agents and it challenges the viability of others who'll nonetheless decide to make the leap, say critics of the "sink or swim" philosophy.
Chouman is in that camp, although his apprenticeship has already proven successful in better preparing new agents to take on the rigors of managing their own businesses.
"It's simple," he said. "They work under me for a probationary period of three months -- that after they've qualified -- and then if I think they've demonstrated that they have what it takes to make a success of the business, they then work as an apprentice under me, doing everything from A to Z, not just lead generation or back end."
In the process, they get a cut of Chouman's compensation in the form of a commission and not a base salary. Any leads they generate and that close are also shared under the same formula.
The plan provides a living wage and the kind of supported income that so many new agents lack, said Chouman.
The approach is one many brokers have rejected, arguing their new agents should eat what they kill and not what their broker hunts down.
