Reprinted with permission of Worldwide ERC®, from the September 2009 issue of MOBILITY

Focusing in
on Relocation
Training—a
Clear Picture for
Future Success
BY MICHELLE SANDLIN, CRP
It is impossible to place enough emphasis on the
relocation-based training of real estate agents.
Sandlin says that, for brokers, ensuring mandatory
relocation training with consistent standards should
be the topmost priority and corporate clients and
relocation management companies should expect
nothing less.

D
o your agents know the difference between a buyer value option (BVO),
an amended value option, a guaranteed buy out, a guarantee against loss,
and a loss-on-sale program? What about the difference between a listing
exclusion clause and a diplomatic clause? Do they know the purpose of
the Worldwide ERC® BMA form and how to effectively prepare one?
Most important, do they also know that there is no such thing as “personal business”
with regard to relocation?
If you are a relocation director in a real estate company, then you certainly understand
the importance of having well-trained “relocation agents.” As we all know, having well-
trained real estate agents is not the same as having well-trained relocation agents. While
initial agent training and continued agent training are important, it is imperative when
working with relocation clients to have agents who are specifically trained in employee
mobility. Because there are so many elements and players involved in the typical reloca-
tion transaction, much more to know and understand, and many nuances to
take into account, it is strongly encouraged that all real estate
relocation departments commit themselves
to providing a formalized
relocation training program.

MOBILITY/SEPTEMBER 2009 65
 Around the Industry:
Types of Relocation Training and Certification Classes

R elocation classes, mandatory and otherwise, will vary from company

to company, and will depend strongly on the services offered by the
relocation department. It also will vary based on the areas of relocation
knowledge that the relocation director thinks should be the primary
focus for his or her agents.
Here are some examples of classes being offered by relocation
departments as part of their relocation training and certification
program:
• Relocation 101—An Orientation to the Relocation Industry;
• Servicing the Corporate Relocation Customer;
• Preparing an Effective BMA;
• Servicing Third-party Listings;
• Pre-marketing of Transferees’ Homes;
• Understanding Inventory Property Management;
• Providing Homefinding Services;
• Providing Rental Services;
• Current Relocation Trends; and
• Internet/e-lead Training.

When I joined John Daugherty,
Realtors, Houston, TX, in December
2008 as senior director of relocation
and business development, one of my
highest priorities was to understand
how the “relocation team” of agents
was comprised. Naturally, I had many
questions. For example, I needed to
know if there were minimum stan-
dards required for an agent to be eli-
gible for relocation business. Further-
more, I needed to know what type of
relocation training program was in
existence, what it consisted of, how
often classes were offered, what the
subject matter was and, of course,
which agents were interested in par-
ticipating and joining our relocation
team.
While much of the existing
relocation team of agents already
had taken part in some basic reloca-
tion training, there was a definite
need for consistency and structure.
As I saw it, a formalized relocation
training and certification program
was paramount to my ability to pro-
vide our clients with the highest
level of service and compete in the
marketplace.
Our agents needed to be well-
versed in relocation and have deep
knowledge of the processes and pro-
cedures involved. To this end, I
developed and implemented our
company’s relocation training and
certification program.
To assist me in the process, I
solicited the knowledge, insight, and
experience of several like-minded
relocation directors from various real
estate companies throughout the
United States. They all spoke very
candidly to me about their relocation
training programs, the success they
had achieved, and any challenges
they may have faced. I took all of this
information, gathered my resources,
and devised what I believe to be a
very comprehensive program for our
agents.
One of the many people I consult-
ed with was John D’Ambrogio,
CRP, GMS, senior vice president,
director of operations and relocation
services at Rubloff Residential
Properties in Chicago, IL, who
agrees with me in the importance of
having a well-trained front line.
“Many of the third-party reloca-
tion companies that we work with
have their own relocation certifica-
tion classes that they require our

66 MOBILITY/SEPTEMBER 2009
agents to take, whether online or by
another means, and we welcome that
because then the corporate client
knows through the third-party com-
pany that the agent knows the drill,”
he said. “The better trained your
front line is, the fewer problems you
have and the more control you have
over what occurs.”
Minimum Standards, Written Exams,
and Refresher Courses
I believe that establishing mini-
mum standards as a requirement for
being qualified for relocation busi-
ness is the first step in developing a
successful relocation training pro-
gram.
While the required number of
years of experience and type of classes
may vary from company to company,
there are two essential elements that
I believe should form the basis for
these minimum standards:
1. an agent must be a sales associ-
ate for a minimum number of years
(generally one to two years); and
2. an agent must complete a com-
prehensive relocation training pro-
gram as stipulated by the company’s
relocation department.
I also am a proponent of giving
written exams to the agents following
each training class. This keeps them
on their toes and off of their Black-
berries during class. It also provides
you with important data to differenti-
ate their various levels of relocation
knowledge and understanding. In
some cases, it also will let you know
which agents may need to retake a
class or, worst-case scenario, which
agents probably should not be on
your relocation team.
I think it is also a nice touch to
provide personalized certificates to
the agents who have successfully
taken the classes and passed the
exam. It recognizes their commit-
ment to the relocation department,
the corporate clients, the third-party
relocation companies and, of course,
their commitment to the transferees
they serve.
In addition to the required classes,
relocation departments also may offer
refresher classes and/or “relocation
electives” that can be taken through-
out the year. Offering electives, in
addition to the obligatory classes,
also is good for the natural evolution
in building a relocation team of
agents. The agents who are part of
your company’s relocation team will
be those who take advantage of relo-
cation training on an ongoing basis
in order to continue growing their
knowledge and expertise as a true
relocation agent. In similar fashion,
those agents who are unwilling to
take part in the program will establish
themselves as agents who do not
desire to work with relocation clients.
Underscoring the Importance of
Training
Having a structured relocation
training program serves many pur-
poses. First, it lets your agents know
that your relocation department is
committed to providing essential
training to them in order to fuel
them with the information they need
to become successful relocation
agents. It also may serve to weed out
those agents who, after taking a class
or two, may come to the decision
that relocation work does not fit into
their overall business plan. For your
corporate clients and third-party
relocation companies, it provides the
assurance that their transferees and
listings will be handled by reloca-
tion-trained agents and not just by
agents who regularly send out post-
cards to the area or needs the busi-
ness to get his or her career off the
ground.
From the corporate client perspec-
tive, relocation training of agents is
considered a given. Corporate clients
fully expect that their transferees will
be working with agents who have
undergone training and are reloca-
tion specialists. Steve Rogers, SCRP,
corporate relocation manager and
president of Transitional Solutions
LLP, Houston, TX, recently shared
his thoughts on the importance of
having relocation-trained agents from
the corporate perspective.
“The agent is one of the few—but
crucial—touch points with the trans-
feree. My success as a corporate client
has depended greatly on the agents
assigned to work with my transferees,
so I always need to have the best
agents, and they all need to be well-
trained. From a corporate, as well as
third-party relocation company
standpoint, they all require that some
sort of training program be in place.
They don’t necessarily need to see it,
but definitely want to know that it is
there,” he said.
It is important to have relocation
agents who partner with both the
relocation department and the third-
party relocation management compa-
ny. Janelle Gerber, CRP, GMS, vice
president, Paragon Global Resources,
Inc., Warrenville, IL, said, “over the
years, I have worked with many real
estate agents and brokers. I can easily
tell the difference between agents
who understand and can effectively
market properties on behalf of a
transferee regardless of whether the
transferee receives a guaranteed buy
out or a buyer value option program.
For example, when I see a list price
and estimated sales price that are the
same, especially in today’s real estate
market, it’s an indication of a listing
MOBILITY/SEPTEMBER 2009 67
Training on Completing the
Worldwide ERC® BMA time that it takes to get a response
from a corporate contact on an

W
®
orldwide ERC is proud to introduce the new training,
inventory property, or the time that
“Mastering the Worldwide ERC® Broker’s Market
it takes to get a contract signed from
Analysis and Strategy Report.” This course covers the concepts the relocation counselor.”
in preparing and completing the new six-page Worldwide Conversely, “the agents who
ERC® Broker’s Market Analysis and Strategy Report. This new don’t understand relocation at all
training is available online or on a two-DVD* set. can kill a sale, without a doubt,”
said Gerber. It is not enough to
In addition to the training, you also will be provided with: have well-trained agents; you must
have relocation-trained agents.
• a blank copy of the “Worldwide ERC® Broker’s Market
As every relocation director
Analysis and Strategy Report;” knows, every time one of his or her
• a sample of a completed “Worldwide ERC® Broker’s agents steps into a car with a trans-
Market Analysis and Strategy Report;” and feree or sets out to prepare a
• a copy of frequently asked questions about the Worldwide ERC® Broker Market
“Worldwide ERC® Broker’s Market Analysis and Strategy Analysis (BMA), their entire
Report.” account is at risk. Furthermore, we
are only as good as our last transac-
tion. For most of us, getting and
* The DVD package also comes with a bonus copy of “A keeping the business is certainly not
Guide to the Worldwide ERC® Broker’s Market Analysis and worth the risk of placing a reloca-
Strategy Report,” which provides line-by-line instructions for tion referral with an untrained,
completing the Worldwide ERC® BMA report. unseasoned sales associate.
Relocation referrals should be
To order: treated like the king’s gold and not
doled out to agents who have not
• Option 1: online training, please visit:
invested their time in the necessary
www.WorldwideERC.org/Resources/USRealEstate/Pages/ training, nor should they be given
BMA-OnlineTraining.aspx out on a rotation, or to brand new
agents as a way to jump start his or
• Option 2: training DVDs, please visit: her career.
www.WorldwideERC.org/Resources/USRealEstate/Pages/ Minimum standards that include
BMA-training-cd.aspx mandatory relocation training need
to be established by the relocation
departments of real estate compa-
technique to obtain the listing but negotiation process and contract sign- nies, and corporate clients and
not necessarily a solid understanding ing will take longer and have to pass third-party relocation management
of marketing strategies designed to through more hands and be viewed companies should demand nothing
achieve a sale during the transferee’s by more eyes than might be the case less. Such training programs, if
marketing period. BMAs that are in a non-corporate transaction. developed and administered effec-
incomplete or don’t support the There also is more paperwork tively, will pay off in dividends for
marketing and pricing strategies are involved and much more attention to the relocation departments and the
also indications of real estate agents detail required. Gerber said, “a well- clients they serve.
who are not relocation-trained.” trained relocation agent is able to Michelle Sandlin, CRP, is director of global
It also is important in the reloca- manage the expectations of the other relocation services for John Daugherty,
Realtors, Houston, TX. She can be reached at
tion training of agents to address time parties involved, because of their +1 713 561 7500 or e-mail
frames and expectations. Often, the understanding of events such as the michelles@johndaugherty.com.

68 MOBILITY/SEPTEMBER 2009