They say it’s the split. It almost never is.
Ask an agent why they’re thinking about moving and you’ll usually hear one word: money. A better split. A lower cap. A bigger signing bonus.
There’s an old line, usually credited to Henry Ford, that if he’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse. I wrote about this in They’re Asking for a Faster Horse. Agents ask for a better split the same way. It’s the answer they can name, not the reason they’re restless.
The framework comes from exit interviews with agents who left one brokerage and joined another, tested against 26 years of leading brokerages and helping firms recruit. Agents move for eight reasons. I call them the 8 D’s of Agent Movement. Dollars is one of them, but it’s rarely the first one, and it’s almost never the only one.
This page is the full framework. Use it to recruit better, keep the agents you have, and run a sales meeting your managers can teach.
The 8 D’s at a glance
| The D | The question underneath |
|---|---|
| 1. Direction | Do I know where this company is going, and where I fit? |
| 2. De-Risking | Will this company protect me when things get hard? |
| 3. Development | Is anyone investing in my growth? |
| 4. Differentiation | Does this brand help me win business? |
| 5. Dynamics | Do I like the people and the culture here? |
| 6. Digital/Data | Do my tools and information make my day easier? |
| 7. Dollars | Is the money fair for what I get? |
| 8. Dissatisfaction | Have the small things piled up past my limit? |
The 8 D’s, one at a time
Each D below has four parts: what the agent says, what they usually mean, the question to ask, and what a leader can do about it.
1. Direction
- What they say: “I’m not sure where this place is headed.”
- What they mean: “No one has shown me the plan, or where I fit in it.”
- Ask: “Where do you want your business to be in three years, and does your broker know?”
- Leader move: Share a clear, simple plan for the company. Then sit down with each agent and connect it to their goals.
2. De-Risking
- What they say: “I’m worried about what’s coming.”
- What they mean: “Rule changes, lawsuits and a tough market scare me. I want a company that has my back.”
- Ask: “What keeps you up at night about your business right now?”
- Leader move: Make your protection visible: compliance support, transaction help, a broker who picks up the phone.
3. Development
- What they say: “I’ve hit a plateau.”
- What they mean: “No one is helping me get better.”
- Ask: “What’s one skill that would change your next 12 months?”
- Leader move: Offer a real growth path, with coaching, training and a manager who follows up.
4. Differentiation
- What they say: “To the consumer, we all look the same.”
- What they mean: “Our brand doesn’t help me win the listing.”
- Ask: “When you’re up against another agent for a listing, what helps you win?”
- Leader move: Give agents a value story and tools they can put in front of a seller, not just a logo.
5. Dynamics
- What they say: “It’s not the same here anymore.”
- What they mean: “The culture changed, or my relationship with leadership did.”
- Ask: “Who here makes your week better, and who makes it harder?”
- Leader move: Get closer to your people. The brokerages that grew through the last downturn did exactly that.
6. Digital/Data
- What they say: “Our tech is clunky.”
- What they mean: “My tools cost me time, and I don’t have the data I need.”
- Ask: “Where does your tech save you time, and where does it cost you?”
- Leader move: Use fewer tools that work well together, and train agents on them until they’re actually used.
7. Dollars
- What they say: “I need a better split.”
- What they mean: Sometimes it really is the money. More often, the money is the stand-in for one of the other seven.
- Ask: “If the split were the same everywhere, what would you choose on?”
- Leader move: Know your numbers and show total value. Don’t open by matching a split; answer the real D first.
8. Dissatisfaction
- What they say: “I’m just not happy.”
- What they mean: “Small problems piled up, and no one fixed them.”
- Ask: “What’s one thing that, if we fixed it this month, would make the biggest difference?”
- Leader move: Check in on a regular schedule and fix small things fast, before they add up.
How to put the 8 D’s to work
In recruiting conversations. Don’t pitch. Listen for which D the agent is really talking about, then ask that D’s question. The agent who says “split” in the first five minutes often says “Direction” or “Development” by minute twenty.
In retention check-ins. Once a quarter, walk each agent through the eight questions. Any D they hesitate on is where you could lose them. Fix it before a recruiter from another firm finds it.
In your sales meeting. Teach one D a week for eight weeks. Have managers share the question, then ask agents how they’d answer it for themselves. You’ll learn more about your own office than you expect.
A note on the other 8 D’s
If you’ve studied David Knox, you know his 8 D’s: the life events that move homeowners, such as Diamonds, Diapers and Divorce. Those are his, and they’re excellent for prospecting. The 8 D’s of Agent Movement are a different framework. They’re about why agents, not homeowners, decide to move.
The 8 D’s power Research, the R in TRIBE, the Recruiting Insight framework: know who you are, who to call and who you could lose.
Want help applying this in your brokerage? Book a 30-minute conversation with Mark at calendly.com/mjsession.
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