Benjamin Stevens Estate Agents has launched a training academy for estate agents.

The Benjamin Stevens Training Academy trains those who have little or no prior experience in the property industry and have the desire to one day own their own Estate Agency business.

The training course is 3 months whereby trainees gain an in-depth knowledge of the sales and lettings process from beginning to end, and also learn the skills required for running their own business.

Head of Recruitment at Benjamin Stevens, Elliot Graham says “Experience and motivation are the two main elements needed to be a successful Estate Agent. But what if you have the motivation and lack the experience?  Everyone needs to start from somewhere and very few companies offer this opportunity to teach someone from scratch and nurture those developing skills.”

Through a mix of classroom training, on the job shadowing and mentor sessions, Trainees are developed into fully-fledged agents. The hope, or though it is not a requirement, is that after the training is complete, the graduates stay on and become a Benjamin Stevens Hub Partner, running their own territories.

The course also allows Trainees the opportunity to earn whilst they learn, offering them up to 25% commission on deals they are a part of during the academy course.

Head of Operations Laura Clare explains “Each academy will be slightly different because property itself is a fluid business and anyone who works in the industry will agree, no two days are the same. This means, no two academy courses will be the same. This can be part of the fun! I might have a PowerPoint presentation at the ready, or we might plan to go out canvassing, and then unoccupied properties become available and we ditch the schedule  and head out for some practical training. The more hands on training the better because estate agents can’t fully operate from behind a desk 100% of the time.”

Steve Wayne, Managing Director of Benjamin Stevens says The Training Academy is something he’s been working on launching for a while. “I’ve been running my own agency for over 17 years. I launched it with minimal experience and had to learn on the job. I’ve seen Negotiators come and go over the years but the ones who truly succeed are those that are willing to go out and canvass and door knock, and appreciate the power of social media marketing, and don’t just rely on picking up a phone and calling clients.

I wanted to pass on knowledge to help launch people’s careers. What I’ve seen when people start out in this industry with no experience, is an immediate rush and pressure on them to do business. What happens is they then tend to overlook the basic skills they need to be a good Negotiator. What I hope to achieve with the academy is to take that pressure away and for our trainees to use their first 3 months, with no targets, learning all the skills and tools they need to become a good agent and, only then, put all that they’ve learnt into practice and do business hopefully with quick succession.”

The hope is after the course is complete, trainees will stick with Benjamin Stevens and build their own territory under our brand. However, if at the end of the academy they want to take another route with another agency, at least they have the skills and some experience under their belt to make it easier to find a job.

A recent graduate of the academy Altaf Karmali had always wanted a career in property but never possessed the skills or experience and so found it hard to break into the industry and find his first job. He says “The Academy was simply excellent. It has taught me all the skills I need to become a Negotiator and now I can use what I’ve learnt over the past few months to become an agent in my local area and start earning money straight away.” Altaf decided to stay with Benjamin Stevens and now covers the Harrow area for them.

For more information about the acadamy, Click Here