The Holiday Season has always been a natural time for many brokers to make the move to join another brokerage company. So with this in mind, here are some ideas to help you decide whether or not making the move right now would be a good idea for you:

First of all, if you’re not happy with the company you’re working for right now, make a list of all the things you’re not happy with there, and determine what, if any of these things can be changed. Maybe you can go to management and talk to them about the things that you’d like to have changed, and if they’re receptive to what you want, maybe these items can be handled in such a way that you’ll then be happy remaining with your current company.

But what if management won’t change what you want them to? Or, what if the things that you don’t like about your current company have gotten to the point where you’ve finally decided that you now definitely need to move on?

If this is the case, then I recommend that you do the following:

Write out your vision for the ideal company that you want to work for, or create a numbered list of all of the qualities and attributes that you want your new brokerage company to have. Some of these items may include the commission split they’ll offer you, the tools and the support services that they’ll have available for you, the recognizability of the name of their brokerage company either nationally and/or within your own territory, and the quality, professionalism, and friendliness of the brokers who you’ll be surrounded by there.

Then once you’ve done this, begin to write down the names of the brokerage companies that you believe fit this ideal criteria that you’ve now established, and then determine which companies you’ll want to approach about working there.

Writing down your ideal list of criteria is important, because it will help you to minimize the chances of ending up with a firm that you won’t be happy with, and it will maximize the chances that you’ll end up working with the firm that will be the best one for you. Too many brokers end up getting courted by other firms, and when you’re not happy with your current firm, just the fact that some other people want you, can make you feel like joining them!

So do your homework, identify what’s really important for you to have within the new company you’ll be working for, determine which companies meet this criteria, and then begin talking to one or more of those companies about working for them.

Then, when you do it like this, you’ll be maximizing the probability that you’ll be moving to a company that you’ll be thrilled with for years to come.