RSCK’s Board of Directors has approved the following terms and is encouraging all members to start utilizing them. Our goal is for a clear understanding of whom people are dealing with, whether it is peer to peer or the general public.

Many times, it has been found that people believe they are speaking with the Branch or Supervising Broker when in all actuality, it is an agent within the firm. The most common occurrence is the general public but does happen with peer-to-peer dealings, as well. It is especially helpful for when issues arise, as people will know there is someone, shall we say, higher up the chain that they can go to and hopefully, get things resolved more easily and amicably rather than being angry or frustrated . . . leading to a complaint call to the association.

It has also been found that agents on teams believe their Team Leader is the Branch or Supervising Broker and don’t understand there is someone above the Team Leader that they are accountable to. These terms are taken straight from KREC, but we added Team Leader.

• Agent – salesperson or associate broker in a firm. If an associate broker, please make it known who the Supervising or Branch Broker of the firms is.

• Supervising Broker – a broker who is responsible for the supervision of a primary location or sole proprietorship.

• Branch Broker – a broker who is designated to supervise a branch office of a firm.

• Team Leader – an agent in a firm who has a group of agents working with them in serving clients and customers. They may be a salesperson, associate broker, Branch, or Supervising Broker. Team leaders, please denote which of these roles you have and if not a Supervising or Branch Broker, please make it known who the Supervising or Branch Broker of the firms is.

As communication is key to your success, we appreciate everyone working towards a more unified use of terms that will help alleviate confusion and enhance the professionalism of our industry.