Supervisor-trainee Agreement/stealing Clients

[Kathryn Bowen]

Thank you all for giving me insight on this! I am very appreciative of my supervisor and do agree with you 'Overimprovement' that this does benefit me more than him. I think the idea of turning away the last 6 months of Clients for a period of time is more than fair. We have a verbal agreement that I will not steal his business, and a basic written agreement should do us perfectly. My main concern is making sure I am not in any way hindering my supervisors business once I branch out. Previously I was a licensed insurance agent and was 'duped' twice by a lack of a written agreement and too vague of agreement and definitely do not wish to go through that again!

 

[Cooper8]

Personally, we had no written anything, but as I quoted Hillbillyman above, it just became a matter of honor/respect (whatever you want to call it)

I had a GREAT relationship with my supervisor and the owner of the firm (smaller firm; about 5 guys or so)

The unspoken rule was "we train you at a fair split for 2+ years, you "give back" 2+ years at a more generous fee split once you're CR"
I never considered "stealing" a client of theirs and when we did part ways, I had built up a small client base, large enough to ... break away
We left each other on good terms and 6 yrs later after the split, I'm still in contact with the owner and even consult with him once in a while on certain property types

Honor, respect, professionalism can go a LONG way sometimes - even without something in writing (although having it in writing may not be a bad idea)

Can you be more specific on what your opinion is of a "fair" split during the 2 years of training and then once you're CR?

 

[Cooper8]

How big is your primary market area? I think having a non-compete clause is perfectly reasonable, especially in a smaller market--though admittedly tough to enforce without your clients' cooperation. If someone has taken hundreds or even thousands of hours to train you, is it fair to them if you start bidding against them for the same clients you used to get your training? You will have intimate knowledge of your supervisor's clients, what is important to them, exactly who to contact, etc. You more than any other appraiser off the street will have a great 'in' with those clients already, moreso if you will be signing the reports during your training.Your agreement most likely is a work in exchange for knowledge/training, not work in exchange for easy pickings once you strike out on your own. In most cases, it is the trainee who benefits FAR more from a supervisor/trainee relationship than the supervisor.

Why is it that the Trainee benefits FAR more than the supervisor? Honest question. My supervisor no longer has to inspect with me, I do the entire report and he spends 30 mins or so reviewing my report and discussing any changes or errors with me and I get 20% of the fee. He is able to keep his current volume plus take a large chunk of everything I do. I agree that the first 6 months or so when they accompany you on EVERY inspection and spend hours explaining and teaching it seems like a raw deal for a supervisor, but after the trainee is up and running doesn't this benefit most supervisors? I assume that's the only reason they take us on, so they can get money in return for the time they put in training and increase their profit.

 

[Michigan CG]

I get 20% of the fee.

20%? Wow. Do you get benefits? I assume you work as an employee with him paying taxes, etc.

 

[Overimprovement]

Why is it that the Trainee benefits FAR more than the supervisor?

Because it can take hundreds of hours of training, for which the supervisor essentially gets nothing in return, to get to the point of

after the trainee is up and running

There is a lot of risk borne by every supervisor as well that is hard to monetize. In addition, this just speaks to the trainees that make it. It does not count the hours that go into training those that wash out, quit, just never get it, etc.
It also does not speak to the potential competition the supervisor faces from their now-certified trainee 2-4 years after bringing them on.

 

[Mr Rex]

Interns usually get paid nothing and have to pay tuition for their education.

 

[Cooper8]

20%? Wow. Do you get benefits? I assume you work as an employee with him paying taxes, etc.

I’m not an employee. No benefits. Just get a 20% cut and I still owe my own taxes.

 

[Cooper8]

Interns usually get paid nothing and have to pay tuition for their education.

True. But interns typically have minimal responsibility and don't intern for 2 years. Typically just a semester to get experience, etc.

 

[bnmappraisal]

Can you be more specific on what your opinion is of a "fair" split during the 2 years of training and then once you're CR?

I was $10/hr which included drive time to/from inspections (my supervisor was with me the whole 2+ yrs of training and paid me for "driving him" to the assignments), assisting in research and typing reports, etc

Reports where I completed the whole report and was signing my name, was paid 40% of the total fee

40% seemed "fair" to me and still feel it was fair

 

[Cooper8]

Yes, 40% seems very fair. I'm only getting 20% which is hard to swallow sometimes, but this is because my supervisor also has a split with the owner. Thanks for responding.