In an industry where loyalty is often tied to commissions, culture and opportunity, Re/Max is rolling the dice on a new kind of retention strategy — one that looks a lot like your favourite coffee shop or hotel chain rewards app.
The recently launched Max Engage program rewards agents with points for completing brand-aligned activities, from social media challenges and listing best practices to training tool engagement.
“The tool is designed to help agents invest in their business alongside the brand and reward them for doing so,” says Melissa Clemance, VP of marketing and communications for Re/Max Canada. “Similar to a Marriott Bonvoy or Starbucks rewards program, the more you engage in certain activities, the more points you gain.”
She explains how it comes full circle: Agents perform certain activities, get points for them and, using campaigns within the brand’s portals and tools, spend those points instead of money on things to advance their listings, like one-on-one training, photo shoots, discounts on events and education and soon, marketing services.
A twofold approach
The program’s goal, Clemance says, is business building, with the driver being both engagement and education.
“(It’s about) encouraging the business-building activities we know agents need to be doing and to help continue to champion the professionalism (they) exemplify,” she explains, first and foremost by encouraging them to “get louder” on social, since consumer behavior is leaning more towards it.
“They’re looking up agents’ profiles … Gen Z especially is going more to TikTok than Google.”
Then, the brand is seeking ways to educate its agents about doing the “right” things across social, as she says not everyone is in the online world.
Clemence explains, “We want to encourage more agents we know are doing business in the markets to put themselves out there more for the consumer — to champion more professionalism across the industry.”
The gamification of real estate
The move uses gamification and perks to retain top talent and boost agent performance, strategies typically relied on by consumer brands that Clemance admits are relatively new territory in the real estate space. To her team’s knowledge, Re/Max is the first franchisor to launch something of this nature.
She believes the psychology behind the program — shown through reward for effort, bragging rights and leaderboards — applies to both consumers and business owners alike.
“Agents are competitive and they love accolades … leaderboards, badges and ‘bragability’ create a culture within Re/Max we want to continue to foster.”
The flip side
While some agents are intrigued, others remain unconvinced.
Coldwell Banker Canada agent Stephanie Mols questions the effectiveness of loyalty programs in a business built on relationships, training and real-world experience.
While she’s not against engagement tools in principle and recognizes their potential business-building value and access to marketing benefit, Mols questions whether they address the real needs of new or struggling agents.
Essentially, she doesn’t feel they effectively teach agents what they need to know about client care. “I would never consider (them) a priority to be a successful Realtor is really what it comes down to,” she explains.
Mols recalls, more than once, watching colleagues leave for brands offering perks-based programs, only to return months later. “Literally, 90% of them came back,” she says.
For her, meaningful retention and business growth prioritize the people, not a tool, to gain presence, starting with support, not structure.
“When we come out of school, we don’t know how to write an APS. We don’t know how to close a deal. We don’t know anything, really! If I hadn’t had mentorship and support at all times (when) I started out, I would’ve been totally lost,” she admits.
Mols says brokerages need to free up agents’ time so they can do what they’re meant to: buy and sell real estate, without distraction. And doing that, she stresses, requires a lot of education.
“Everything is about support, mentorship and one-on-one training, help whenever you need it. I see with a lot of other brokerages that it’s just not there,” she explains, adding that she gets many calls from agents who have nobody else to turn to.
Mols also sees most digital rewards platforms as too impersonal. “I value non-structured acknowledgement directly from my brokerage,” she says. “We have regular personal contact with our broker of record. We go for lunches. I appreciate that personal support over anything else.”
A tool, not a replacement
Clemance acknowledges the concern but stresses that Max Engage is structured to reward, not replace, core agent development, mentorship and traditional brokerage support.
She says it rewards activities in a way that will eventually become more seamless. In other words, “As agents conduct certain transaction counts or reach certain award levels, they’ll naturally get points rather than taking time out of their day to earn them.”
And, aside from the social media focus, she notes different reasons the tool may pull people in, with things like awards, accolades and training being other motivators to engage.
With plans to evolve Max Engage into a customizable tool that brokerages can tailor to their offices based on things like local market or team needs, Clemance feels the future of agent engagement is hybrid: digital support systems that reinforce and scale personalized brokerage culture.
“That’s really where the engagement comes from,” she notes, “As different markets, different brokers embrace the tools and technology. That’s where we’ll see the uptick.”
The consensus so far
Early signals show growing interest in the app. Clemance says Re/Max Trailblazers — a select group of agents testing the program — have contributed ideas that shaped the rollout. Future updates will add multilingual support, local brokerage incentives and integration with upcoming tools like marketing-as-a-service.
Differences aside, both Clemance and Mols agree on one point: the best tools are those that actually help agents do better work. Whether that’s lunch with a broker or an app leaderboard, the message is clear: brokerages need to meet agents where they are. And for some, a reward for showing up can’t hurt.
Emma Caplan-Fisher is an editor and writer for REM. She has over a decade of experience in various content types and topics, including real estate, housing, business, tech, and home & design. Emma’s work has also been featured in Cottage Life, the Vancouver Real Estate Podcast, the Chicago Tribune, Narcity Media, Healthline, and others. She holds a Certificate in Editing from Simon Fraser University.