Beyond Commission: Dion Besser's Rewards Revolution

Discover the game-theory approach that transformed Besser & Co's team reward dynamics

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Elite Agent Editor
May 17, 2025

THOUGHT LEADERS
REAL ESTATE REIMAGINED

This week, we released a new episode of our Thought Leaders podcast series. This time, Samantha goes in depth with Dion Besser, founder of Besser & Co. real estate, on how to motivate your team (and hint: it’s not always about money!). Watch on YouTube, or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Dion Besser wasn't looking to follow industry playbooks when he founded Besser & Co in 2009. After working for various agencies across Melbourne and London, he had seen enough scripted approaches and smoke and mirrors tactics to know he wanted to build something different—a real estate business grounded in genuine advice and transparency.

Since then, he's navigated the challenges of building an independent agency and growing from 8 to 24 staff overnight through acquisition. Along the way, he's developed a sophisticated understanding of what truly motivates real estate professionals beyond commission structures.

In this episode, Samantha and Dion discuss the delicate balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, how documenting best practices creates pathways for growth, and why rebuilding culture after breaking it taught him the importance of shared values.

Dion also shares candid insights about the challenges of introducing KPIs without losing team members and his vision for real estate practice in 2025.

You can check out their full conversation here:

Why hit play (in <30 min):

  • Values first, skills later. Dion reveals why hiring for trust, loyalty, and accountability creates sustainable success and how personality tests reveal who can handle constructive feedback.

  • The motivation is the secret weapon. His game-theory approach balances extrinsic rewards (commissions) with intrinsic satisfaction, fixing the culture that broke when standards got too high too fast.

  • Playbooks beat guesswork. See how documented systems let agents thrive through 120+ legislative changes, and why interviewing your employer is as crucial as being interviewed.

Cue it up—video or audio, your pick—while planning your own team's growth journey.

Elite Agent is the definitive platform for ambitious agents and industry players. Thought Leaders is the weekly show where top operators reveal how they’re reinventing real estate. AI-Powered Agents is your playbook for deploying AI that sells homes and scales teams.

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