WAV Group has studied what real estate professionals value most from their associations. According to the WAV Group 2025 Industry Sentiment Survey, in 2024 and 2025, education was consistently the most relevant offering from associations, even above advocacy and professional standards.
Education is one of the most powerful drivers of perceived association value. When agents believe their association helps them become more successful in their business, engagement increases dramatically.
Unfortunately, many associations still treat education primarily as a tool to satisfy CE compliance requirements rather than a strategic opportunity.
“Associations that deliver education content tied to sales success dramatically increase member engagement and perceived value.”
Education as a Strategic Advantage
Associations today are competing for attention in a very crowded professional environment. Agents have access to TikTok, podcasts, YouTube, coaching programs, and national training companies.
If your association wants to remain relevant, your education program must demand attention by delivering topics that matter.
The organizations that succeed are those that treat education not as a compliance service but as a strategic tool for member success.
When agents believe their association helps them win more listings, run stronger businesses, and adapt to industry change, loyalty increases and engagement grows.
The Education Gap
In my consulting work with associations and MLS organizations across North America, I regularly evaluate education programs as part of broader strategic planning engagements. One pattern appears again and again.
Most education calendars are dominated by continuing education courses designed to help agents maintain their licenses. While CE credits are necessary, they rarely inspire agents or help them grow their businesses. Few offer classes that help agents with skills they desperately want and need – all tied to creating a successful, fulfilling career and a profitable business.
Small associations face an even greater challenge. Without the resources to hire a dedicated trainer, education offerings may be limited to occasional CE courses or completely outsourced to state associations or national online education firms. Some don’t offer any type of education. When that happens, the most relevant way an association can demonstrate value is lost.
Larger associations often employ talented trainers, but even the best educator cannot cover the full range of topics agents need today. And even fewer take the time to build and deliver education specifically for broker owners and highly experienced agents. Today’s practitioners are looking for guidance on marketing strategy, cash-flow management, safety, technology adoption, AI tools, and building long-term client relationships.
In WAV Group’s 2025 Customer Experience Index survey distributed to nearly 300,000 practitioners, nationwide 70% are looking for AI training, for example.
Other organizations outsource their education entirely to national online training providers. While this provides access to broader education options, it also removes the association from the learning experience, and it limits education revenue potential.
Agents log into a third-party platform, take a class, and move on.
By outsourcing education, associations lose one of the most powerful opportunities to demonstrate their relevance.
“When education lives entirely on a national education platform, the association loses the opportunity to reinforce its value to members.”
Secure the Best of Both Worlds with Your Education Approach
The most successful associations I work with follow a different strategy.
They maintain ownership of the education relationship while dramatically expanding the breadth of learning opportunities they provide.
This is where integrated education system platforms, like Rialto Academy, can play a very important role. Companies like the Council of MLS and the Kansas City Regional Association of REALTORS® have chosen this approach to elevate the value and engagement of their educational offerings.
Rialto Academy provides associations with access to hundreds of curated courses and a network of experienced national trainers. The key advantage is that all this education is delivered under your association’s brand and through your own website. Deep integration with association management systems enables automations for registration, attendance tracking, and reporting, allowing associations to expand education programs without adding operational burden.
With this approach, you get the best of both worlds. Your members continue to experience education as a service delivered by their own association — the organization they know and trust. The scope of education topics expands significantly and access to highly respected national speakers can be combined with the authority and credibility of classes delivered by your own education team.
With this approach, your organization gains access to a far deeper catalog of business-building education than most associations could realistically build on their own, providing a lot more opportunities for your association to get credit for game-changing educational content.
“The most effective education strategies expand course offerings without surrendering the association’s brand or member relationship.”
In practice, this hybrid approach allows associations to:
- Deliver a much broader range of business-building education
- Feature nationally recognized trainers alongside local instructors
- Maintain full association branding and member relationships
- Provide a modern, easy-to-search learning portal
- Expand education offerings without dramatically increasing staff workload
Ease the Burden of Administration of Continuing Education
Rialto Academy can also support continuing education programs by helping associations develop courses, obtain state approvals, promote classes, and track attendance in compliance with regulatory requirements.
For many associations, this model provides the ideal balance between maintaining control of the member experience and expanding the scale of their education program.
Lean Heavily on Education to Make Your Association Critical
Across the country, associations are recognizing that there is no need to go it alone with education anymore. They are expanding their education programs, introducing modern learning platforms, and delivering courses that help agents succeed by partnering.
My recommendation is simple. Take a fresh look at how your organization delivers education and ask whether it truly supports the success of your members. The associations that help agents succeed will ultimately be the associations that thrive, and the best time to start is before the association next door does.
Book a meeting with Les McGehee to learn how Rialto Academy can benefit your organization.
WAV Group Education Effectiveness Audit
If your association wants to significantly increase engagement with its education programs, the first step is understanding how well your current strategy is performing.
WAV Group offers an Education Effectiveness Audit designed specifically for real estate associations and MLS organizations. This advisory engagement evaluates how well your current education offerings align with what agents want and where the biggest opportunities exist to increase participation and perceived value. The audit will also outline better methods for organizing, naming and promoting engagement with your education.
If you would like WAV Group to conduct an Education Effectiveness Audit, click below.
