A new broker can learn to produce a polished property description before learning how to recognise an incomplete brief. That possibility raises an important training question for property businesses adopting AI.

Joe Sokolic, founder and CEO of Sokolic Property Group, believes the profession should give greater attention to the questions that precede a recommendation.

“A well-written answer is only useful if we have understood the problem,” says Sokolic. “The ability to ask a thoughtful follow-up question remains one of the most important skills in property.”

A client asking for larger premises may be responding to several different pressures. The business could need more storage, a better workflow, additional staff accommodation or relief from a difficult location. Simply increasing the size filter may overlook the actual reason for the move.

Sokolic proposes that junior brokers learn to explore the operational story behind a requirement. What has changed in the business? What does the current property prevent it from doing? Which conditions are essential? Which assumptions have not yet been tested?

AI can assist with preparation by suggesting questions from an approved framework or helping a trainee review a draft brief. The learning comes from understanding why a question matters and how the answer changes the search.

“If a broker asks about vehicle access, they should understand what the answer could mean for the shortlist,” he says. “A checklist becomes valuable when the person using it can connect the detail to the client’s operation.”

Training should also include challenging generated outputs. A supervisor could present a hypothetical shortlist containing a missing specification, an outdated availability date and an option that fails an essential requirement. The trainee’s task would be to identify the problems and explain the next verification steps.

That exercise develops a different habit from accepting the most fluent recommendation. It teaches the broker to examine the evidence, preserve uncertainty and take responsibility for the advice eventually given.

Database skills belong in the same programme. Accurate notes, clear rejection reasons and properly assigned follow-ups help colleagues work effectively. They also give a broker a record from which to learn as a requirement develops.

Sokolic argues that managers should assess the quality of reasoning alongside the volume of activity. A useful client brief and a carefully justified shortlist can reveal professional progress that a simple count of messages will miss.

For him, the opportunity is to make technology part of developing stronger advisers.

“The broker we should be training is curious, commercially aware and willing to check,” he says. “AI can support that person, but the habit of understanding the client has to be built deliberately.”

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