There is No Secret Sauce in Recruiting
I recently attended the RealTrends Gathering of Eagles Broker Summit with over 350 broker-owners from all real estate brands and company sizes around the US. One of the topics discussed at length was agent recruiting and retention. What became brutally apparent to me is that there is no secret formula to this. There were several speakers and panels of broker-owners who had extremely high recruiting and retention rates and none of them said the same thing---with the exception of one thing. They listened.
Why we need to re-examine recruiting
Recruiting should really be reverse-engineered. Instead of creating a ‘one for all’ dialog or drip campaign for recruits, the key is to find out where their pain points are or what is missing in their business or personal life. Then you can back into the process in a customized way.
The challenge for many brokers is that they have not created a specific strategy for executing recruiting and retention efforts. Hearing them talk, it was almost like they didn’t even know why people were loyal. They used words like family, fun, and resources, but none of them seemed to be able to put their finger on it exactly. That’s because the reason varies by person. This leads to the realization that the way brokers currently attempt to recruit doesn’t typically work on a broad scale.
How to get them to realize what they need
Most brokers depend on their managers to recruit. The challenge with depending on managers to recruit is that many aren’t very good at it and don’t really like doing it. Or in the smaller firms, the owners do it themselves. Some owners even said they don’t recruit, that people just come and stay. It quickly became clear that it all depends on so many variables that don’t necessarily reflect company size, market, brand, or even resources. It is how the outward culture is perceived and how the prospective agent sees themselves fitting in and meeting their needs. Can your firm deliver the solutions they may not even be so sure they need?
There are entities, like Compass, that have an arsenal of articulate, well-trained employees whose sole focus is to recruit agents. But their weakness is most of those recruiters know very little about being a real estate agent since they have never been one. They have the money and resources to do it very effectively by zeroing in on the hot buttons. You also have models like eXp, who basically have their own agent population do the recruiting for them and reward them handsomely for it. But most brokers don’t follow these models.
Here's where the listening comes in
If a brokerage is of a certain size and in a competitive market, hiring a full-time recruiter seems to be the way to go. But the ticket is finding someone who understands how to listen more than they talk and how to share the resources that meet the agent’s specific needs. Regurgitating all the programs and services a company offers can quickly overwhelm an agent who may or may not see value in those services.
An agent friend of mine recently interviewed several brokers in Southern California. She had wildly different stories about the process. It all came down to her comfort level with the branch manager who specifically addressed what her particular needs were for her to grow her business and maintain a balanced home life. There were other brokers who offered more and had a slick arsenal of services. She was lucky she came across a caring manager who knew how to make a connection.
Recruiters aren’t just for recruiting
I’m not sure how many successful recruits it would take to make hiring a full-time recruiter worth it, but I suspect it isn’t many. Because the recruiter can serve a dual purpose in retaining existing agents as an ambassador of sorts. Regular calls and meetings with agents to see why they are or aren’t using the company resources seem like an effective use of time and money. So many brokers sign on for services and have crushingly low adoption rates. But instead of finding out why, they just keep shoving the same information out to the agent population. They can also address what is being offered by competitors and put an end to the mystery of what else is out there and find out who is trying to recruit them. Better to know what they are thinking before they tell you they have made the decision to leave.
There is always a reason behind the why. Why do they want to come or why do they want to leave? But few take the time to really find out why. Agents often times don’t offer feedback about what is important to them unless asked in a way that allows them to honestly speak without repercussions. Or better yet, before bringing in new services, find out if there is even a need for the program or service among the high producers. Sometimes we think we know what they want and need. It all goes back to the listening thing.
Finding a friendly, tech, and real estate savvy person who can use systems and truly likes building relationships may be a tall order. But with the right recruiter, a broker-owner can sit back and relax knowing their company is being represented by someone who understands why people are willing to make a move or stay and can listen their way into the hearts of agents.
“Hiring the right people takes time, the right questions, and a healthy dose of curiosity.”~ Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate.
