It’s time.
You’re as busy as ever and ready to grow your team.
You’re not alone. In 2019 42 percent of firms reported that they were actively recruiting sales agents, it’s time to get moving.
The reason for rapid recruitment? Eighty-six percent of firms said that the main reason was growth in their primary business and a desire to expand into new markets followed closely behind with 31 percent.
Before you start working to grow your team, you will want to consider having an action plan. Not only will it benefit you, it will build a foundation to set your future team up for success.
Once you recruit them, we have more on how to build a thriving brokerage culture to ensure they never want to leave.
First things first
Real estate coach and co-founder of WBNL Enterprises and Business, Jan O’Brien states:
“The foundation of building a profitable real estate team is to have your own house in order first.”
Make sure you have a plan to grow your team. It’s best if you set your financial goals and work your way backwards so you know who and how many people you need.
Having a flowchart of your fiscal goals as well as your hiring goals is an easy way to visualize what needs to be done and whether it’s realistic or not.
You will need to determine your vision, values and goals. Write them down.
According to Inman magazine, this is at the top of the list when it comes to the building blocks of your team. Why?
You will become this team’s leader and if you don’t know what you are working towards or your team’s purpose, no one will. Building a brokerage and fostering a strong company culture won’t have a foundation unless you know it yourself. Choosing words such as excellence, professionalism, and courage are all examples of the kinds of powerful words you will use to guide your team.
Remember, leadership is a marathon, not a race. The first time you take up this challenge may be daunting and you might stumble. But like every great leader, brush it off and forge ahead. You must demonstrate grit and determination.
You will need to organize your clerical and technical work to better streamline the process.
Too many hands in the pot leads to a lot of confusion and miscommunication. These obstacles will not only kill the culture in your workplace, it will kill your business.
Do some research on an effective marketing and advertising system when looking to grow your team. Create a database and referral system as well as a listing and farming system. Think about efficiency, coherency, and efficacy when developing spreadsheets and tracking systems to put in place.
Who will you have to hire
We have done a lot of research and, hands down, everything suggests that hiring an administrative assistant is the most crucial.
Not only will they alleviate a lot of time spent on the phone or crafting emails, they can help you with ‘getting your house in order’.
Agents who handle over 30 deals per year should be able to hire an administrative assistant. If you’re already drowning in paperwork with prospective clients in the works, you will need to find affordable or remote options to take a heavy amount of work off your shoulders.
It’s clear that as the years go on a team handles more transaction sides than one single agent. Within less than 10 years, you could nearly triple your transaction sides if you have a team.
The next person that sources recommend you hire is a buyer agent. With you and your admin on top of all the necessary paperwork, you can begin offloading leads to a successful buyer specialist. That way, you will have clients from both sides of the real estate market.
Now that you have someone dealing with the buyer leads, you can take on more seller leads. Hiring another sales agent will ensure that you can get the momentum going.
Hiring a listing agent will ensure that you are busy year round and that your leads are constantly topped up. As your team grows and grows, you will want to consider staff that isn’t directly related to real estate. Finding a social media marketer, a professional content writer or editor, and more will give your team that polished, professional feel. As your team grows, you will begin to notice how important building a brokerage culture really is.
On average, an agent is able to recruit 1.11 persons per year. With SmartSetter you could get up to 19 recruits in one year. We have some clients that have recruited as high as 250. Whatever your goal, you should consider using the leverage that is available to you.
Now comes the tricky part: How to keep them all.
Learn more about that in our article about building a brokerage culture.