Recruiting real estate agents is a key part of the growth of any successful brokerage, which is why it’s essential to recruit consistently, year round. As a Broker/Owner, you may wear many hats, but your recruiting hat is arguably the most important one you wear (whether you like it or not). Not sure where to begin or how to improve your recruiting efforts and conversions? Here’s our guide to recruiting real estate agents and keeping them.
Target The Right Agents
A seemingly simple approach to recruiting agents might be to try and target the highest producers in your market. However, they can be the hardest and slowest to recruit. Why? Top producers are normally very happy where they are, and can be the most difficult to convince to make a move. Consider what you offer at your brokerage, and determine which level of agents are best suited to join your office. New agents who need hands-on coaching and support? Mid-level agents that you can help move up to the next level of success? Agents currently with a company lacking in marketing or tech that you can provide? Agents rarely make a move based on money alone, so make sure you’re not laser focused on your commission splits alone.
Know Your Competition
Competition is everything in the real estate industry, and even for recruitment, the competition can be fierce. Do your due diligence into the provisions other brokerages and owners offer real estate agents. What is the unique proposition in their strategy that’s missing in yours? What do you offer that sets you apart from your competition? Understanding your brokerage’s value proposition is an integral part of recruiting, especially when your goal is to present an attractive and competitive offer to agents in your market. Before you begin conversations with agents about moving to your office, make sure you know what you can offer them that they’re not getting now.
Present The Growth Offer
All real estate agents seek career growth, and a key ingredient in recruiting success is being able to identify what areas of their career need further development in order to become more successful. By researching a candidate’s career and production in advance, you will be able to have a good idea of where and how they can improve with the support and compensation that you can offer them. Additionally, your initial conversation with them should consist of a few key questions you can ask them to help you determine how to craft an offer that will be most enticing to them based on their needs and goals.
Create A Network
The real estate market has a reputation for its intricate networking scene –and you can optimize it for your benefit. Build a network with buyers, sellers, brokers, and agents, regardless of your title. Business relationships need time to build, so you have to commit to the recruitment and retaining process for your potential agents, just like you would for potential clients. You can use social media to connect with real estate agents on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Connecting with other professionals in your industry can not only help build your name and reputation, but help you get insider information on the best real estate agents to work with on your team. Additionally, with a solid network, you have a reputation that encourages your recruited agents to work with you for the long term.
Be Visible to The World
Nobody wants to work with someone they don’t find information about or get reviews from others. While it ties back into our point on networking, this point goes a step further. Whatever your marketing or recruiting strategy is, make sure that you and your brokerage are easy to find and well represented online through your website, reviews and social media networks. With the right advertising campaign, agents in your market can also be targeted with marketing materials from your office so that they’re familiar with your name when you connect. With these media and network footprints, any potential real estate agents can check you out and be sure that your visions align before deciding to start or continue a conversation with you.
Stay Consistent With Outreach
Reaching out to agents in your marketplace takes time and effort. Make sure you have a solid strategy in place to ensure that your outreach remains consistent, along with your follow up plan. If marketing isn’t your area of expertise, hire an agency to help you with your advertising. If cold calling agents yourself makes you cringe, consider outsourcing the task to a team like the North American professional recruiters at SmartSetter. If you have difficulty staying on top of following up with potential recruits, make sure you have a CRM in place to simplify the process for you.
Evaluate Your HR Strategies
Hiring with clarity prepares you to find only the best fit and avoid wasting your time and the agent’s time. When it comes to retaining your hired real estate agents, evaluation and feedback give room for improvement. Check the track record you have achieved with the real estate agent and, if the business relationship is profitable, revise ways to keep them on your team. You can offer them benefits that you can afford or increase their partnership stake. Just do what is sure to make your real estate agent feel recognized and appreciated, and they won’t be quick to leave.
Finally,
Hiring and maintaining real estate agents may be a hard nut to crack, but it is certainly easier when you work with our guide and put the work in. To learn more about how SmartSetter can help grow you brokerage 10x faster, book a demo today.