How to Recruit 10 Agents in 30 Days–Three Systems for Success

Commentary by Todd Robertson
RISMEDIA, March 13 ? This is it. This is the year that you are going to meet and exceed your recruiting goals, right? You’re fired up and ready to hit the ground running. Congratulations, you are officially in Phase One of the Four Phases of Recruiting, the Enthusiasm/Exhaustion Phase.

Don’t get me wrong, enthusiasm is crucial, and a vital tool in attracting the right kind of people to your organization; enthusiasm is just difficult to maintain long term without the right momentum.

Enter Phase Two of the process, which is the Work-for-It Phase, describing most of the recruiting population who are operating on sheer will and work ethic. Again, viable traits when sustaining long- term forward movement, but you need something more. You need a shot of the ?work smarter, not harder? tools that will give you the highest level of success.

Let?s explore the third phase, Systems in Place, which allows you to funnel your enthusiasm and work ethic into processes that help you realize the maximum results for your efforts and time. Stay focused on this phase, ladies and gentlemen.

Phase Four is the Had it/Lost It/Burned Out Phase that most of us have either experienced?or at least been on the fringes of?at some point. This is your year though, so let?s focus on the steps necessary to help you achieve the highest return on your investment of time, effort, energy and money.

Common sense prevails

If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten. While that seems to reduce the problem to the ridiculous, ask yourself what you are doing differently to be more effective. Statistically, most are still stuck in their ruts.

Seventy percent of recruiters do a poor job. Why? More often than not, they lack focus, goals and have no system for follow up. Another 20% do a good job by doing no more or less than bare minimum with the end result being mediocrity. While good might seem fine to some of you, keep in mind that the cost of greatness is high, but the toll of mediocrity is much higher.

How do you move from mediocrity to greatness? Master the two common denominators utilized by the top 10% of the industry?s most effective recruiters. First, develop the razor sharp focus that recruiting must be a top priority, not a reaction to a problem. Second, develop and implement numerous strategies and systems simultaneously. Now, you are back in the driver’s seat. Smart strategists know that keeping a business plan proactive, rather than reactive, will always pay the highest dividend.

Know what they want

Floyd Wickman says, ?People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care. That lesson is as applicable to the recruiting process as it is to the business of real estate sales. We are in the people business, after all, and fulfilling this most basic of human needs is essential to building your organization’s ?family. Agents don’t change offices because the new manager has the latest greatest Web site available and 24-hour Internet access. They do not leave because of flashy bells and whistles. The next ?new thing? is not what sways them away.

They leave because:

- They do not feel cared about or valued

- They do not feel that their best interests are being met

- Money

- Lack of ?team?

What do they want?

- To feel valued and appreciated

- More listings

- Tools to help them build their business

- Good work environment

Now that you are clear on what potential recruits want and don’t want, putting Phase Three into full operation requires putting systems in place. Let me share with you three of our 12 systems for recruiting success.

1. Utilize a business base?It’s more important to reach the people that count than to count the people you reach. More than a pipeline, this system will be the MVP in your tool chest for success if you use it with the razor sharp focus of the top 10% of recruiters. It is based on the results?getting foundation of sphere-of-influence marketing, which is still the single most effective way to build virtually any sales business. Information can and will tip the scales in your favor when it comes to owning the hearts, minds and loyalty of the agents who work for you, and potential recruits.

Here?s how:

- Identify 150 people that should be in your sphere of influence

- Purchase one standard three-ring binder

- Purchase one set of A-Z alphabetical tabs

- Create profile sheets, like those from BusinessBASE?

- Build a profile for each?20 things you should know about your potential recruits (i.e. hobbies, specialties, family info, goals)

- Know 30 reasons to contact them on a personal level

- Use consistent 30-day follow up such as Send/Call/See? Send/Send/Send doesn’t work. Call/Call/Call doesn’t work. Send/Call/See gets results.

The more you know the more you can determine the best way to serve your associates. Caring about what they care about makes the ability to make them feel valued a much simpler process. Fortunately, many potential recruits advertise their greatest goals, needs and focus right on their Web sites! With a few clicks of the mouse and a little research on your part, you can determine who is passionate about children’s causes, environmental issues, or team building.

2. Overcome their number-one fear? Agents? number-one fear in changing offices is losing business. Show them a way you can help them shorten the downtime and loss, and you will have effectively done what few brokers/managers are willing to do. Do your homework, make the appointment, then ?wow? them.

Gathering as much information as possible before your recruiting interview will better prepare you. Prepare full-color marketing pieces and have them printed and ready upon their arrival. Be sure to have as many varieties of collateral materials as possible, including:

- A personal marketing brochure with their photo, contact information and your company information and logo

- Objection-handling brochures, postcards and FSBO flyers all with their picture and your logo

In preparing marketing materials ahead of time, you have shown potential recruits that you are committed to helping them grow and succeed in their business, and that you ?do things differently? than 90% of industry.

3. Support call marketing?Just like agents who run into buyers and sellers who are difficult to get off the fence, managers sometimes run into recruits who want to ?think it over. When you have a difficult prospect, have one of your top producers call and thank the prospect and suggest that he or she consider making the change to your company, ensuring the candidate that he or she will have the full support of your marketing team. By lending a personal affirmation that yours is an exceptional working environment and that you are committed to the mutual success of each agent, you will have gone the extra mile that other companies simply will not have.

I?ll leave you with this thought: if the game is scheduled and you’ve decided to play, you might as well win. These strategies and systems can and will help you grow your company?s family over the next 30 days. Better still, they will help you provide the strongest possible foundation for the success of your sales associates. Connecting the right people with the right atmosphere is the best way to win the game. RE

Todd Robertson is a national real estate speaker and regional director for ProspectsPLUS! To invite Robertson to help your management team master the fundamentals of recruiting, call 800-287-5710.

To download your free copy of the complete BusinessBASE? system as well as find out more about the 12 Systems of RecruitingPLUS!, visit www.prospectsplus.com.

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