In any sales organization, it is true that top-line revenue solves everything. Whether you are opening a new office in a new or existing market, trying to increase marketshare and profit or replacing agents from natural attrition, one thing is for sure: Recruiting new salespeople to your team will dramatically increase all your key operational measurables.
The challenge for most managers and brokers is closing the gap between setting your goals every year and actually achieving them. Getting caught up in the day-to-day administrative duties can distract you and keep you from performing your highest dollar-producing activity, recruiting. Good intentions to implement a new recruiting idea never actually come to fruition, and weeks and months go by. Instead of leading the charge with determination to achieve your recruiting results, you review at the end of each quarter with upper management that yet again, the numbers just aren’t there and you didn’t hit them.
Dissatisfied with the lack of results, excuses are made—and then, of course, rationalization sets in, and unfortunately everyone “hopes” for better results next quarter. Statements like “We’re going to go after co-brokes harder and stronger this quarter” or “We really need to increase new agents and we’ll see what happens” are both statements without an action plan and result in zero activity. Just saying these things will not will them to happen.
How do we move toward a results-oriented strategy that will produce immediate, real results and grow our offices on purpose with sustainable, long-term growth? Here are eight of the proven methods I coach real estate sales managers and brokers to implement that will immediately create results for you and, once committed to, you will be on your way to “on-purpose recruiting” and substantially increasing every area of your operation
- Have a written strategy for recruiting and review it daily. First, let’s realize that you are still in sales. You sell your brand, its value proposition and your company’s culture. Your strategy and plan should outline the specific activities you committed to doing on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to achieve your recruiting objectives. Once the plan is committed to paper, you now have the action plan you need to literally “take action” on. Review this list daily and keep it with you at all times. You’re on your way to greatness!
- Be held accountable to your action plan. Share your plan with your broker, regional manager or another manager as an accountability partner. When something is tracked and measured, it improves; when it is tracked, measured and recorded, it exponentially improves. You become laser-focused on making it happen and not just committing in theory (words). You become committed to performing the activities on your plan to execute them (your action) and watch the results happen. This is essentially making sure that what we say we are going to do, we actually do. Don’t be a sayer; be a doer!
- Focus on both net gain in agent count and in company dollar revenue. It is vitally important that you hire new agents that will become producing agents quickly. Just hiring people to hire a lot of people is not effective and a waste of everyone’s time. Hiring on purpose and being selective requires you to qualify the candidates, ask great questions and then get them up and running with success immediately. Hiring experienced agents is an instant jolt of production, as they are already trained and actively listing and selling, and you will get the benefit of their production immediately to your monthly numbers. Remember that to actually grow your operation, you need to be adding more to the revenue. A very wise and wonderful mentor of mine taught me that that for every agent you lose, you will need to recruit two agents: one to replace and one to grow. Just replacing doesn’t grow your operation. Propel your recruiting efforts so that you are on-purpose growing by adding new revenue on top of your existing base, not just replacing it. Adopt this mindset and you will rock it!
- Hold career seminars at your office and promote them on social media with a Facebook boosted ad and landing page. These work and will attract new recruits to you.
- Create a co-broke target list of agents you wish to develop a relationship with. Contact them regularly offering help, support and marketing tools and tell them your value proposition. Recruiting experienced agents takes time and is based on building a relationship on trust and confidence with them. Connect with them on Facebook and support their posts and private message them. Make them want to hear why your team is so successful and how they would sell more and make more with you, guaranteed. Let them know it’s in their best financial interest to meet with you, so they can see how you will personally coach them to hit their goals and why you are such valuable partner and resource to their success.
- Avoid flystrip-effect recruiting and instead recruit on purpose. Flystrip recruiting is when an agent joins an office because it happens to be in their town. Agents just join an office because they sought out the office and happened to already know they wanted to get their license. These agents are great and they can become great agents; however, you didn’t initiate them getting into the business. They did.
- Set recruiting activities and calls into your calendar. Who have you recruited into the business who is now a top agent in your office or company? Someone who you directly initiated the thought for them to become an agent. This is the kind of on-purpose recruiting that will revolutionize your mindset and confidence, and you will meet and exceed your annual recruiting goals. Be a real estate agent recruiter and recruit your next top agents because you go out and find the talent!
- Go after your personal sphere and people you know. Some of the people in your personal network would make fantastic real estate agents. Make a list of 8-10 people in your sphere who you could teach to sell and be successful in real estate.
Implement these proven strategies and you will be well on your way to creating leads in your recruiting pipeline, recruiting new and experienced agents to your office and substantially growing your office on purpose with a plan! Good luck and happy recruiting! Share your stories with me at sherri@sherrijohnson.com.
For a free copy of Sherri’s Exclusive “GoldMine Pipeline™ Strategy” eBook to help coach your agents to double or triple their production and income, click here.
For more information on strategies to start or grow an already successful real estate team, Sherri Johnson offers world-class, exclusive agent and team coaching. To speak with Sherri about how your team can double or triple production quickly, or to learn about her custom and co-branded training platform, Sherri Johnson Academy, schedule a free strategy call, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 25 years of experience in real estate as an agent, broker and executive, Johnson now offers her proven methods through coaching, consulting and keynote speaking services nationwide. She is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and is the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. Johnson has also been named an RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker in 2020 and 2021 as an Industry Influencer and Thought Leader. Schedule a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
