ERA Real Estate Unveils New Digital Program Aimed at Agent Recruitment and Retention
Imagine: You’re sitting in your brokerage and you get a pop up on your computer screen. Alex Gonzales has just sold a home in a neighborhood your brokerage has wanted to penetrate for a while. You are thrilled. You’ve had your eye on Alex for a while—he’s a smart, digitally-savvy agent who’s got a foothold in one of the hottest markets, and you’ve been wanting to recruit him for months. Finally, an opportunity.
You open a new email and shoot him a quick note: “Alex, congrats on the latest sale! Coffee next week to catch up?”
He responds 15 minutes later with a time and place to meet, and the same pop-up that alerted you about his sale now flashes a new message: “Coffee with Alex, Tuesday at 3 p.m.”
Tuesday rolls around and you have a great meeting with Alex, who reveals he’s been interested in your brokerage for a while. One month later, you succeed in recruiting him and he becomes one of your top sellers.
Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, this recruiting scenario is not a far-off reality or pipe dream—it’s happening now at ERA Real Estate. And even though it’s a new initiative, ERA has been supporting brokers for decades. This is just the latest tool to help brokers drive productivity through targeted agent recruiting.
Starting this fall, ERA began rolling out an enhanced ERA TopRecruiterSM program which includes a new agent recruitment and retention program for brokers. The program, which teaches brokers how to successfully recruit, close and retain agents, includes an automated technology platform that provides insights into agents of interest and integrates with calendars and other existing systems to schedule appointments. In addition, with support from Realogy, ERA has rolled into the program a focused incentive offering designed to support broker recruitment, open to all brokers.
The program underwent a successful one-day pilot in August with nine ERA brokerages across the country that resulted in 35 phone calls to agents, 19 appointments for meetings and two direct recruits. In October, ERA launched its first official training course, working with a group of 25 ERA brokers to help deliver this innovative program.
Shannon Poser, ERA’s Operations and Engagement VP, who oversees learning and recruiting for the brand, said the goal is to get all of ERA’s U.S. brokers trained within the next 12 months, positioning them to grow their market share—and their business.
“As our brokerages grow, we want to help them develop a reliable pool of top performing, passionate and dynamic agents,” Poser said, “and a big part of that is supporting our brokers through training programs that allow them to be expert recruiters and managers.”
Although ERA has invested in recruitment for decades, this enhanced program is different. Brokers undergo training in three stages. First, they attend an education session on the value of recruiting, how to prospect and how to get prospective agents on board. Brokers also participate in a live training session where they make calls to agents to refine their presentation skills and better articulate their brokerage’s vision.
“One of the most important takeaways is helping brokers better showcase their value proposition and deliver that message flawlessly,” Poser said, “so we really want to get that part right.”
It’s also at this stage that brokers learn to use the new tech platform at the heart of the recruiting program. The platform, separate from ERA’s Zap technology, pairs with MLS systems to quickly, easily and strategically track agents. Agents can be tracked through the size or number of their transactions or by the neighborhoods in which they are most active, and eliminates the pain points of existing search platforms.
“It’s a seamless way to recruit, and a major advantage of the program,” Poser said.
The second—and equally vital—part of the program helps brokers better understand how to retain and support agents who decide to come on board, and how to increase their productivity while on the job. Part of that process is Agent Achieve, a 4-week productivity course brokers are trained to deliver to agents to keep them hungry for listings and growth.
The last stage is a coaching and accountability session to keep brokers on track with the program. It matches brokers with a coach to ensure engagement and sustainability well into the future.
“What we are doing is providing brokers with a focused process on how to recruit, retain and develop agents, helping them shape a vital part of their growth strategy,” said Poser.
ERA hopes the new ERA TopRecruiterSM program will increase the brand’s market share and fuel bottom line growth, as well as help build a foundation of future superstar agents.
“When you keep agents on their toes, challenged, growing and learning new things, they are going to make more money and be easier to retain,” Poser said. “After all, who controls the listing controls the market.”
For more information, please visit www.era.com.
Zoe Eisenberg is RISMedia’s senior content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at zoe@rismedia.com.
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