Many of my clients are having extremely high success rates recruiting new and experienced agents to their companies in the first quarter. Attracting and recruiting new agents is easy now, as new licensee rates are always high at the beginning of the year, when people change jobs and want new careers.
Now is the time for you to put your recruiting plan in action, while business is traditionally slower for experienced agents, who want to start the year on a positive note. You can be the catalyst for creating the momentum they need to have their best year. If you communicate your value—how you will personally coach them to increase their business this year—along with the exclusive digital marketing, social media and branding tools you have to help them generate more income, you will add real value to their business and, I believe, have a compelling reason for them to join your team.
Success in recruiting starts with a plan and face-to-face appointments. Just like we coach our real estate agents to focus on listings, brokers and managers must focus on recruiting appointments and converting them into new agents if they want long-term sustainability.
Follow these strategies to jump-start your recruiting action plan and fill your calendar with recruiting appointments. You will be so happy you did.
- Have a full pipeline of new recruits.
You should have no less than 25 people that you are actively talking to about getting their real estate license. It takes time for them to get interested, make the decision, finish classes, pass the test and then actually start. These recruits are all at varying degrees of interest and stages in the process. You want to have as many in school and testing as possible. Having a full pipeline ensures that you are regularly recruiting 2-4 new agents per month; not having a full pipeline or having only a few names on your list will result in poor results all year.
Fill the pipeline with interested people, and make action plans to attract recruits into the business using social media, your sphere, your current agents and licensing schools and career seminars. You will be able to hit your recruiting goals and grow your office when you have 25-plus recruit leads.
- Develop a targeted list of co-broke/experienced agents to recruit.
Identify at least 30 experienced agents that would be an excellent addition to your team and your culture. Set a goal and commit to recruiting x number of them to your team this year and each month. Some of these agents could have been new or newer to the business and you didn’t interview them when they got their license, or are top agents that you know would make more money, have fewer expenses and sell more homes per year at your brokerage.
Carry the list with you at all times and determine what the production and GCI of that agent would bring to your office revenue, not to mention the marketshare. The agents in your office can help you recruit experienced agents, since they are actively doing business with them and can be a great referral source for you. Ask your agents who should be on the team, and ask them to make an introduction or attend the first appointment with you. If you have a list of who you want to heavily recruit, you now know who you should build a relationship with on social media and through phone calls and emails, and with whom you should visit at their broker’s or Sunday open houses.
Create your list and upload this list into your CRM. This is your list—commit to making it happen this year, starting right now.
- Schedule recruiting calls as an appointment with your phone.
Getting results starts with making recruiting a top priority in your daily and weekly habits. Time-block the “Recruiting Power Hour” into your calendar in Outlook, so you have it scheduled just like an appointment. You cannot delete the session; you can only move it on the calendar to another time slot if absolutely necessary.
Leave your office if you need to to make it happen. You can call from your home office, a quiet coffee shop, the office down the street or from your car. I often suggest that you don’t make the calls in your office, but rather in one of your conference rooms. Agents won’t bother you if you are in there working.
We run our day, or the day runs us, right? You’ll be happy you are prioritizing recruiting onto your calendar with reminders, because you’ll now be in control of your day and your time. The beginning to successful recruiting is making it a priority on your calendar. This is a game-changing mindset.
- Focus on obtaining weekly appointments.
Calls are the first step, but you have to secure appointments with new and co-broke experienced agents into your schedule each week. You must make a commitment to yourself to achieve a minimum of two recruiting appointments per week. If you have two appointments on your calendar each week, you’ll have consistently great recruiting months every month.
If you’re having a difficult time converting the call into a meeting, you may need new material. Perhaps you need coaching or a training class with your company or manager to learn better strategies. Asking better value-driven questions and listening to recruits will help you communicate what you have to offer and why it is a better choice for them to consider. Always ask for an appointment by showing the value that you bring to their business. Your value, along with the brokerage’s agent and client services, need to be differentiated to help you secure your appointment.
- Have an accountability partner and track your results.
Anything that is tracked and measured improves, and anything that is tracked, measured and reported to another individual will exponentially improve. This is why accountability partners work—you share your commitments and goals with your partner, and check in weekly or daily to share your efforts and actions, and number of calls and secured appointments. Success is contagious; you’re sharing not only your best practices, but also your energy, enthusiasm and momentum to help the other succeed, as well as yourself.
- Add surprise value to your recruiting.
Any time you have an opportunity to add “surprise value” to a recruiting opportunity, add it. For example, send a handwritten note instead of just a text, or send a follow-up text to a conversation. Like their achievements on social media. Have the regional manager or broker/owner make an extra call to help demonstrate interest. Add a special touch when the agent visits your office, with a gift for them for considering your company and your office. Welcome them into your culture by asking them to attend your upcoming sales meeting, where they can experience the difference you make as a sales manager and they can meet your current agents and see what a fantastic team you have. The surprise value always makes someone feel even more special, and says you went the extra mile to make them feel good.
Let’s make this year your best recruiting year, ever! Jump-start your recruiting right now—get your lists made, and schedule time on your calendar to make your recruiting calls each week. Set appointments and add value—even surprise value—to your recruiting process. Top-line revenue solves everything, and amazing new agents will be joining your superstar team, resulting in considerable increases in retention of your existing agents, listings, sales, company dollar, marketshare, affiliated services and profitability for all.
For a FREE copy of my exclusive Recruiting Assessment Guide, click here!
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour. For more information, please contact coaching@sherrijohnson.com or 844-989-2600 (toll-free) or visit www.sherrijohnson.com.
