In the second of a series of three articles, I had the opportunity to get the pulse on recruiting from Steve Murray, president and owner of REAL Trends. Murray has co-authored four books on the valuation of residential real estate brokerage firms; co-authored the 2011 book “Game Plan,” about the past and future of residential brokerage; and co-authored the 2014 book, “Game Changers: The Unfounded Fears and Future Prosperity of the Residential Real Estate Business.” He has served dozens of state and local Realtor® associations and MLS organizations in a consulting capacity and has consulted with several large technology firms over the years.
Steve, what in your opinion is a significant motivation for an agent to join a firm?
While there is a far higher interest today in splits and bonuses to switch, for the majority of agents, it remains the relationship with their firm and with the leader that makes the difference. Does the broker have a vision for the future? Where is the company going? Is the firm moving forward in technology and using the latest marketing channels?
Top agents need different things than newer or lower producers. Brokerage leaders need to keep that in mind when recruiting. The broker needs to understand what an agent is looking for at this moment of their real estate career; training, mentoring and marketing. The better a broker understands a potential recruit, the more successful they are in recruiting and retaining the agent for the long term.
What should brokers stop doing when recruiting?
You are not going to be successful with just texting, emailing, phone calling and direct mail in getting new recruits. They must see your program but more importantly your heart and you can only do that in person. As my mentor and good friend Larry Kendall of Ninja has said, “More listening and less talking works better than the alternative.”
The broker needs to communicate on a personal level how their firm and they themselves can work with the agent for the agent’s success and therefore the overall brokerage’s success.
What recruiting trends are developing?
The biggest trend we see are brokers getting far more intelligent about the agents they talk to. How many years in business, how much production, which educational courses or designations they have and what their personal interests are. They are beginning to be far more scientific about recruiting as they have learned that not all agents would make good candidates for their firms and some just aren’t “gettable”.
My advice to today’s brokers is to find the right recruiting tools to know as much as you can about your recruiting prospects. Know their production, their goals, the culture they thrive in and their sales profile. Make sure they are a fit for your firm otherwise, the relationship will not work and you will have wasted your time and the agent’s. A recruiting tool that provides you as much information regarding your prospects and allows you to reach out to them in many ways to set up that all important personal meeting is essential to be a successful recruiter.
The final takeaways:
- Relationships matter to agents.
- Make recruiting personal.
- Know your recruits.
- Have a brokerage with a clear mission.
- Make sure your culture fits that of the agent.
- Have a competitive compensation offer.
Learn more about Steve Murray here. Read the first article in our series in with Judy LaDeur, “In a Data Driven World, How Well Do You Know Your Recruits?”. You can learn more OnTask Recruiter here.