May 20 2011
RECRUITING EXPERIENCED AGENTS REQUIRES LEADERSHIP
What the Best Brokers Need to Know About Recruiting Experienced Agents
The Real Estate Industry today is facing a long-term upheaval unlike anything experienced over the last several decades. Years of cost cutting and increased attrition rates have Brokers struggling to reach bottom line profit each month. Many investments in technology, training & services have been put on hold because they don't offer an immediate ROI (return on investment). Those Brokers recruiting and training new Agents find that doing so adds to the already heavy work load of their thinned out Management staff, with very few of the new agents providing return on the Broker's investment in them. Recruiting experienced Agents may be one of the only investments of time and money that a Broker can make that will provide a solid and immediate ROI in this globally depressed market.
One of the primary job functions of most brokers, whether they are owner operators or salaried managers, is recruiting. In past years, many invested their time and effort in recruiting new agents coming into the business – then training, managing and mentoring them for months hopefully resulting in them having a successful career. Today, there are now fewer new agents entering our industry and those that do, have a much slimmer chance of successfully repaying the brokers investment in them.
The challenge of growing revenue is more important than ever and, in many brokerages, even critical, to surviving this market. One of the fastest ways to increase revenue is recruiting; it will always prove to be the most valuable use of a brokers time, however many are now refocusing their recruiting efforts away from new agents and onto experienced, productive agents.
Recruiting experienced agents not only provides an immediate ROI with a positive impact to your bottom line, but also increases the Broker's credibility in the market place. And as experienced agents come on board, it can also raise the excitement level in your office enhancing retention efforts.
Admitting that you need to invest your time and effort into recruiting experienced agents is only the first step. The next step is to commit to a dedicated plan of action to ensure a successful campaign; setting aside a specific number of hours each and every day to identify Agent Prospects, get them to commit to a face-to-face meeting, conduct great interviews and then doggedly following up to get them to transfer their license.
Passive marketing (drip email, social media, and website information) can help but a successful recruiting campaign for experienced agents requires calling them directly on their cell phone – over and over again until you actually speak to them.
Good agents want to work for good Brokers - that's both the good and bad news. The good news is that many Brokers, who had a lot of success in the past recruiting new agents coming into the industry, aren't doing a good job of managing their offices in today's environment, so those agents who have experience often explore their options. The bad news is that for you to attract an experienced agent away from their current office, you will need to provide a strong value proposition and be confident in your own abilities as a top tier Manager. You will need to convince the agent that you are the best Broker in your market to take their career to the next level. They will need to like you as a person, trust you as a manager and believe that you will help them and their family make more money and have a better lifestyle than they enjoy today.
If You Are Determined to Be Successful at Recruiting Experienced Agents, Here is Your Action Plan:
Step 1 – Define Your Value Proposition
This is an exercise that every Broker should do at least once a year. For you to articulate what you can do for an Experienced Agent, you must first define your value proposition – both for your brand and for you personally. Take the time to write out detailed answers to the following questions;
Step 2 – Set Your Goals
What are you goals for GCI this year? For market share?
What is the average GCI contribution from your existing experienced Agents? Leaving out the non-producers and top-producers, what does the average Agent in your office add to your bottom line today? Take your GCI increase goal and divide that by the average to determine how many experienced agents you need to add.
What is your current market share? Divided by the number of productive agents in your office today, determine how many Experienced Agents you will need to add.
Step 3 – Build a Target List
Build a target list with the Agents' names, cell #'s and email addresses. (The cell number is critical – even if you have to do this manually, do not begin until you have a list with each Agent's cell number). Having their Email address is important for following up with the Agent – after you have spoken to them, met them and for continued follow up down the road.
Which offices and Agents should you target? Compare your value propositions against your competition. Which offices are poorly managed or are going through a transition? What CGI or transaction volume do you want to target?
Step 4 – Establish a Daily Calling Plan (*or outsource it)
Cogent Step Recruiting has called to recruit over 150,000 experienced agents; here is the magic formula:
To recruit 5 – 8 Experienced Agents in a 4 month campaign;
To make 1,800 calls in the first 8 weeks of a 4 month campaign, plan on completing 10 – 12 per hour – and remember, don't leave a voice mail until the 5th call. That will require 150 – 180 hours. Over 8 weeks, that means between 19 and 22.5 hours each week just for the active calling portion of your campaign.
* Making the calls can be a gruelling process. The commitment of 150 – 180 hours required simply to identify Agent Prospects for recruiting may prove to be over-whelming for many Brokers (if so, you have the option of outsourcing these preliminary calls. At Cogent Step Recruiting we have experience working with some of real estate's best brands. Contact us to discuss your outsourcing requirements.)
Step 5 – Make the Calls
The first time you speak to an agent on their cell phone, the goals are two-fold; 1) leave every agent with a professional impression of you and your brand, and 2) identify Agents who are either looking to make a move or would be interested in learning more about you and your brand/office.
To do that...
THE PHONE IS A TOOL FOR INTRODUCING YOURSELF AND FOR GETTING THE MEETING – DON'T TRY TO 'SELL' YOUR OFFICE TO ANYONE OVER THE PHONE
Step 6 – Do Face to Face Interviews
The most important step in the recruiting process is always the Interview itself. Understanding the mindset of the Agent and establishing a warm and friendly environment are both critical to the process. Having the Agent like and trust you is an absolute requirement. And convincing them that you can help them make more money and provide a better lifestyle for their family is the only way to get them to go through the hassle of making a move to your office.
The Experienced Agent's Mindset
you and feel that you can help them make more money – then and only then, will they consider making a change and move to your office.
The Interview – Make It All about Them
The first face-to-face meeting you have with an experienced agent should be entirely focused on them – learn everything you can about the agent and find out what is important to them – both professionally and personally. Ask questions and sincerely care about the answers. Don't talk about yourself or your company until you know everything you can about them.
Remember, recruiting is selling – and you can't sell anything to anyone unless you know what they need and want. So take the time to learn about them and their family;
Learning about the agent and what makes them tick accomplishes two very important things; 1) they will feel like you care about them and they will begin to like and trust you, and 2) you will know exactly which two or three of the solutions you can provide will actually matter to them.
Only Present Solutions/Benefits That Matter to Them
After spending 35 – 45 minutes (minimum) getting to know the Agent - and only once you know what truly matters to them and have identified 2 or 3 solutions that you can provide that you are confident will really make a difference to them – present each solution/benefit in this way;
Don't let them leave without closing for the next meeting. Invite them to a training session, a Monday morning meeting, lunch, breakfast or anything else that will keep them moving through the recruiting process.
And remember – recruiting experienced agents is a process. Very few experienced agents will ever transfer their license right after your first meeting. You may need to meet with them several times before you close them.
Step 7 – Conduct a Follow up Interview (*or outsource it)
Perhaps the most discouraging thing that can occur during a recruiting campaign, is to leave a face-to- face meeting with an experienced agent feeling great about the interview – knowing that you took the time to learn everything you could about the agent, confident that you presented solutions that will truly make a difference to the agent and their career – and then spend weeks and maybe even months working the agent through the recruiting process – only to have the agent go cold on you and either stay where they are or move to some other Broker's office.
*Our Broker Partners, without exception, tell us that while they appreciate us making the thousands of outbound call to identify Agent Prospects for them, even more important to their success is the follow up interviews we do with Agents following their first face to face meeting.
After each first face to face meeting, we call the Agent and as "Their own" personal executive recruiter", we get honest feedback from the agent on the meeting itself. Being a third party to the transaction, we learn things that they won't necessarily share with you which can be extremely valuable information for your next meeting.
The three step follow up interview we do focuses on;
If you are not outsourcing this step - perhaps there is an Agent in your office to do this step for you... someone who may know the agent that you are trying to recruit. It can provide critical information that may prove to be valuable enough to help you recruit the agent.
Step 8 – Follow Up Every Week and Continue to Add Value
No experienced agent will come on board until they are convinced that you care about them and their success. You can show this by maintaining contact every week – send a quick email when you see a new listing or sale come through for them – congratulate them on their successes. Drop in at their open house, and/or invite them to sales meetings, training sessions and other events; and to lunch with another agent from your office who can confirm that your office is a great place to be. Include them on value add drip email campaigns; invite them to follow you on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter.
And then close them on moving - over and over again. Let them know that they would be a great addition to your team and that it will be a great business decision for them and for their family. Close them.
Step 9 – Keep Track of Your Recruiting Pipeline (*or outsource it)
A simple excel spreadsheet that you keep up to date with all the Agent Prospects that you identify in your active calling campaign is a critical part of a successful recruiting effort. Tracking Agent Prospects – what stage each is at and what the next step is for each Agent will help you stay on track, and plan for success.
* Cogent Step Recruiting provides a weekly report that details each and every Agent Prospect identified broken down by the following stages: Stage
Explanation Probability of closing Prospecting CSR has spoken to agent and has identified him as 'interested' and has forwarded to Manager for appointment scheduling 10% - we would expect that 1 in 10 'Prospects' will end up transferring their license Meeting Set The Agent has agreed to a meeting with Manager 20% - 1 in 5 agents who meet with Manager will close Meeting Follow Up Manager likes agent and feels the meeting went well – CSR follow up 25% - a 1 in 4 chance of landing an agent after the meeting has gone well Agt. Very Serious Agent has expressed a serious interest and is working with Manager to transfer their license 50% - 1 in 2 should close when they get to this stage Closed Won Agent has successfully transferred their license to office 100% Closed Lost Manager not interested in the agent or agent is not interested 0%.
Last Note – Outsourcing as an Option
It takes time and dedication for a campaign to be successful...and time is usually in short supply. If you are serious about recruiting experienced agents who will immediately add to your bottom line, but decide you need help – outsourcing is a viable option. It allows you to make the ultimate use of your time and bring value where it is needed most; the actual face to face meeting.
While outsourcing can save you a lot of time and ultimately prove to be the best route to go, there still needs to be a solid commitment by you, the Broker/Manager.
Yes, we can make the thousands of outbound calls to the Agents cell phones and yes, as an executive recruiter we create a lot of curiosity and buzz around your brand, we will identify more Agent Prospects for your recruiting pipeline. And once you have met with the Agent face to face, our follow up interview yields critical information on what the Agent thinks of you, your brand, your office; what the Agent's decision making process looks like and we can even counsel the Agent to help overcome their fear of change. And our weekly reporting detailing your recruiting pipeline for the 4 month long campaign is an invaluable tool that will help you maintain your recruiting pipeline through to success. But – and this is a big BUT – there is still a lot of work that you as the Broker/Manager will need to do if you are to be successful. You will need to dedicate 2 to 3 hours a day for the first month and 1 to 2 hours a day for months 2 through 4 and then an hour or two a week for a few months after that. But more importantly, you will need to be a leader –confident in your ability to help your Agents make more money than they could at other offices in your market.
Recruiting Experienced Agents has never been more important to a successful Broker's bottom line. Commit to a plan and follow these steps – start your Recruiting Campaign today!
REAL ESTATE WHITE PAPER
2011 - Cogent Step Recruiting
Todd Shyiak, President