Recruiting: Attracting the Agents of the Future

Just as repeat and referral business is the lifeblood of a real estate agent, recruiting is critical to the success of any real estate brokerage. (See my recent article on past client recruiting.)

A recent survey of 1,500 managers found that:

• 96% believe recruiting is a crucial task.
• 79% perceive recruiting as an overwhelming challenge.
• 86% cannot easily present why their organization is different or what value they offer agents.

For most managers, recruiting is a difficult, but necessary, part of the business.

Several years ago, I did a profile of one of the top CENTURY 21 firms in the nation. The firm had 11 offices with more than 900 sales associates and was reporting more than $2 billion in sales at the time. Despite the fact that they were enrolling more than 1,200 new recruits in their real estate school each year, it was still difficult maintaining a high-quality staff while continuing to expand.

Over the course of several months, we studied the firm and put together a multi-faceted action plan that included everything from determining which agents to target, an action plan, a custom email campaign, goals and tracking.

The first thing we did was learn as much as we could about his company, the key factors behind its growth and success and why successful agents not only joined the firm, but stayed with it. We interviewed managers, staff and agents and came up with a list of benefits. Then, we researched the reasons agents make career decisions.

What do experienced agents want most? Here are the top 10 reasons agents cited as factors in associating with a specific real estate firm.

• More income/higher commission splits.
• Good reputation of firm and brand in areas of customer satisfaction, quality service and marketing results.
• Marketing, advertising and promotional support that will give them a competitive edge in competing for homebuyers and sellers.
• State-of-the-art technology support, ranging from phones to computers and the Internet.
• Good location of office, firm.
• Access to referrals: both network and in-house referral bases.
• Strong management, support staff and support systems in a compatible environment.
• Recognition among peers locally, regionally and nationally.
• Access to advanced skill training to take careers to the next level.
• Specialty marketing opportunities such as Fine Homes and corporate relocation.

It is interesting to note that although commission income was at the top of the list, agents found importance in office support, particularly in the area of marketing and technology.

According to a 2012 technology survey of members by the National Association of REALTORS®, only 64 percent of agents have a personal website. That is a huge opportunity for savvy brokers.

In Part Two of this series, we will look at some simple steps to setting up your own recruiting program or leveraging the plan you currently have in place.

To view the orginial article, visit the WebsiteBox blog.