As a broker, you have specific goals and metrics you hope to achieve: from establishing an enviable company culture, to continually improving your revenue.
One objective that many top brokerages today fail to make a big priority, though, is the recruitment (and, later on, training and coaching) of new real estate agents.
If you fall into this category of brokers that’s yet to carefully evaluate their beginner real estate agent recruitment strategy, it’s time to do just that — and it starts by asking yourself these five critical questions below.
Find out how to ensure you and your firm are ready to attract, hire, and educate new real estate agents … and turn them into top producers.
1) Is your real estate brokerage’s value proposition and market clearly defined for candidates?
In many ways, appealing to a specific group of new agent talent is similar to nurturing your real estate leads into clients: You must highlight the unique aspects of your brokerage compared to others in your market and explain why you’re the best fit for their needs.
Oftentimes, beginner agents aren’t sought after by many other firms — at least not until they’ve proven themselves somewhat in the industry (i.e. closing some noteworthy deals nearby; simply being hired to represent a high-end listing).
Once these agents become hot commodities, though, the chances of luring them to your brokerage can diminish.
Thus, this process of trying to get premier newbies on board shouldn’t be rushed. Rather, potential hires need to be reached out to subtly over a longer period of time — time during which you can make sure your brokerage’s mission, goals, and culture are established.
Some of the best ways to showcase your brokerage’s value proposition and your firm in a very positive light in general include:
- Clearly defining your values, such as how you want the brand to be perceived in the marketplace and how your agents can ensure that image is achieved and maintained.
- Explaining your inbound marketing strategy and how your team can adopt modern, inbound tactics that elevate their digital profiles and grow their businesses.
- Constantly educating your team members with both a hands-on approach (internal) and working with outside vendors who are experts in marketing and sales (external).
- Implementing team-building exercises, like volunteer work and office/out-of-office parties and gatherings that can promote togetherness and camaraderie among your staff.
Once you’ve fine-tuned your brand messaging as it pertains to your new real estate agent recruitment, you can focus on … you know … actually recruiting the top beginner agents around town (or your entire region, if you have the bandwidth).
2) How does technology support your business — and is it integrated into your day-to-day tasks?
Admitting to not actively using technology at your brokerage won’t help your efforts to nab younger agents. And really, if you don’t use the latest and greatest modern tech tools to enhance your marketing and sales, chances are your lead gen and closed deal totals will suffer too.
There’s no arguing that learning your way around any number of the available real estate tech apps and platforms is essential for the success of your firm. But when your recruiting tactics are targeted toward new, and oftentimes younger, agents, you need to see tech from their perspective.
Take the data from this Inman News special report on real estate brokerage technology, for instance:
- 62% of agents at franchised brokerages expect to pay a fee to their broker to receive a bundle of tech tools and products.
- 91% of agents and associate brokers use tech products provided by their brokerages daily or a few times a week
- On average, 70% of agents are satisfied with the technology they receive from their brokerage.
It’s clearly evident that today’s real estate professional — new or otherwise — is looking for their brokers to supply the best types of tech to help them convert more prospects into new business.
So, make getting the cream-of-the-crop tech (e.g. IDX websites, an intuitive CRM, a drip marketing platform — or a solution that offers all three) a priority so you can prove to new real estate agents you offer the resources that can help them thrive on the job.
3) Do you understand — and effectively promote — your agency’s culture to attract ideal agent talent?
Like it or not, culture is a massively important component of engaging and retaining new agent hires.
Across industries, data shows those in happier, more supportive workplace environments lead to more satisfied and productive workers than those who are employed in more demanding offices.
Now, we’re not suggesting you encourage such a laid-back office environment that nothing gets accomplished, but take the time to consider the appealing cultural aspects of your office.
For example, do you regularly recognize and celebrate meeting individual and brokerage sales goals? How about open communication and team building?
It’s vital that brokers communicate to their prospective and seasoned agents how integral they are to the functioning and success of the brokerage. Doing so will inspire action and increase engagement.
4) Would you and your support staff be able to help new real estate agents grow into their roles?
Be honest: Is your management style as a broker on the rigid side, or are you more open to hearing and considering new ideas?
Younger agents gravitate toward bosses who are less like demanding dictators and more akin to support systems. Millennial agents, in particular, value collaborative workplace environments and feeling like they’ve been able to contribute ideas and energy to a shared cause.
No matter the age of the new real estate agents you add to your brokerage, those inexperienced in the industry will require a more dedicated amount of time to learn the ropes of the business. And it’s up to you to set the tone for the type of team structure you want.
5) Do you provide continuing education, training programs, and mentorship for beginner real estate agents?
Along with the desire to be supported by their broker, novice agents want and need continuing education opportunities and hands on training.
If you’ve been in the business for the last decade or more, it may be more difficult to remember what it was like on your first day as an agent … but truth be told, that empathy is necessary to help your new hires thrive.
Offering up your firsthand experience, knowledge, and positive energy to new agents as their mentor is invaluable for the both of you. They’ll be able to learn more quickly with an available resource to answer their questions, and you’ll have the opportunity to mold them into the type of agents you want.
Find out how to increase your real estate website traffic in this insightful Placester webinar for agents and brokers:
