Recruiting The Right Real Estate Agents For Your Brokerage
What To Say Now Episode 46

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Show Notes and Links:

What To Say Now Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/whattosaynow

Full Show Transcript:

Dan Stewart (00:01): If you need to attract agents to your real estate team or brokerage, you're going to love this episode. Today we're going to tackle what to say now to attract the right agents to your organization.
Dan Stewart (00:27): Hello, and welcome to this episode of What To Say Now. My name is Dan Stewart, I'm the founder of Happy Grasshopper and today I'm going to teach you how to modify your recruitment messaging so that you can cut through the noise of the marketplace and be heard by agents who honestly, truthfully, in real life would be much happier working with you than where they're currently located.
Dan Stewart (00:54): First we have to set the groundwork here before we proceed. If you agree with me with what I'm about to share, you're going to love what I have to say next. If this sounds really strange and weird, then you're probably not, and that's okay. First, I'm going to state for you that we are what we are so whatever you are embrace it, it's a good thing, right? Hello to people here if your logging in. Brandon, great to see you there. Congrats on your success with your recruitment campaigns. I saw earlier you're at a 63% open rate, that's awesome.
Dan Stewart (01:31): Now, back to the topic at hand, general teaching here about recruitment. We have to understand it as a process of exit and arrival. Right now in your marketplace there are agents who would love to be with you. They would love to be part of your organization, they just happen to be somewhere else. No matter how great your content, no matter how hard you're cold calling, no matter how hard you're pounding on the marketing trying to get these people to join, they won't until they are ready to. There's a really important thing that you have to decide to do, and that's to care enough about building a relationship with them before they're ready to be recruited.
Dan Stewart (02:19): Effective recruitment strategies do two things, they deliver a signal that causes people to go, "Hmm, maybe it is time I consider somewhere else," and they allow you to build a relationship that you can maintain until such a point as they're actually ready. Those two things are really important to consider when you're forming your recruitment strategy.
Dan Stewart (02:43): Second thing I would encourage you to do is to take a peek at the data in your marketplace. Really think about who's out there, how many agents are in the marketplace to begin with, and what's your goal? What kind of market share does that represent? Is it a reasonable goal? We're all going to, I think, enjoy our lives much better when we set realistic goals that we can actually achieve so it's nice to say I'd like to have a million agents but, guess what, if there aren't a million agents in your marketplace you can't possibly have them all.
Dan Stewart (03:18): Look at what percentage of the marketplace you realistically feel that you can capture. That's called your TAM, your total available market, TAM. Then, whatever that size is we need to shrink it further. We need to look within that group of people who exhibit characteristics that tell you they're likely to be successful. Think about it, look around your office now. Who are the agents you work with, that you see every single day, that you're proud of, that are delightful, that are, fancy word, creative? They add value to your organization just because of who they are, the things they believe in, the behaviors they exhibit.
Dan Stewart (04:07): Now, I'll give you a hint. Teamwork, collaboration, and contribution are three things worth looking for in anyone that you want to recruit. People who tend to have a closed mindset, they're happy to be successful but they're not happy to share how they're being successful, that's evidence of some limited thinking.
Dan Stewart (04:29): Within your organization, who is it that you might clone and then ask yourself, "What sort of messages would those people be likely to reply to? What would they engage with?" How could you push away the wrong recruits and pull the right recruits closer? Well, the process is one where you really determine where your flag is planted, what you'll defend, what's acceptable, what's not acceptable. Those are the standards. That is, you putting some boundaries in place saying, "We want these kinds of attributes in our workplace. These other kind, they're fine but they're not okay for us. We'll let other people have those attributes."
Dan Stewart (05:09): At this point, you have a pretty good idea of the size of your market and then the people within it that you're actually really interested in attracting, so from this point forward it's about sending the appropriate messages over the appropriate length of time. Now, think about this. When a person decides to leave the brokerage they're currently at and join you, that's a really scary and risky thing.
Dan Stewart (05:39): If you're recruiting agents who are in pain, like something is wrong, something's broken, they're failing, they're struggling and you fill your brokerage with those kinds of agents, it's going to be a less joyful, less growthful, is that a word? It's going to grow more slowly than if you fill it with people who really feel wonderful about being there.
Dan Stewart (06:04): People who find the good in every situation, people who can take all the pressure and the grind and turn it into a positive outcome. In short, if I had a t-shirt that said this I promise you I'd wear it. No struggle bunnies. I don't want to fill my company with people who are constantly creating problems where they don't exist and I would recommend that you don't attract them to your firm.
Dan Stewart (06:29): We've covered a few things. We've said, "You've got to plant your flag, you've got to say these are the things we stand for." We've identified there's a total available market, then there's a subset within it that you'd like to personally attract. From here, the next strategy is, "Well, how do you reach out to and greet these people?"
Dan Stewart (06:49): The way I like to explain this, imagine that you've reached a point in your life where you are 100% certain it's time to get married. You really want to do this so you go down to the jewelry store, you pick out a ring. You've got a nice box for it and maybe the ring is the equivalent of your model. Maybe the box is your branding. You've spent so much time and effort, you've poured yourself into the selection of just the right engagement ring.
Dan Stewart (07:19): Now you're just walking down the street and here's a human being walking by so, "Yo, hey, I want to get married, I better get on one knee." You're proposing to literally everyone and many of the brokers I see in the marketplace are doing it too early. If you're picking up the phone and cold calling and asking that stranger on the phone to marry you, I'm going to suggest there's a more effective path for you.
Dan Stewart (07:46): Pick up the phone and offer some leadership to that person, compliment them about the great job you observed them doing in the marketplace. Offer them some leadership about issues agents are struggling with today. By the way, if you're asking yourself, "Well, what are those issues, I don't know what they are?" Think about it, talk to your agents that you've already got. What are the things that are keeping them up at night?
Dan Stewart (08:14): Well, today your buyer's agents are probably very stressed because they're working harder than ever and they can't get the contracts accepted. Yuck. You've got agents who are so worried about where am I going to get listing inventory, I'm used to carrying more listings than I am right now, they're just not in the market. You've got people worried about ibuyers, the Zestimate becoming this appraisal. There are all these issues that contribute to poor night's sleep and if you can offer leadership on those issues you're going to stand out from your competition in the marketplace.
Dan Stewart (08:51): In short, before you ask them to join I would suggest that you capture their minds. Before you ask them to change their life and join you, make sure that they're actually a good fit. Before you add someone to your brokerage, particularly a young brokerage ... Those agents you attract, they're determining the foundational culture of your brand and if you bring in people, they're not representative of what you're trying to achieve everything's going to get harder.
Dan Stewart (09:29): If you'd like my help with this, please reach out. We're here on Facebook, facebook.com/groups/whattosaynow. Happy to answer any recruitment questions you have there in the group. Of course, you can reach out to me personally, [email protected]. There's so much, there's so much prosperity in the world. There's so much opportunity for us when we open our eyes to succeeding together instead of keeping all the secrets to ourselves. If you're embracing the recruitment mindset you certainly understand that. I see my friend, John Mangus, is here and there's something he does every Monday. Every Monday he's feeding his people. He's offering leadership, he's recording a session and pushing it out across his brokerage, RE/MAX Preferred in Toledo, Ohio. I love you, John. I miss you, we've got to get together soon.
Dan Stewart (10:24): Brandon, you're welcome. I see that you're there too. Awesome. There's so, so much prosperity that's available for each of us when instead of trying to exclude other people we invite them in. I'll leave you with this parting thought. Whatever you're struggling with in life, whatever challenges you have in your business, I promise you, if you ask for help you're going to get it, you will.
Dan Stewart (10:54): Now, you know there are people struggling in your marketplace with issues, maybe some of them aren't willing to bring it up. They don't even want to speak it into existence they're so afraid of the reality of the potential consequences. Well, they're having this conversation in their mind and when you reach out and you offer leadership into the void on those same issues, oh, it attracts them like the most powerful magnet. They're drawn to this person who suddenly is understanding them and speaking directly to the pain that they're so afraid to share publicly themselves.
Dan Stewart (11:34): Again, thank you for attending today, I'm happy to help each of you with these issues. You can post your questions, your comments below, I will engage with you there. If you'd like to reach out to me personally, it's [email protected]. Of course, I'd be happy to schedule a call to review your recruitment objectives and how I can help. John Mangus, that freaking means you, buddy, we have got to talk, we've got major updates you need to be taking advantage of. All right, love you all. Goodbye.

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