Great real estate agents do more than just consistently drive profitable revenue for their brokerages. They inspire confidence in clients, increase brand trust and awareness, and contribute positively to company culture.
Quality agents are in high demand, and firms are in constant competition to attract them. When the best candidates are flooded by messages from recruiters on a daily basis, brokers must be able to offer something the competition is not.
To recruit these agents, you need to take a hard look at what your firm is offering prospective candidates, and if those qualities are what your target agents are actually looking for in a brokerage.
Effective Training and Mentorship Programs
In today’s competitive real estate market, it is more important than ever that agents are well-equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in their careers.
Conducting effective training and mentorship programs does more than mitigate turnover: it also creates top-performing agents.
An environment that helps agents win shows your firm is committed to investing in its people. This is extremely attractive to prospective hires. Training is a pillar of recruitment.
Co-founder of Real New York, Rob Rahmanian, a strong advocate of in-house training, makes a great point when he notes that effective training programs influence recruiting as much as they improve retention. When you offer training opportunities that produce real results, you’re building a positive reputation as a firm that cares about its team and strives to employ only the best.
Sharp Leadership
Quality real estate agents know they need support from their broker in order to do well. Sharp and experienced brokers provide agents with insight from their years of industry expertise and also act as their pillar of support. Agents need to be confident that they can look towards their broker for guidance, advice, or even a boost in motivation.
Healthy Commission Structure
If you are looking to hire more salespeople, your commission structure tends to be a major consideration, especially for more seasoned agents. Experienced agents aren’t as reliant on resources or support, so they are looking for a commission split that matches their skillset and experience level. Contrary to popular belief, the commission split you offer isn’t the only determining factor of whether or not agents will join your firm. This is often the case for agents that are newly-licensed. New agents place a larger emphasis on training and mentorship than their commission split. For most new agents, the most important thing to a new agent is learning how to close deals.
However, if you can provide a commission structure that benefits both current and prospective agents, you will attract a more competitive applicant pool. A healthy commission split is also a tangible way of showing appreciation for your agents and rewarding the behavior you want to enforce.
Recognition From Their Managing Broker
Real estate salespeople tend to place a significant emphasis on recognition, and it’s not just in the form of compensation. Your sales team is the lifeblood of your firm so they want to be recognized for their efforts. Keep your agents inspired and motivated by acknowledging them on a consistent basis. It can be as simple as sending an email congratulating them on a recent deal they closed. It’s not always about the money. It’s also about being valued and that means being respected for a job well done. It is also a good idea to implement a creative rewards system, as it will generate excitement and let your agents know that you value them. Here are some creative way to make recognizing your agents a fun experience they can look forward to:
- Implement a system that awards agents for meeting certain sales objectives, such as landing their first exclusive listing.
- Make recognition a group activity by allowing agents to congratulate one another on a messaging platform like Slack.
- Offer agents fun prizes, like gift cards or apparel, when they reach certain sales goals.
Less Micro-Management
Quality agents move forward in their careers through a significant amount of self-motivation and hard work. In this independent career path, the last thing an agent wants is their broker picking apart their every action or standing over them as they complete every task. Micromanagement hurts morale, diminishes trust, and hinders your firm’s potential growth. Instead, find the right balance between giving agents attention and letting them work independently. When it comes to management – don’t take a blanket approach. Some agents will need daily assistance, while others may only require a monthly check-in. Some more experienced agents may never require your help after receiving it early on in their careers. Determine which agents need the most attention and which do not so you can allocate your time effectively.
Latest Technology
Technology can make the working process much easier and enjoyable for the employee. Such innovations reduce the dissatisfaction of the personnel and their exhaustion. Invest in an industry-leading CRM like Salesforce, Zoho, or Copper to show prospective agents you are willing to invest your resources that contribute to the ease and success of their career.
Extraordinary Company Culture
Quality sales professionals aspire to be part of a company culture that supports both their personal and professional growth. Cultivating a positive and motivating culture in your organization also helps you attract and keep hold of the best agents. Your firm’s culture should inspire enthusiasm among your team and encourage them to continuously improve their business.
This needs to be easily communicated to potential candidates. Your “Our Agents” or “Our Team” web pages should communicate what life is like at your company. Start by making sure each agent has a professional headshot and a well-crafted bio.
Additional Tip: Consider also adding their personal social media, client testimonials, closed transactions, and achievements.
Your goal is to portray to prospective candidates that your current team is happy and fulfilled.
The beliefs and norms of their firm are immediately communicated through their site, sparking interest among prospective agents.
Opportunity For New Challenges
Highly-motivated salespeople want to work in an environment where they are challenged to continuously grow their business and build a name for themselves. The opportunity for new challenges enables them to learn new skills that lay the groundwork for their career growth.
To stand out from the competition, you need to position your firm as an industry leader. This goes beyond your listings. Your training programs, company culture, and leadership should all work together to keep agents engaged and challenged to do their best work. Ultimately, real estate agents are looking for a brokerage that can help jumpstart their careers or bring it to the next level.
Conclusion
Ready to hire? Determining what a qualified candidate looks like for you is the first step. Hiring is challenging and time-consuming. But when you hire the right salesperson — one you trust; one who gets results — they can help your business grow in unprecedented ways.
Corofy helps residential real estate brokerages hire top-performing agents through our proprietary system. It saves you valuable time, decreases your cost per hire, and ultimately grows your business.
Book a FREE demo with us today!