Editor’s Note: This was originally published in RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine. Catch up on Part 1.
If you’re still looking for staff that can “fog up a mirror and has a credit card” (and not necessarily in that order), please turn the page. The next article is likely to make you more informed.
The average cost to a broker whose recruiter hired the wrong person, according to seasoned recruiters, is more than $8,700. So, investing time in learning about potential candidates for your team is a must.
For starters, recruiters need to have a clear understanding as to what the average agent’s performance level is. Very few do. 
In a random sample* of the last 12 month’s performance, we show 53.75 percent of all participants do four ends or less, and 53.45 percent of all participants sold $1.5 million or less.
By understanding the complete performance of your proposed candidate, it’s entirely possible to know more about the candidate than the candidate knows about themself.
By studying the achievements, here are six conclusions you can draw:
- With 45 combined ends, Till Eulenspiegel is in the top 1.49 percent of all agents in his MLS.
- Nine out of 28 listing ends were “double ends,” which is 32 percent. The average double end in his MLS is 13.7 percent.
- Days on market were not his strength. With a benchmark of 42 days, Till racked up an average 70.8 days.
- The average sold-to-ask ratio for this MLS was 97.28 percent. Till’s was 97.60. That means Till got $791.54 more than average every time one of his listings sold.
- Till’s average sale is considerably below the norm. On investigation, it turns out that he specialized in condos.
- Most revealing about Till’s unusual performance is that not one of his listings sold at 100 percent of the last asking price.
The mark of a top recruiter is the ability to make a recruiting call that sets your conversation apart from all the calls received in any given month. (Did you really think you were the only broker calling them?)
If the agent is good, they aren’t going to be in the office, so getting a return call requires an amazing message based on what you know about your recruit. Leave a message that goes like this: “Hey, Till. Do you realize that you’re in the top 1.4 percent of all agents in your city? Give me a call back and I’ll tell you more about your outstanding performance.”
To those of you who like to write recruiting letters or emails because making those phone calls is too much of a bother, remember that smart agents keep those letters or emails in their listing portfolios.
When confronted with a seller who wants to list with So&So Realty, they then whip out their listing presentation (it is indexed alphabetically), turn to your letter and say, “Yes So&So Realty is a nice company; I have friends who work there. So&So actually asked me to come work for them, but I decided to stay with my office because they’re more progressive, and my chances of making money where I am are better.”
That, dear reader, is a very compelling argument. There’s nothing better than a voicemail from you extolling the virtues of the prospect. Properly done, you will get callbacks 63 percent of the time. One of the tricks that seasoned recruiters use is “the red phone.” A private line that shows the number of the caller, it makes the conversation to follow more meaningful and personal.
*Based on the 12-month performance of 734,250 randomly chosen agents in the U.S.
Leon Y. d’Ancona is CEO of REality®. For more information, please visit www.realestatestatistics.com.
