Maximize this opportunity now to grow your agent roster
As people across the country experience changes in their employment and financial situations, a surge in new real estate license applications is occurring. This makes perfect sense, as the recent tsunami of unemployment has resulted in idled workers with time on their hands to study, a need to secure a new income stream, and the hope that a self-directed career like real estate will be the vehicle for their future success.
Mass recruiting opportunities like this occur once in a generation…if that…and although the new agent boom has already started, it is not too late to join in. Brokers and managers everywhere need to be fully engaged right now in building your agent rosters, so here is what you need to focus on immediately:
Wide-scale attraction of new agent recruits. You need to shout the promise of a real estate sales career from the rooftops, and one of the best methods to do this is to promote and execute multiple career events. For now, these will likely be webinars since live events are either not permitted or may be unattractive to many recruits. Whatever the platform, make a purposeful effort to drive new recruits to your events and show them the why’s and the how’s of launching a successful career with your company.
The first step is planning and promoting your events. Don’t dawdle on this; it wasn’t called the Gold Stroll—it was the Gold Rush. Plan a series of career webinars, and make the first one next week! Promote them vigorously through every effective means possible, including via email, social media, online advertising, and through your agents and past clients. I suggest scheduling these weekly, and consider holding them at consistent times (e.g., every Wednesday afternoon or every Saturday morning). Include links to register for your webinar in every advertisement and communication for this, and send reminders out prior to the event. Also, send a branded promotional piece about becoming an agent with your company in advance of the event to increase their excitement level. When accepting registrations, have the recruits provide both their email address and phone number to facilitate post-event follow-up.
The event only needs to be 30-60 minutes long. Be positive and informative, and discuss first how a career in real estate will help their lives. Once they see the opportunity before them, you can then talk succinctly and confidently about how your company will guide them through licensing and getting up-and-running. The focus, however, should be on the benefits: the opportunity for self-directed success, flexible hours, unlimited income potential, etc. Lastly, be sure to include a Q&A session at the end, and keep notes (or refer back to a recording of the webinar) to mark each individual attendee’s comments and questions.
Systematic follow-up. Once new recruits have attended your event, you must have a time-sensitive follow-up plan in place. Along with a drip email campaign (which hopefully you are utilizing a CRM to manage effortlessly), execute a combination of phone calls, meetings, and contacts from other members of your company to further entice your recruits to start their career with your team.
The goal is immediate action. Highlight that this is a uniquely opportune time for new agents to study and launch their careers, and that we expect a surge of pent-up demand to bolster activity in the second half of this year. Reinforce the immediate and long-term benefits, give them confidence in your guidance, and show them how even one closed sale will cover any costs associated with getting licensed. The simple message is that starting their career with your company is in their best financial interest, and the time is now!
Acceleration of on-boarding and training: Most companies have some type of program for on-boarding and training new agents. If you don’t, or yours is not fully developed, consider outsourcing some of the admin work so that you can focus more on attracting and converting new recruits. If you do have a solid on-boarding and training program, consider accelerating its timeline. Many of your recruits will have other careers that will re-open over the course of the next few months, either fully, partially or by returning to “on-site” versus remote work. The point is that flexibility for licensing and launching a new career is at an especially high level, so condensing a multi-month training program to a shorter term is the best strategy right now.
So, do not delay. Set new, short-term goals for recruiting during this extraordinary time, and make them happen immediately. There is no time to “ramp up”—you need to take off like a rocket and send your new agent recruiting program into outer space. Plan and promote your events now, execute a follow-up plan, and get your new agents up-and-running quickly to maximize this opportunity and position your company for maximum future success!
For a free copy of my exclusive Success Guide for Conducting a Career Seminar or Webinar, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. She is also an RISMedia 2020 Real Estate Newsmaker as an industry Influencer. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
