By Stephanie Andre
RISMEDIA, March 13, 2008-When Jeri Gray took over the reigns of recruiting at RealtySouth, she quickly realized that she had not just inherited a job, but also a network of more than 2,500 untouched prospects. All the data had been procured and stored in AlignMark’s Real Estate Simulator.
“All the data was already there, but nobody was really doing anything with it,” says Gray, recruiting director for RealtySouth. “I made it my business to go through and contact each person in the system. It took quite a while, but it was worth it.”
After making contact with all 2,500 people-which Gray says “was quite a learning experience”-she started learning more about the Simulator, including how to sort her prospects and forward top candidates to her managers and offices.
These days, Gray is a huge proponent of both the Real Estate Simulator as well as AlignMark’s newer recruitment tool-iNTELAGENT. “The programs have so much available; there’s so much that can be done if you make the commitment,” she says. “If you don’t have someone committed to using the systems, just like anything else, they won’t work.”
To that end, Gray points to the Simulator’s report system-“The ability to print reports on our prospects is fabulous,” she says. “Plus, it can track the efforts at all of our branches, which I think is bringing our managers more onboard with this.”
Now that’s she’s caught up with all of RealtySouth’s prospects, Gray says she makes it a point to get in contact with any new candidates who complete the Simulator within eight hours. “There are so many ways-through iNTELAGENT-that I can contact them,” she says. “The templates offered are great; or if I choose, I sometimes use my own.”
Integrating both systems, for Gray, has been key to keeping up with her prospects.
“When I have someone who doesn’t make a commitment to a branch, I still keep up with them through a DRIP campaign in the iNTELAGENT system,” she says. “It’s really the best way to keep in touch without e-mails becoming my entire day.
“The key thing for me is recruiting and retention; it’s my job to do this and having the right quality people with us is the best retention tool we can have,” she continues. “AlignMark’s systems do that for me. Plus, now we’re teaching our managers how to better utilize these tools and resources. My number-one goal is to work with each manager until they understand the system-and use it.”
Gray’s goal is to not only use the AlignMark systems to help bring in good people and retain them, but to also evaluate and keep in better contact with the company’s current agents.
“Retention is so vital, so we’re now importing our existing agents into a database,” she explains. “Our managers are so busy-how do you manage people you don’t see? By using iNTELAGENT, our managers can send correspondence to their agents and let them know that they’re still relevant. Plus, we’re looking at having all 1,100 agents take the Simulator to see what they’re good at and what they may want to improve upon. We’re very excited about the retention possibilities.”
At the end of the day for Gray, it’s about communication. People want to know you’re thinking about them and that they’re important-whether they’re a prospect or current agent.
“Keeping in contact is so vital to this business,” Gray says. “You don’t have to be a creative person to use this system, just committed.”
For more information, visit www.alignmark.com.
