A question worth asking: RISMedia has asked me to offer my perspective on what some might consider “Recruiting 2.0.”
Would the approach to recruiting I employed 30 years ago, when my partner and I built a company from scratch to 60 offices (28 owned, 32 franchised) and attracted 1,800 agents, still work today?
Partially no, and partially yes.
Back then, agents were not lured with signing bonuses, compensation caps, revenue sharing, stock or generous marketing budgets. Recruiting today is more intense and more competitive, with greater leaders and managers than ever before.
That said, there is one element of my past approach that I believe remains more advanced than what we generally see today in the realm of recruiting and retention.
Throwing out the plaques
My attitude was never about recruiting and retention. In fact, I forbade our 60 managers from using those terms.
Managers who once had plaques on their walls ritualistically repeating the cliche “Recruiting solves every problem a real estate company can ever have,” were ordered to throw them in the trash. I replaced that message with this one:
“Other companies focus on recruiting and retention. Our company is dedicated to selection and development. Discover the difference.”
I recognized a reality at the time: To compete against monolithic, octopus-like competitors in Weichert and then Schlott (now Coldwell Banker NJ), conventional recruiting approaches would never take us from one office to 60. Both companies began in New Jersey and were ranked number one and number three in the country, respectively. Each recruiting juggernaut had evolved to more than one hundred offices within a 60-mile radius, and each paid significantly higher splits.
More than semantics
The shift from a recruiting and retention mindset to a company-wide selection and development mindset began by educating our managers, first several and eventually 60, that there was a material difference between the two. This was not a matter of semantics, nor a distinction without a difference.
Recruiting and retention are the perfect terms for the military (recruiting) and the penal system (retention). Weichert, Schlott and REMAX already owned those terms in our market. To grow, we needed a significantly different approach.
We illuminated the difference for our managers by highlighting how recruiting and retention treats agent acquisition as a numbers game. The words themselves suggest that professionals are at times made to feel like undervalued, commoditized, interchangeable widgets who exist to satisfy effective desk cost or market share business modeling. The term recruiting reveals a mindset of pursuit and persuasion. Retention implies holding on to people who might otherwise walk out the door.
Selection and development, by contrast, treats agent acquisition as a deliberate matching process, where agent growth is seen as an ongoing investment. This model assumes that instead of recruiting “finished products,” agent loyalty and production are earned through genuine value delivered through training, mentorship and consultative skill building, not through splits or perks that competitors can match or exceed.
This is when development becomes your greatest selection tool. There is far greater synergy between development and selection than there ever was between recruiting and retention.
21 suggestions for a selection and development culture
Since we seem to like lists of 5, 10 or 21, here are 21 suggestions for creating a selection and career development culture for your brokerage or growing real estate team.
- Rename your offices as regional sales and marketing centers
Convert offices named after a single town to regional sales and marketing centers.
Why: In the same way eXp encourages agents to work larger territories by not being tethered to physical offices, this encourages your agents to work larger territories. It makes your company more relevant to sellers and buyers in towns where your office is not physically located, allows you to select agents across a larger geographical area, and speaks to abundance versus scarcity.
- Put a strategic map on your office or training center wall
One color for listings, one for sales, one for where your agents live.
Why: It leads to selecting against gaps in coverage, suggests less channel conflict and displays how strategic the company is, which creates reassurance and confidence in the leadership.
- Compete on plans to earn compensation
If you cannot compete on compensation plans, you need to compete on plans to earn compensation.
- Build income plans, not slogans about the sky
Develop plans to earn specific levels of compensation in your market based on average sales price, number of transactions, activities required and most importantly, the resources your company or team provides that are designed (not guaranteed) to result in $100,000 to $2 million in production.
Why: When agents ask how much they can earn at your brokerage or team, you never have to say something as lame as “the sky is the limit.” That answer suggests the thing most important to the agent, their income, does not even cause your company to try to provide a plan, one that can be customized and supported by your resources and coaching.
- “Because they are not you”
When candidates ask, “Then how come so many of your agents are not making two, three, four or five hundred thousand?” you should honestly say:
“Because they are not you.”
Why: Many outside agents define the value of your company by your non-performers. You cannot change that in an interview. Instead, select based on your top producers rather than your brokerage or team as a whole.
“The reason is because, as much as I respect all of my agents, most do not have your potential. On the other hand, you remind me of Susan. Let me show you how she is using our resources to earn one million plus per year. How does that sound?”
- Don’t just brand your company. Brand your systems
Why: When brokers introduce their services, candidates too often say, “We have that, we just call it something else.” They have developed antibodies to bragging. Have you branded your home marketing system? Your buying system? Your first time buyer system? Your first time homeseller system? Do you have just a luxury program, or a true luxury system and division? What about your two-family home marketing system, your senior lifestyles division, your new construction division, your divorce and separation division? The more these services are defined and developed, the more authentic it appears that you really do provide extra services. McDonald’s has more than one brand; it brands every product and service.
“I really think if you were a member of our Luxury Lifestyle Division you would increase your average sales price and income.”
- Create a slogan, and put your name in it
A few to consider:
“When people think of Virginia real estate, they think (your company name).”
“We sell America’s number one lifestyle.” (Ohio)
“Marketing North Carolina real estate at the highest level.”
Why: Do you want both consumers and agents, when they think of real estate in your state, to think of you? Have you ever suggested it? Nothing matters until you make it matter. I first saw Weichert do this when Jim, one of my heroes, started his company:
“When people think of New Jersey real estate, they think Weichert.”
Most real estate and team slogans do not even include the name. Imagine if “fly the friendly skies” did not end with United, or “you’re in good hands” did not end with Allstate. Do you have a slogan? Is your name part of it? Does it include where consumers live? All of this has an impact on selecting. I created a slogan for New Jersey years ago that a Senator asked to be included in an obituary: “New Jersey, a great place to visit and an even greater place to live.” Thousands of motorists, including agents at other companies, asked for our bumper sticker with our brand attached.
- Establish a company Hall of Fame
For retention, establish your company Hall of Fame. No one leaves the Hall of Fame. It is for life.
- Master selection language
The following dialogue, refined across hundreds of agent conversations, walks a candidate from first contact through commitment. Each step earns permission for the next.
- The opening question
“Do you still have an open mind about your career options?”
Why: Agents know what your motivation is. Own it and get right to the point instead of “how is everything going at your company these days?” I never had an agent say, “No, I don’t have an open mind.” So I proceed.
- Offer confidentiality first
“Great. Then let’s get together, and can we keep it confidential?”
Why: They want confidentiality more than you do, and your bringing it up first is a major positive.
- The ten percent question
“What percentage of your income do you directly attribute to your brokerage or brand?”
Why: I have asked that question of hundreds of agents, and still do when brokers ask me to help bring an agent into their brokerage. I cannot remember any agent saying more than ten percent, and most use their hand to make the zero sign. This is the question you may not want others asking your agents, which is exactly why it is great when you ask theirs. Their answer gives you permission to ask the next question.
- “Then with all due respect, why do you stay?”
Why: There are basically only a handful of responses you will ever hear: I have too many listings to leave behind. I like my manager. I have built up brand equity. I like my office. I like my location. All are reasons to stay, and it is more important to determine why someone wants to stay than why they might leave. You must first acknowledge why they are staying, or you do not have permission to proceed.
- Stay versus grow
“Susan, what is more important to you: The reasons why you want to stay, or the potential to exponentially increase your income?”
Why: You need to gain permission to proceed. So far you have said nothing about your company or theirs. This is one hundred percent about their career.
- The ballpark question
“Speaking of income, I have a sense from the MLS data, but let me ask you this. What did you earn last year, ballpark?”
Why: It is important to frame this as ‘ballpark.’ Otherwise their exaggeration may cause them not to meet again, as they might be exposed.
- Honor, don’t criticize
“Thanks for sharing that, and I hope you and your loved ones appreciate what it takes to be in the top five percent of production in our industry.”
Why: Instead of criticizing their company, you are honoring what they deserve: Respect.
- Get their number, then lock it in
“You mentioned you made in the $200,000 vicinity. Now, we would all like to earn a million dollars, Susan, but let me ask you this. Realistically, how much would you have to be convinced you would earn by changing companies in order to consider a shift?”
Why: Agents will give you a number. If it is $300,000, you can ask, “Would you settle for $290,000?” When they say yes, you can say, “Then you just told your brain you will not make $300,000.”
- The change is the business model, not the company
“Susan, if you want to grow from $200,000 to $300,000, you don’t have to change companies or offices, because there are plenty of agents in your company earning that right now. Would you agree? That’s right. If you are going to grow from $200,000 to three, four, or five hundred thousand, you need to change yourself in terms of your business model. Do you agree?”
Why: Every single agent I ever made that point to agreed. Notice we did not put their company down or brag about ours during this selection process. Now I can move to the next concept.
- Reverse the guarantee
“Susan, I don’t know if you can earn that much, and I cannot guarantee you will earn that much more. In fact, I will not let you join our company unless you guarantee me that you will earn that much more. The only way we can determine that is if our resources and career development system are a match for you at this time in your career. We can find out in 20 minutes. May I show you now?”
Why: You need buy-in before you customize a plan forward based on how Susan does business and where you can elevate her success.
- The skills audit
“Susan, as you can see, I have a list of many of the most important skills required to be successful. It is like an audit of what you are already doing to be in the top five percent of all agents, and then we will see specifically how we can help you significantly increase your income. Please rank your proficiency from one to five in each of the following, with five being the most skilled or committed.”
The audit: Prospecting. Marketing presentations. Social media. Open houses. Sphere of influence. CRM. Community videos. Event marketing. In-home real estate planning. AI. Lead generation. Luxury real estate. Real estate investing. The real estate ecosystem. Marketing.
Why: I never had one top producer who was not excited to review this. It is a process some agents actually pay a business coach to walk them through. No agent has ever given themselves all fives. They will generously award many fours and fives, but inevitably there will be at least three or four ones, twos, and threes. Then you respond to what they revealed:
“Susan, I already sensed you don’t need to improve your marketing presentations, your open house system, or your referrals and lead generation. Would you agree that getting to three or four hundred thousand will not come from a better listing presentation, but from more listing presentations? Well, you gave yourself threes in luxury, ones in event marketing and real estate planning, and you even said zero on doing videos for the towns you represent. May I show you how there is no doubt in my mind you could double your income using our resources and my coaching in these areas?”
Everyone says yes. Then I show them how, and many do. Now run their math with them:
“If you used our real estate planning guide and sat down with two homeowners a week who were not in the market, that would be one hundred a year. Ten would sell. How many listings would you get? Eight, times $15,000, is another $120,000. Your math, not mine. How many buy sides? Five. Another $75,000. How many referrals? One out of every five sessions. Another $75,000. Now, you gave your preferred vendor and home services program a two. If we can’t get that to a four or five, you should stay where you are. But if we do, how many vendor referrals? Ten. Another $150,000. That adds up to another $420,000 in income. Your math, not mine.”
Why: The agent is monetizing specific areas they have not yet monetized, coming up with their own projections, and every projection requires your resources, such as a luxury lifestyle system and division.
- The commitment close
“Susan, you asked how many of my agents are doing this and making this money. Less than two percent. The top agents are. If you come, I will commit to sending a digital copy of our real estate planning guide to one thousand homes, which becomes your database, which we will turn into your client base, your sphere of influence, your geographical farm, under one condition: That over the next year you commit to contacting every homeowner who receives it, by email or in person, to see if they received it and to ask for a free in-home real estate consultation. Otherwise, you should stay where you are, because you should not be making just a lateral move. You need to change your business model and be coached through it, which I will commit to, and you also need to do this with what AI is going to do. These changes, based on your math, take you over $500,000. Is that enough to make a change, in spite of how much you like your office? And if so, when would you like to go from your $200,000 model to this $400,000 model?”
The bottom line
Recruiting and retention chases agents. Selection and development chooses them, invests in them, and gives them a reason no split can match. Discover the difference.
