I've heard this so many times over the years: "My market's different, Jim." When it comes to recruiting, people say, "We're in a tiny market, a rural market, a niche market, or a very cliquey market. People here donât make moves like they do in big cities. Recruiting doesnât work here."
Let me tell you something: I come from a small town with a population of 25,000. Iâve worked in big cities, small towns, medium-sized cities, and even cliquey ones. Hereâs the reality: the numbers behind recruiting arenât something Iâm making up. These are national statistics.
The average agent in America moves every five years.
Look at your entire database of agents in your market and think about this: every single one of them will likely move in the next five years.
Statistically, some will move sooner, some later, but overall, theyâre going to move.
The question is: where are they going to go?
Think about your own career. Did you stay at one company forever without ever making a move? Probably ...
What's the number one motivator for someone to move from Company A to Company B? It's not the commission plan, so get that out of your head.
The answer is this: the reason I'm going to move from Company A to Company B is because I believe Company B can help me close more transactions.
Transaction count is the number one motivator for all agents. Yet, when I talk to most brokers and ask them to list the top five reasons someone should join their firm, the first things they often mention are: "We've got a great culture here. It's a family organization really connected to the community. People just trust each other. We've got a great staff."
These are all fantastic qualities, but let me tell you what that is: soft value.
Soft values are what keep agents at your company. People love to work at places with great culture, a charitable spirit, an open-door policy, and strong support staff.
But soft value isn't what moves an agent from Company A to Company B.
What moves agents is one thi...
Hey guys, letâs talk about your power base and why it matters. Your power base number is a great way to measure the health of your database. In real estate, our databases generate the majority of our salesâthis has been proven time and time again.
Letâs break it down with some math, because the path is in the math:
If you have a database of 200 people, how many transactions should that generate? The ratio is simple: 10 to 1. For every 10 people in your database, you should generate one sale. So, a 200-person database should produce about 20 transactions.
Thatâs a general guideline. Letâs make it personal. To find your power base number, take the number of transactions youâve closed in the past 12 months and divide it by the total number of people in your database.
For example, if you have 200 people in your database but only closed 10 transactions, divide 200 by 10. That gives you 20, meaning for every 20 people, youâre averaging one closed transaction. Thatâs not great because we ...
What if your next transaction is embedded in your current transactions? This is such an easy concept but often overlooked by many agents. Every escrow you have is a pathway to more escrows. Let me share three key strategies to help you leverage this opportunity.
First, introduce every single person you're in escrow with to your VIP program. You might say, "I donât have a VIP program." Well, you need to start one. A VIP program simply means telling your clients:
"Now that youâre my client and we're closing this transaction, Iâd like to invite you to my VIP club. Hereâs how it works: If you hear someone thinking about doing real estate business and refer them to meâeven if they donât closeâthat act alone makes you a VIP. As part of the VIP club, youâll get access to special events throughout the year, quarterly prizes, and a grand prize at the end of the year. Plus, for every referral you send, youâll receive a small gift from me."
Your VIP program can look however you like, but the k...
Here's a question for you: When you're working with a buyer for the first time, do you have a pre-buy meeting checklist?
If not, you're probably not delivering the highest level of service possible. A pre-buy meeting checklist helps you prepare to serve your clients at the highest level.
What could that checklist look like? Let me share some items on my checklist that might give you an "aha" moment to add to your own.
1. Research the Buyer
First, I research the buyer. I do a Google search to ensure there are no red flags and check their social media. This helps me gather additional information that may not have come up during our initial conversation.
I also connect with them on social media, talk to their lender to understand their financial needs, and reach out to whoever referred them. These steps help me get a comprehensive understanding of who they are.
2. Prepare the Buyer
Next, I prepare the buyer. I send them a qualifying questionnaireâjust four or five questionsâto help...
Hereâs a question: Of the three types of real estate companies Iâm about to describe, which do you think is the most dangerous to own in terms of survival?
Which one is the most dangerous?
For brokerage owners watching this, the answer is the mid-size company.
Hereâs why: mid-size companies lack the economies of scale that smaller or larger companies enjoy.
I get this question all the time from brokerage owners and team leaders: âHow do I start recruiting today when I donât have everything built yet?â
They often feel stuck in a catch-22: They think they need to build their vision first in order to start recruiting, but they donât have the money or resources to build it because they donât have agents yet.
Hereâs the answer: People will buy into your vision as long as you can articulate it clearly and tie it to a timeline.
When youâre talking to agents, say something like:
"Iâve got this vision of the kind of company I want to build. Iâm looking for a few people who want to get in on the ground floor and help me build it. We call them âfounder agents.â Theyâll be right there, side by side with me, helping shape this vision. Can I explain to you what Iâm trying to create?"
If you can sit with people and lay out a clear vision of what youâre working towards, theyâll buy into it. It doesnât have to be 100% built yetâthatâs what youâre wor...
Have you ever lost an agent? I have.
If you're a broker owner or a team leader, you probably have too. At some point, an agent decides to leave, and it feels terribleâlike getting punched in the face. It's emotional, and you might wonder: Why did that happen? Was it my failure, or is it just part of the industry?
Here's the hard truth: it often is a failure on our part.
Specifically, it's a failure to understand where that agent was in their career. And that failure stems from a lack of communication with the agent.
Retentionâthat's what we're talking about here. Keeping agents starts with building relationships. And relationships come from spending time with your agents.
Time leads to relationships, and relationships lead to retention. So, the first step is spending more time with your agent team.
Now, you might say, âJim, Iâve got a 200-agent office. Thereâs no way I can spend more time with all of them.â But itâs not about hours of one-on-one time. Even five or ten minutes can...
If I sat down with you right now as a brokerage owner or team leader and asked you, "What's next for you after real estate?"âwhat would your response be?
Think about it. You might say, "I want to be on a beach somewhere," or "I want a cabin in Colorado," or maybe even "I want to live in Alaska." Whatever your dreams are, it likely takes you into an aspirational, dream-like state.
Now, here's the reality: 70 to 80% of brokers in your market, if given the right circumstances and opportunity, would choose to exit.
Why?
Because 70 to 80% of them are losing money. Many would be far better off selling their firm to you, transitioning their agents to your company, and then working for you. This would allow them to earn a consistent income, start saving for retirement, and ultimately achieve their dreams of escape.
What stops them from pulling the trigger?
One word: ego.
But what if there were a way to move past that ego barrier and help them feel comfortable making the decision? Well, ...
Letâs do a quick quiz for team leaders and brokerage owners to test how well you know your agents. This is essential for agent retention. While recruiting is critical, retaining your agents is just as importantâif not more so. Retention is all about re-recruiting your agents consistently: every week, every month, every year.
Hereâs the key: friends donât leave, and friends refer friends. Your agentsâyour customersâneed to see you as more than just their leader. They need to see you as a friend. And that kind of relationship only happens when you invest time in them and approach your interactions relationally, not transactionally.
Many brokerage owners and team leaders make the mistake of thinking transactionally. They view agents as numbers in a modelâhiring 10 new agents a month and watching eight leave. Itâs a churn-and-burn approach that feels like a meat grinder.
Thatâs not how you build a strong company.
A successful brokerage or team thrives on community, culture, and relatio...
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