If you're a brokerage owner or team leader, I want to talk to you about something that's kind of outside the box—and that is what we call “adoption rates.”

What's adoption? Adoption means you bring in technology, a system, a tool, or maybe a training program into the company, and you watch as only 20% of the people utilize it—and 80% do not.

That's the rule of thumb: The 80/20 rule.

So you start to wonder why the heck you would bring anything into this company? You feel tempted to cut everything: the technology they’re not using, the training, the mentorship program—this, that, and the other.

Well, remember there's also an 80/20 rule in production too:

20% of the people are doing 80% of the production.

So when you cut these things, you might actually be hurting the people who are supporting the company the most.

But I want you to rethink the 80/20 rule for a second.

When we measure whether we should cut, keep, or add something to the company, don’t just look at whether people a...

If you're a broker, owner, or manager running weekly team or office meetings, here’s one key component you might be missing: the “Genesis Conversation.”

The Genesis Conversation happens when someone talks about a new listing, a new escrow, a pending deal, or a closed sale. When they share that win, ask them:

• "Where did that lead come from?"
• "What was the genesis of that client?"
• "How did you find the buyer or seller?"

When you get everyone in the room sensitized on what’s actually working and creating results, something powerful happens:

Your whole team focuses on what creates results.

Most of the time, you’ll find that 70-80% of the business comes from repeat and referral clients. But you’ll also uncover seasonal patterns or specific lead sources that are currently hot—like open houses, sign calls, online marketing, farming, or targeting absentee owners.

It’s a simple but effective way to direct your team's attention to activities that produce results.

And it's a key trai...

As a brokerage owner or leader of a real estate company, you probably remind your agents every week that the best way to grow their business is by engaging their Sphere of Influence (SOI) and consistently asking for referrals.

But are we holding ourselves to the same standard?

We should be asking our own agents for referrals and recommendations about who we should be talking to in the marketplace.

Questions to ask regularly:

1. “Who are the top agents you’ve worked with in the last six months that would be a good fit here?”
2. “In that last transaction, how did Bob do? Would he be a good fit for our company?”
3. “Is there anyone I shouldn’t talk to—any red flags in the marketplace?”

By engaging agents consistently and requesting their generosity, they start to understand the importance of referrals—just like our clients do when we ask.

Agents aren’t conditioned to send referrals unless we ask. The best time to ask is right after you’ve helped them like after:

• Solving a problem
• H
...

I want to give you a strategy to start using every day in your office.

As you're walking through the halls and having conversations with your agents, follow those conversations up by asking, "How’s your pipeline?"

You’re communicating to your team that you care about their performance and want to help them reach the next level in their business.

By asking those magic words—"How’s your pipeline?"—you’re going to unlock a lot of meaningful conversations.

People will say things like:

• "I wish I was doing better"
• "I feel like I'm underperforming"
• "My last listing just sold"
• Or "I’ve only got one escrow left and I’m worried about paying the bills"

You’re going to hear a lot of that. And that’s exactly what you want.

Don’t avoid those conversations… go straight at them.

Because if you’re not having that talk, someone else is... and that someone is likely trying to recruit your agents by offering them a solution.

You are going to be that solution.

When an agent shares a challe...

If you're a brokerage owner or team leader, one thing you might be missing is building out your culture. And culture is incredibly important. One of my good friends told me years ago: "Culture beats strategy every day of the week."

Here's what that means:

You can have amazing technology, great coaching, strong leadership, solid systems, excellent staff, a great location, and competitive commission plans... but if people hate coming to work every day, none of that matters.

You need a culture where people are excited to show up, love the work experience, have work-life balance, and enjoy being part of the team. So the real question is: How do you build culture?

Culture doesn't happen by accident. It's intentional. You have to invest time, effort, and energy into building it.

One thing we do at our company is host social nights—sometimes during the day, but we call them social nights or events. We aim to plan one every 6 to 8 weeks. These events can be anything from go-karting, atten...

Let me tell you the number one mistake rookie recruiters make when they're first released into the field. They've just been given the job of becoming a recruiter, and they think, “Okay, I better get out there and start making things happen.”

So they go to a REALTOR event—could be an MLS meeting, a board meeting, maybe a training or education event—and they jump into full-on “mayor mode.” They’re shaking hands, kissing babies, acting like the VP, president, or CEO. They’re working the room.

And then they make the classic rookie error:

They start trying to recruit in public.

Professional, high-level recruiters never recruit in public. Ever.

We build relationships in public. But we always recruit in private.

Why? Because if you’re seen recruiting openly at a public event, people will run from you. They’ll think, “I need to get away from this person before anyone sees me talking to them.”

Nobody wants to be seen as the agent who’s being recruited, and you don’t want to be the recrui...

Hey guys, what do you think is the average age of a REALTOR in the United States?

For the 35 years I’ve been in the business, we’ve been hearing—and I was a part of it when I got in at 19—that a whole wave of 20-somethings and 30-somethings would enter the business. We kept hearing that REALTORS were getting younger.

Guess what? The average age of a REALTOR today is still 53 years old.

Yes, we do see some younger people getting in—I was one of them. I have young people working for me, and I’ve got young people working at our companies. But the reality is, the average age is still 53.

Why does this matter when it comes to recruiting and retention?

Because we’ve got to be mindful of how we build out our companies. We’re constantly told to design everything for Gen Z or even Gen Alpha—but that’s not true.

The vast majority of your agents are going to be Gen Xers like me. They’re going to be in their 50s. I’m 55. That’s your actual market.

When you're building out your office, your ...

If you're running a great office meeting, and hopefully you are as a brokerage owner or team leader, you should be hosting these at least once a week. These meetings should be inspirational, motivational, and educational. Something people actually get excited to attend.

If you're doing that, I want you to start thinking about using your meetings as a recruiting opportunity. If you have strong relationships with co-op agents at other firms, why not invite them to your office meeting? Worst case, they say no. But you could say something like:

"Hey, we love working with you. We'd love to have you join us and check out our company. Just come experience an office meeting. I know we haven't closed a deal in a while, but if you want to see what we're all about, we'd be happy to have you. By the way, we invite co-op agents all the time. You can even pitch one of your listings or a buyer need—no pressure, just a chance to connect."

Another approach is if you have a guest speaker - a lender, ...

If you're a brokerage owner or team leader, I’ve got a question for you:

What drives market share? When you look at a ranking report of your company or team against others in your market, what drives that market share higher?

If you want to go from 1% to 2% or from 5% to 10%, the number one driver is your ability to recruit experienced agents. Here’s why: As you recruit these agents, their production gets added to your team’s numbers, and your market share will rise.

But what we often forget is that when you pull an agent from Company A to your company, Company A's market share goes down, and yours goes up. So, you get a double whammy—Company A goes down by 1%, and your company goes up by 1%. That means the spread grows by 2%.

By focusing on recruiting experienced agents, you grow your market share that much faster.

If you want a path to start doing this and dive into recruiting experienced agents, head over to our website at eRealEstateCoach.com. Check out the new webinar I creat...

If you're a brokerage owner or team leader, what do you think agents are thinking about right now? Are they more nervous or less nervous than they were a year ago? Do you think they're feeling more emotional turmoil or anxiety than before? I would say yes, and the reason is the ongoing trade war, stock market turmoil, and what's happening with the overall economy.

There’s definitely some anxiety out there, and this is a great opportunity for us. I want you to see this as one of the best opportunities of the year for recruiting.

These agents want to be rescued.

They want leadership.

They want someone to tell them, "Hey, I’ve got a plan for you. We have a plan that can help you move from A to B, from B to C, and from C to D—helping you grow despite the market conditions. Our organization is not a market-driven company, but a strategy-driven company.”

If you can convey that passion and give examples of agents who joined you in the last 12 months and found success, your ability to rec...