One thing I hear a lot this time of year from brokerage owners and team leaders is, “I’m looking at my budget and cutting costs to increase profit.”

Here’s my message to you: that’s fine. It’s good to be a controller. You don’t want expenses out of control.

But you can’t cut your way to profitability. You just can’t.

What happens is you start cutting services, cutting staff, cutting tools, and cutting resources. If there’s some fat to cut, great. But most of the time, you end up cutting things agents actually like.

You get so focused on creating profit for yourself that you create a whirlpool effect—a downward spiral—for the entire company.

Agents see services being cut, team members gone, staffing reduced, and tools taken away, and they think, “I’m going somewhere else.”

You lose an agent, and your profitability gets worse. Then another agent leaves. Then another. Pretty soon you think you need to cut even more.

You can see where this goes:

You cut yourself right out of busine...

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...