Hey guys, if you’re a brokerage owner or team leader, one thing we tend to do this time of year is say, “Okay, what are our production goals for 2026?”

And you should do this. You should know what you’re shooting for in terms of Gross Commission Income (GCI) and closed volume.

But one thing we often forget is what’s actually going to produce those goals—those transactions closed, that volume closed, that GCI. What is it going to take to create that?

Often, we get lost in this idea that all we need to do is motivate our current crew enough for them to create the production goals we’ve set for the team or the company.

But the reality is, that almost never works.

As someone who coaches brokerage owners, franchises, and team leaders across the country at the highest levels, I can tell you that almost never works.

Why?

Because what’s going to create higher production and higher GCI isn’t motivating your current team to produce more. Now, we want to do that—that’s absolutely a goal.

As a brokerage owner or team leader, one thing we often do—and we see agents do this a lot—is run into what’s called “The Einstein Problem.”

The Einstein Problem is this: we’re introduced to a new idea or concept, and we say, “You know what? I’ve heard that before. I’ve tried that before. It didn’t work for me, so I’m not going to do it again.” We stop listening to that idea, concept, tool, technique, or strategy. We say it doesn’t work in our market.

We’ve all heard agents do this, and we’ve done it ourselves. Let’s be honest.

One of the areas we commonly say this about is recruiting.

We’ll say, “I’ve tried recruiting. It doesn’t work in my market. I’ve tried going after top agents. They never come.”

Or, “I’ve tried experienced agent recruiting. I’ve emailed, texted, called, taken them to lunch, and it just doesn’t go anywhere, so I’m going to stop.”

But here’s The Einstein Problem behind that attitude—and this is true for your agents with lead generation as well.

I want you to...

What do you think agents say is the number one consideration when choosing a real estate brokerage? I bet the default for many of you would be the commission plan. Most assume they’re always going to go right to the commission plan.

What if I told you that’s not true? According to a brand new study of 600 agents, they found that the number one thing driving the conversation about making a switch was technology—who is leading in technology.

So here’s a question for you: what is your tech stack as a real estate brokerage owner or team leader? Does your tech stack put you on a parity basis with the major players in your market, or are you inferior? That’s number one.

And then, do you have some advantages? Do you have things you’re doing a little bit differently?

Maybe you’re starting to use some AI in your business. Maybe you’ve created some lead-flow opportunities. Maybe you’ve created playbooks and plugged technology into them to make that technology really work for your agents.

So...

Why do agents stay at a company rather than leave and go somewhere else? Forty-three percent of agents report the number one reason they're loyal to their current company is not their compensation plan. In fact, only 13% rate their compensation plan as the number one reason they're staying.

Forty-three percent rate the culture at the company—the culture, the vision, and the leadership of the company they're working at—as the number one factor for sticking around and staying loyal. So think about that from your perspective as a brokerage owner or team leader.

What’s your culture like when somebody comes in? How do they feel about working in your environment or office space? Does it feel like a family? Does it feel like you’ve got esprit de corps, you're having fun, you're energized? Is it a fun place to be with a shared vision of what you're trying to build? Or do you not have that?

If you don't have that, you're at risk of losing people to other firms that have a better vision, bett...

Hey guys, as a brokerage owner or team leader, with the holiday season coming up, I want to encourage you to think about what your company is doing to give back to the community.

Giving back has so many benefits. It’s a powerful team-building and retention tool. It also shows potential recruits that your company isn’t just about profits—you genuinely care about people and the community. And for buyers and sellers in the market, it demonstrates that you’re hyper-local focused and committed to giving back regularly.

Here’s what I encourage you to do: pick a charity the whole team can get behind. It doesn’t have to be housing-related.

One year, we did a project giving kids shoes during the winter. Many kids were going to school with holes in their shoes, and their feet were getting wet. Another year, we focused on coats for kids.

Every year, we put together a charitable event during Christmas. We’ll do Thanksgiving-style turkeys and then a big Christmas dinner, along with toys for kid...

Brokerage owners and team leaders, I want you to start watching for something, and I want you to be opportunistic. That might sound negative, but it’s not.

As an office leader, you have a duty to yourself, your business, your family, and your colleagues. That duty is to recruit consistently. One of the easiest ways to do that is to be opportunistic in a positive way.

What does that mean? Look for trigger events.

Trigger events in your community could be:

• An office leadership change at XYZ Company
• A brand change
• A staffing shakeup
• A technology challenge

I hear about these things all the time, and when they happen, they give me a reason to engage with that company.

For example, I might ask in my office, “Do you know anyone who works at XYZ? They’re having some changes over there. I’d like to reach out.”

Then I’ll make the call:

“Hey, I understand there’s been some changes at your company. I’ve always been impressed with your work. You’re probably very happy where you are—a...

People often ask me, “Jim, what’s the secret to recruiting?”

Here it is: spend one hour a day recruiting—just like your agents are expected to spend one hour a day lead generating. We tell agents to prospect daily; as a brokerage owner or team leader, you need to do the same thing with recruiting.

I call this the “Five by Five” system. It’s a proven strategy we use in our company and with our brokerage coaching students across the country to drive performance and success.

Here’s how it works. Within that one hour of recruiting, you commit to:

• Making 5 calls
• Sending 5 texts
• Sending 5 video texts
• Writing 5 personal notes
• Doing 5 social media touches

If you hold yourself to that standard, you’ll start unlocking new opportunities.

The next question is: what do you say? What should you be texting, saying on calls, writing in notes, or posting on social media?

The key is natural, authentic conversations that resonate. Great recruiting isn’t about pushing for an appointment eve...

As a recruiting coach, one of the things I hear most often is, “Jim, I’d love to recruit experienced agents every day like you recommend, but I just don’t have the time. My schedule is already stretched too thin.”

I get it. As brokerage owners and team leaders, we’re all busy. But here’s the truth: We can’t control time. If we could add two hours to the day, that’d be great. But since we can’t, the real focus has to be on self-management, not time management.

And self-management comes down to priority management.

The number one priority for every brokerage owner in America should be recruiting experienced agents every single day. Until you gain control of that, your company won’t grow.

Here’s the magic of self-management: if you want to start doing something important—like dedicating one hour a day to recruiting—that means you have to stop doing something else.

So the real question is: what are you willing to stop doing that isn’t leading to results?

Recruiting daily is the singl...

As a brokerage owner and team leader, I have a question for you: when’s the last time you fired someone?

That’s a big one, isn’t it? Have you ever actually fired someone, or do they just leave on their own? A lot of brokerage owners and team leaders don’t have the strength to say, “This person isn’t working here anymore.” But avoiding that creates roadblocks for recruiting.

Sometimes one agent creates what I call the “bad apple syndrome.” They’re so difficult—dramatic, gossipy, toxic—that potential recruits won’t join your company because they don’t want to work with them.

Think about your roster right now. Maybe everyone is fantastic. But maybe not. Maybe you’ve got someone with barnacles—someone others don’t want to work with.

And here’s another question: how many people on your roster haven’t closed a deal in the last year? You might have five, six, eight, even ten agents producing nothing. Why are they still on your roster? They’re dragging down your company’s production number...

If I asked you—as a brokerage owner or team leader—what are your top five differentiation points, could you answer clearly?

What makes your company different from every other company in the marketplace? In other words, what’s your value proposition?

If you can’t answer that, no one else in your market can either.

Some of you might rush to say, “Well, we have the lowest commission plan in the market.” But that’s a terrible value proposition.

If a commission plan were all it took to recruit agents, then the brokerage with the lowest commission would have the most agents. But that’s rarely true.

Why?

Because commission plans are not the single greatest motivator for agents.

The #1 motivator for an agent to join your office is this: Will you help them grow their transaction count?

If your value proposition doesn’t clearly communicate how you’ll help agents do more deals, you’re going to lose—every single day—to competitors who can.

So here’s my challenge to you:

Take some time to...