The real estate industry is saturated and competitive. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, over 106,500 brokerages exist in the United States. Since these realty agencies seek more clients and sky-high profits, they go the extra mile to recruit top-tier real estate agents who can fulfill their goals with relative ease.
The best real estate agents are always ready to build healthy relationships, close deals, and maintain an extensive network of satisfied clients. A win for brokerages who can recruit them.
If you'd like to attract realtors to your team or independent brokerage, you'd realize that the competition for the services of excellent agents is at an all-time high.
Convincing high-performing agents who receive multiple incentivizing offers daily to join your realty venture is almost impossible. But guess what? You can recruit the best real estate agents by taking the proper steps.
This guide will run you through what real estate agents want, where to find the best realtors, and top real estate recruitment ideas bound to work the trick in 2023 and beyond.
Ready to know more about real estate recruitment? Let's get started!
How to Know What Good Agents Want
Before recruiting great agents, you've got to find out what's important to them. For some, it could be a favorable work balance. But for others, it might revolve around a robust commission split.
To uncover the precise needs of any real estate agent, execute these activities:
1. Meet and Ask Them
You can find out what a real estate agent wants from your brokerage by asking them. Find top real estate agents in your niche or area and seek context on what would attract them to a new employer.
By asking questions, you'll know where to focus your real estate recruitment efforts and get perspective on what benefits agents consider before joining any team or brokerage.
2. Don't Make It All About Money
Recruiting real estate agents can be daunting when starting your agency or brokerage. You might not be financially buoyant to compete with well-established brokerages for top-notch agents.
But that shouldn't deter you. If you don't have the financial incentives to attract realtors, consider offering other attractive benefits (besides money) that could prompt agents to join your company.
For instance, you could offer flexible working arrangements to experienced agents while granting younger agents development and training opportunities.
You could also offer other benefits, such as:
- Lengthy vacations
- Insurance plans (life, dental, and healthcare insurance)
- Modernized tools
- Hybrid working scheme (a model that simultaneously supports on-site and remote work)
3. Understand the Offerings of Other Brokerages
The most reputable brokerage firms are constantly recruiting real estate agents who are either passive or active job-seekers. As such, you'll need pitching and negotiating skills to nurture ideal prospects.
Most passive job-seekers switch brokerages for more money. That said, agents who aren't searching for a new firm are possibly content and happy, but would welcome a chance to earn more.
However, most real estate agents settle for a new firm for better work-life balance or opportunities. So, during real estate recruitment, offer prospects better ways to develop their skills and increase their income. When promised the opportunity to grow beyond their wildest imaginations, realtors would be excited to join your team or brokerage.
Where to Find the Best Real Estate Agents
Posting recruitment ads online generates numerous applications — but they're often not from the suitable agents you're looking to recruit. If you're not sure how to recruit real estate agents, consider some of these alternatives:
Use Social Media Platforms
Social media is an excellent way to extend a real estate firm's reach beyond word of mouth or a website. It's also beneficial for real estate broker recruitment.
Publish posts to celebrate your existing agents on your brokerage's social media accounts, showing you care about them.
But it doesn't end here:
Create a marketing campaign to attract more real estate professionals to your page. It could include the latest policy changes for new agents or a "how-to" guide to becoming a successful real estate broker.
When you're ready to recruit, post a personal message and include an application link for anyone interested on your socials. You'll receive cover letters from top-tier realtors if you properly implement the previous-mentioned points.
Attend Industry Events
Local real estate associations often hold professional development, networking, and lobbying events. Attending related real estate industry events is an excellent opportunity to explore when looking for potential agents.
For instance, the Chicago Association of Realtors hosts various events each year. Some are informal and fun, while others are a tad professional. Although you'll have the leeway to facilitate direct conversations at casual outings, consider every event a perfect opportunity to meet and discuss with other real estate agents.
Use SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an effective tool for drawing interest from potential agents and realtors looking for job vacancies online.
Identify the keywords job-seeking real estate agents will likely search for and produce a blog post optimized around these terms. If you do it correctly, your content will rank high on search engine results and generate interest.
This method requires technical skills and tools. As such, you'll be better off engaging the services of a professional digital marketing agency like Ardor SEO.
Offer Referral Bonuses
Personal relationships are a great way to succeed in real estate realtor recruiting, and using other agents' networks further boosts your chances.
Offer bonuses for staff and real estate agents who refer prospective recruits. You can also extend this opportunity to anyone in your local network.
Real Estate Agent Recruiting Ideas: 8 Must-Try Techniques for 2023
Finding a real estate agent is easy, as many realtor exist. However, every recruiter wants the best talents with the right mindset and commitment to grow their company.
But the best realtors aren't fazed by surface-level bonuses and insurance plans. You must do something extra that spurs them to move to your realty agency.
Do you want your real estate team or brokerage to feature top-notch realtors? If yes, consider embracing these recruitment ideas:
1. Offer Simple Transaction Methods
Top-producing agents like to use simple tools that don't require long hours to learn, maintain, or use. Whether it's your firm's form tools, intranet system, or broker transaction software, top-tier realtors want to facilitate realty-themed deals as quickly as possible. As such, it'll be best to integrate tools that are seamless and don't feature multiple working parts.
Imagine requesting a top agent in your area to join your real estate team, giving up the workflows and tools that made them successful, and learning the challenging inner workings of your agency's software programs. They'll most likely not join your team due to the complexities of utilized software.
But the reverse is the case when you prove to them that the tools accompanying operations in your company are seamless to understand and use for real-time transactions.
2. Provide Real-time Access to Income Statements
At the end of each year, brokerages rush to prepare for tax season. Agents also feel similar pressure and will want their financial details as quickly as possible.
Consider providing your agents automated financial reports hosting information on the net and gross income associated with their generated commissions.
Furthermore, let new prospects know they can access all their financial details in real time. Streamlining the income statement collection process saves time and is an excellent way to attract agents who seek a consistent and clear image of their earnings.
3. Support Your Agents' Goals
Several top talents are ambitious and are constantly looking toward a better future. They believe they won't remain agents throughout their careers and will eventually build their real estate team or brokerage.
Unfortunately, this can result in an unhealthy relationship between recruiting brokerages and ambitious real estate agents. As such, agents might hold leads close and passively search for the next best opportunity.
To develop a healthy working environment, support every existing agent and their goals. You can help them formulate highly-effective teams to improve your brokerage's results.
Like any worker, your agents might eventually leave, but your genuine interest in supporting their success will ensure you rarely lack prospects.
Additionally, new and talented agents are often eager to join a brokerage that supports them and their goals.
4. Make Insightful Production Reports Readily Available
Although each top agent has a unique working style, they all have one thing in common — the need for insightful and consistent product data.
Offer real estate agents access to their production numbers to help them improve deals that require attention or are missing critical documents.
Also, allow real estate agents to quickly locate transaction details or client contacts from their previous deals. Doing this assures new agents that they won't encounter "back and forths" with a support team or visit the office whenever they need vital data on previous transactions.
5. Offer Coaching Opportunities to Your Real Estate Agents
Coaching is an effective real estate brokerage recruiting strategy. Although good coaching rarely comes cheap, offer real estate agents within your agency consistent mentoring opportunities.
Real estate coaches can take the form of realtor professionals or distinct companies. By utilizing either route for agents within your company, they'll understand the inner workings of the real estate industry and how they can create a stellar reputation and amass clients.
When agents know you're doing all you can to develop their careers, they'll put their best foot forward. The result? Increased ROI and clientele in the saturated real estate market.
6. Offer Incentivizing Commission Plans
The best way to recruit real estate agents looking for ways to boost their income is to offer more incentivized commission plans. For instance, top brokerages provide different splits to their estate agents based on their lead source.
Another strategy (if you've got a flat fee or split structure) is to set a commission cap that'll see an agent earn the total commission or waive a preset fee when reached.
This tactic will work at any top-producing real estate team as you can offer 100% commissions to the team lead while fixing other agents on a plan that splits commissions with the brokerage.
7. Recognize and Reward Your Agents' Wins
Regularly recognizing your agents' efforts and wins is another excellent way to form a solid company culture where top talent and new agents wish to work.
Consider annual events to award top producers, rewards for productivity, and shout-outs on your social media platforms.
However, recognition shouldn't hover around high-performing agents alone. Extend the praises to brand new talents raising the bar and attracting clients in record time or those going the extra mile to get better.
You can also change the status of top-producing agents by giving them a leadership position, granting them access to learning opportunities, or asking them to coach and direct new agents.
8. Consistently Invest in Your Firm's Brand
Recruiting real estate agents is much easier when you're dominating the market and not just challenging other competitors. Of course, both routes have benefits, but being an authority or market leader with good brand recognition is more advantageous. Prospective agents will quickly recognize your company logo, brand, and name, giving them a brief insight into your agency's unique value proposition.
But how can you do this? Well, diverse mediums exist.
Consider investments in social media marketing, paid ad campaigns, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your recruitment strategy. Besides generating new clients, these efforts will see your company attract the attention of top-producing agents within the area.
Handling Objections During Real Estate Recruitment: All You Need to Know
No ultimate real estate agent recruiting guide would be considered complete without tackling the common objections encountered during recruitment and appropriate responses. Remember, recruitment is a long-term endeavor. As such, don't be too assertive to avoid burning relationships.
Here are some common objections you'll encounter during the realtor recruiting process and fitting answers to each:
Objection 1: I'm Not Sure I Can Succeed Without the Leads Provided By My Broker
Answer: What fraction of your leads come from the broker? What's your split on the leads? If I show you how to earn more without waiting for prospects from your broker, would you consider working with us?
Objection 2: I'm Not Looking to Switch at the Moment
Answer: As a busy real estate agent, there's no perfect time to make the right move. Fortunately, we can help ease your transition process. We're ready to implement your new plans as soon as you move. Don't worry about onboarding; we'll be with you every step of the way!
Objection 3: I Think I'd Sell More Properties If I Worked With a More Popular Company
Answer: According to NAR statistics, consumers only choose a real estate agent due to their affiliations with a particular company 5% of the time. Hence, if I can show you how to boost your real estate business by 25%, would you be comfortable joining an unpopular company with multiple growth indicators?
Objection 4: I'm Loyal to My Current Broker
Answer: We commend your loyalty, which is why we're interested in your services. If you were enjoying the required support, would we even be discussing right now?
Parting Shot
Recruiting real estate agents is essential to the success of all real estate brokerages. But attracting great real estate agents can be challenging.
Fortunately, we've done all the dirty work for you by unearthing what realtors want and real estate agent recruitment ideas to adopt and land high-performing realtors.
By utilizing these tips on how to recruit agents for real estate, you'll be able to land the best within your agency's target area and experience exponential growth in record time!
Whether you're a new or established brokerage, you need highly-effective marketing strategies to attract the best agents interested in producing maximum results. One way to do so is by revamping your SEO to target keywords utilized by job-seeking realtors.
FAQs
Some companies specialize in real estate recruiting. Although they'll help you find suitable agents, real estate agent recruiter services usually come at a steep cost.
The easiest way to uncover a top-tier agent is by having excellent agents in your firm. Excellence recognizes excellence. As such, you can use their network to find realtors with similar skill sets.
