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Who is your ideal recruit? Maybe it’s someone who’s always eager to learn new things, an agent who diligently follows the contract rules, or an agent with a great social game who enjoys a good chili cook-off at the office.
As a broker, you have to carefully consider who you want to recruit so you can fill the gaps and opportunities at your brokerage to help it grow, said Bernice Ross, CEO and president of RealEstateCoach.com and BrokerageUP! Inc., at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Boston on Sunday.
What are some of those potential gaps? Ross suggests looking at all of your current agents’ average sales price. If you have a cluster of agents who have average sales in the $200,000s, but there’s a gap between the $300,000 and $500,000 price points, either help some of your current agents move into that bracket, or recruit to fill that gap. Or, maybe you have other types of market gaps you need to fill with new recruits, such as people who speak different languages or those who have experience selling in a location where you’d like to expand your business, Ross said.
Here are four more tips from Ross for finding the right agents for your brand.
1. Create a recruiting proposition for your company. Make a list of every free tool and service you offer agents at your brokerage.
2. Conduct a SWOT analysis to help identify other growth opportunities.
- Strengths: What do you do better than your competition?
- Weaknesses: What does your competition do better?
- Opportunities: What are factors you can’t control that benefit you?
- Threats: What are factors you can’t control that benefit your competitors?
3. Be a better interviewer. This starts with a solid, straightforward handshake. Opt for a roundtable instead of sitting behind the desk. Avoid interrupting and never criticize any person or business, Ross said. Have all candidates complete a job application and check references. Conduct more than one interview—because “anyone can bring their ‘A’ game once,” Ross said. Here are a few sample interview questions:
- Tell me about your current production including what’s working and where you could use some help.
- If I were to refer a listing lead to you, how would you market it?
- One of our agents had a problem in a transaction with XYZ. How would you have handled it?
- One of your listings is about to expire. What will you do to make sure your clients relist with you?
4. Use a personality assessment, such as DiSC. Find out what behavioral style would be the best fit for your office. The four primary behavioral styles in the DiSC assessment are:
- Dominance “D”: These are people who can get things done.
- Influencing “I”: A people person, who likes to talk and easily makes connections.
- Steadiness “S”: These recruits are dependable and have habits and systems, but are slow to trust or change. (An I-S is a teacher-type person.)
- Steadiness “S”: Compliance people who are great at contracts, technology, and detailed work. (I-S-C people are great agents and admins, Ross said.)
