Summer Recruiting Realities for Brokers and Managers

By Real Estate Recruiting Speaker and Coach Judy LaDeur

Summer is a great time of year, right?  Time to kick back a little. Enjoy some rest and relaxation.  Re-charge the batteries.  There is one thing that brokers should NOT leave in a holding pattern during the summer months however, and that is the consistent process of staying in touch with their recruiting prospects. Otherwise – you have to hit RESET on your marketing and recruiting efforts each season, losing valuable time and opportunity.

I like to remind recruiters that this time of year it’s crucial to “stay comfortably in touch” with those they want to attract – as well as the agents they already have.  It’s an easy time to kick back, ease up on the marketing, and postpone “staying in touch” calls. But the months of June, July and August are two really important times to do the opposite, because, the truth is — the agents are doing the same thing!  That means for those who are taking a summer sabbatical – they will be starting all over again come fall. When agents do not stay in touch with their database, their pipeline starts to dry up.  Agents should have 10 clients and customers in their pipeline at all times. That means: current listings, buyers who are looking at homes, or listing appointments booked.  Agents who maintain a pipeline of at least 10 clients, will start off the fall season on the right track.  Use the month of July to spot check your agents’ activity. If they have 10 in the pipeline, great!  If it is less than 10, have a one-on-one consultation with them to see what it will take to bring that number to 10.

The same thing happens to brokers. Many brokers let their pipeline dry up in the summer. Who should be in YOUR pipeline?  Those you have interviewed, but not yet hired combined with those interviews which are set. Do you have 10 agents in your pipeline? If not, what will it take to build up your pipeline?

Summertime is also a terrific time to sharpen your skills and stock up on summer reading that will help you fuel your team and help with retention.  Fall is recruiting season which means, just as you are seeking out and talking to agents in your market, other brokers are going to be talking to YOUR agents, too.  Here are a few great book recommendations to consider:

• The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon is a great book about passion and positive energy.
• The Referral of a Lifetime by Tim Templeton talks about building a referral based business. Brokers should apply the same principles to building a referral based recruiting system.
• Billion Dollar Agent by Steve Kantor studies the common traits of agents who have sold a billion dollars in real estate. It has some great insights for brokers on what their agents should do to build their business.

While lots of agents are on “family time mode” this time of year — there are lots of things brokers can be doing to secure their top of mind spot when agents are back in work mode.

Activities brokers can do to position themselves for a strong finish to the year are:

• Go back and see who you interviewed, and then put a reminder on their calendar to call them mid-August to get back together.
• Go back 7 years and make a list of everyone who left your office. If they are good agents, it’s a great time to call and invite them to come back. Tell them that they are missed.
• Set up your marketing (if you haven’t already) to go out via Constant Contact, iContact, or whatever your email platform might be.  These systems allow you to allow you to see who is opening your emails and track results.
• A very basic thing is to keep all your data in a contact management program. I am still surprised how many brokers do not have their info set up in an organized format. If it’s not set up, use this time to get organized.
• Our weekly emails give brokers activities each week for recruiting and retention, so just sending your emails and implementing those ideas each week will keep you positioned.

Mindsets are important too.  For a lot of recruiters – forming the right habits, such as time blocking and the ability to pick up the phone without fear are important.  What can you be doing right now to fuel your skill sets?  Networking with other successful recruiters is a great way to keep the right mind set, and pick up new ideas. Recruiters are a team of ONE in many companies. They are not an agent, and they are not a manager. This makes it tough for recruiters to have someone they can talk to, bounce ideas off, etc. I coach many full time recruiters and they are always saying how great it is to have someone to talk to about their recruiting systems/objections/solutions.  As a broker, be aware of their need to connect with other like-minded recruiters. As a recruiter, search out other successful recruiters. They are always participating in our recruiting blitz, and we have one scheduled to start in a few weeks.

Having the right systems and strategies in place year-round takes some of the guess-work out of your success.  We are happy to be a resource to help you stay in touch month-after-month, give you the scripts and dialogues you need to close even the savviest of agents to join your team.  Want to learn more about how to become a more profitable recruiter?  Check out our Membership Benefits and enroll today.   

Take advantage of our special offer!  Make any Profitable Recruiter Pro Membership part of your business plan, and take 35% off with the promo code PLAN35 — PLUS, have the ability to add up to 10 managers or admins to your account at no extra cost!  That’s 35% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training, more than 30 webinars on demand, scripts, letters, social media tools and more!  What are you waiting for? Register today!