2006 was a tough year for many markets throughout the country. Unfortunately, many brokers forgot the most important rule in an adjusting market. You don’t cut services, marketing support and training in an adjusting market, you increase services and support.
In just the first two months of 2007, I have seen an incredible number of good agents make a move. The #1 reason that agents are moving right now, is that their companies panicked in last year’s market and cut the services and support that the agents need more than ever. Where are these agents going? To the broker who has a relationship with those agents, combined with coaching, mentoring, marketing support and lead generation systems.
Are you talking to 15-25 agents per week? What are your recruiting goals for 2007? Are you performing the activities that will put you on track to hit your recruiting goals? Or, like so many brokers, when you get to the end of this year, will you have the same number of associates that you started with? Will your market share for 2007 be greater than it was for 2006? Are you recruiting for Profit or Survival?
Brokers who recruit for survival are just trying to replace the agents that they lost at the beginning of the year. Brokers who are recruiting for profit have solid systems in place to recruit as well as retain the best agents. There has been a lot of agent movement in the past 4 months, and many of the agents who have changed offices are ten, twenty, and thirty million dollar producers. In fact, some of the top teams in the country have been changing offices over the past few months. Why? In an adjusting market the best agents always do better, while the struggling ones drop out of the business. The best ones do better because they are smart and look for the best company to support their way of doing business in a market that others flounder in.
The year is just beginning, but I predict that this will be one of the best years for recruiting that we have seen in a long time, but you must be positioned when the time is right and you have to keep recruiting and retention a priority every day.
Another good thing to do it to analyze your activity for 2006. Ask yourself these questions:
- Was the production of the agents that I have hired in 2006 greater than the production of the agents that I lost if 2006?
- Were the new agents that I hired in 2006 productive within the first 30 days of their career, and did they meet the minimum production requirements for their first year?
- Was my net growth for the year, at least 50% of my recruiting goal? (For example, you started with 40 agents with a goal to hire 12 for the year. Did you complete the year with at least 46?)
- Is my market position stronger this year, than last year the same time?
If you answered yes to each of the questions, then congratulations, you are recruiting for profit. If not, you might be recruiting for survival. Recruiting for survival is the art of working very hard… all year long, only to end the year where you began! Same number of agents, and same market position, or in some cases, less agents and less market share. Recruiting for survival can be very tiring, and very frustrating.
Here are some tips that can help you recruit for profit:
- Whenever you hire new associates, make a commitment to only hire full time agents.
- When you hire experienced agents, hire only those agents who are currently producing at least 1.5 million in production, or at a level equal to that of the average
- Whenever an agent leaves your firm, do not simply replace the agent, but replace that agent with an agent or agents that equal the production of the agent you are losing. For example: If you lose an 8 million dollar producer, you need to replace that agent with another 8 million dollar producer, 2 four millions dollar producers or 4 two million dollar producers.
What can you do to attract the agents you want? Ask your agents to help you identify the strengths of your firm. At your next meeting, ask each agent to tell you why they joined your firm and why they stay with your firm. These systems are the reasons others should want to join as well. Promote these systems through your marketing, and commit at least 2 hours per week to following up with phone calls to secure appointments.
The best way to recruit for profit is to involve your agents in your recruiting efforts. Most will help because they want to, but it is always nice to recognize their efforts. If they give you the name of an agent, write them a short note expressing your gratitude for helping to identify a perspective recruit. If the agent comes in for an interview, send them a note with a gift certificate for lunch. If you hire the agent, give them something that is special to that agent--tickets to a sporting event, theater, dinner for two at a nice restaurant.
One of my clients decided to have a quarterly get together at their home for all the new recruits, their spouse or a date, and the agent who referred the recruit, with their spouse or date. The manager or recruiter who hired that person was also there. Their agents loved the idea and looked forward to the next event.
Recognizing the efforts of your agents has a two-fold effect. If your agents are happy, they will not leave. The better your retention, the less you have to recruit. The general rule of thumb is that 50% of the agents that you bring on each year should be as a result of one your agents recommending them.
