A Special RECP Report: Recruiting in Today’s Marketplace

T

he main question brokers and managers ask in almost every consulting interview is: “How can I recruit better agents?” It’s the most important question, and there are several reasons why broker/owners and managers need to be savvy about smart hiring in today’s market…and the reasons almost always sift down to profitability.

Key #1 - Create a more exclusive criterion for hiring new agents

Loss of market share is not a concern to a business that focuses on a consistent program of intense customer satisfaction. Forward-thinking companies today embrace a healthy commitment to a newly defined extraordinary customer service model and work diligently to differentiate themselves from the competition. This fresh focus on intense customer service is quite different from the order-taking, nonstandardized services of the past. RECP recognizes this and we help by providing the best training possible in pre-license, post license designation and continuing education.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's something I'd like you to visualize: two very large tanks with a small tube running between them. The tank on the left represents all of the products and services available to your marketplace. The tank on the right represents the product/service needs of all of your customers and prospective customers. The small tube represents the conduit through which a need must be matched up with a service. That conduit is your salesperson.

The more competent the salesperson, the more service that will flow from one tank to the other. I hope this picture points you toward the absolute need to recruit, train and manage winning salespeople. This RECP mini-report is designed to help you identify some tools to build your business in difficult times.

Recruiting

First a review of some basics which all principal brokers know.

The key to effective recruiting is to start by developing a profile of the person you're looking for. The more specific your understanding of the various success factors involved, the more likely it is that you'll find the person you're looking for.

It's as simple as this: If a candidate isn't at least a 75 percent match with your profile, don't hire. Just remember that any required knowledge or experience a candidate doesn't already have will have to be "trained into" that person.

Recruiting has taken a new route, as evidenced from interviews with top new offices. Previously, managers in large franchise operations were commonly required to have a designated number of seats filled in an office to meet company allotments for budgets. Today we know that having a desk filled with a nonproductive agent costs the company too much money. Management must determine how much of the training dollar should be invested in their present group to encourage new attitudes and openness to innovative tools and systems before looking outside for a more amenable recruit. Progressive companies are asking different questions and are going about the process of recruitment in brand new, and surprisingly economic ways.

Key #2 - Use Web and e-mail tools to recruit

One great example is a cutting edge broker-owner from the Atlanta area. His commitment to his agents and company requires the use of a company intranet system to secure forms, announcements, hold office meetings, schedule event registration and access office memos on-line. Currently, they are constructing a recruiting website designed to help find top agents who want to be part of his exclusive team with a commitment to a new level of services. The company website profiles testimonial’s from present agents on the value of being with a winning team. Nothing sells better than a third party testimonial.

Being selective creates strong market differentiation and can translate to a healthy chunk of market share, increased revenues and affiliate support for zero based marketing, discounts and services.

The basic education a recruit gets from the RECP is designed to do much more than get them through the state exam…it lays the groundwork for a successful career in real estate through a good foundation of basic real estate concepts.

Key #3: Recruiting a better agent requires asking better questions

The interview process must include a different line of questioning. To help re-define the hiring process, brokers and managers may want to consider interview questions that go beyond the basics we have used for years that include:

1. Are you willing to comply with our company’s electronic policies and guidelines for websites, email, e-prospecting and referrals?

2. What software programs are you currently using or familiar with? What is your experience with effective use of tech tools, like digital cameras, Web tools, database management, agent productivity software, PDA’s, etc.

3. Do you have a current electronic database? What strategies are you currently using to maximize the use of this information? What are your plans to maximize it in your new sales position?

4. Are you certified in any e-Programs?

5. Do you have a website with a workstation that allows you to manage your incoming leads? Send electronic special reports? Track leads?

6. Do you use a mail manager to manage your email and electronic files?

7. What are you expecting that our company will do for you?

8. Are you familiar with office Intranet sites to secure forms, contracts, etc?

9. Will you be willing to attend “online” meetings?

10. Regarding the company’s coaching program: How receptive are you to onsite coaching and personal development?

The very nature of this line of questioning unequivocally answers the question: “What will tomorrow’s most profitable, cutting-edge real estate company look like?" It is important to determine if the new agent is willing to comply with your company’s electronic policies that cover website and email guidelines and marketing policies to minimize risk reduction and maximize traffic. When the “team” is cohesive in their efforts to utilize the tools the broker has dearly paid for, the synergy increases, the communication more seamless and the results, impressive.

Training

The key to effective training is to think in terms of three elements: product knowledge, operational knowledge and a selling process. Technical product knowledge -- the basics of real estate and finance -- is not enough. Today's salespeople have a greater need for applications of product knowledge, which addresses the issues of which home or financial service is best for a particular client.

Operational knowledge refers to the way in which you want your company to run: standards, policies and procedures. I hear far too many stories about salespeople who can sell, but they drive the people they work for crazy with their operational behavior. Teach your salespeople that selling technique involves organizational and communication skills as well as successful listing techniques. The RECP can help you in the quest to make certain your agents are current both in technical areas and the necessary information to prevent the dreaded legal confrontations from unhappy consumers.

Managing

It's also important to understand that every salesperson needs motivation and support. Support means that the organization makes it easy for the salesperson to sell. Training is part of this and so are the other elements of a comprehensive marketing plan.

But as much as anything else, providing support to a salesperson involves communicating to every other employee that everybody sells in your company. Everyone in your company is either a promise-maker or a promise-keeper. Salespeople in real estate are promise-makers and promise-keepers. Effective support means that the rest of the organization does its job to make sure that the salesperson’s promise of service and quality results are kept, allowing them to be promise-keepers.

Sales motivation is a combination of pushing and pulling. Think in terms of physics: Newton's First Law states that a body at rest will tend to stay at rest, while a body in motion will tend to stay in motion. Once a salesperson is pushed into motion, other forces must take over to pull the salesperson forward and provide means to overcome all of the factors that work against a hard-and-smart day's work every day.

Motivation

The most obvious form of "pulling" motivation is compensation. An effective compensation plan in real estate should have at least two components: an earned component (commissions) that ties compensation to performance; and an incentive component (bonus opportunities) to reward very specific behavior or accomplishment.

The other major component of "pulling" motivation is to establish action standards: how many prospecting calls, how many letters or post cards sent, how many listing presentations you expect each week. Follow-up call tracking is essential as well.

Many offices and their agents had a minimal, if any, organized structure to provide 24x7 service and communication during the buying or selling process. Follow-up and retention of that customer or client was rare and haphazard, thus abandoning the possibility of a long-term relationship that often ensured future business and referrals. Identifying the new professional who embraces a true sense of customer satisfaction and support is essential to the survival and flourishing of today’s brokerage services.

Sales management is probably one of the most complex elements of business management. The most effective sales managers recognize this complexity and break their overall challenge into smaller parts: recruiting effectively, training well and then providing motivation and support. You can do it that way, too.

The days of the prima donnas with a good sales record are over and professionals that have electronic competence are replacing the high maintenance agent. This new breed of professional is energized with a “can-do spirit” and is not constrained by the confines of traditional marketing and yesterday’s weak service model. They are willing to embrace new methods and means to ensure relevance to the transaction.

The new focus of providing a “good real estate experience” is more important to the consumer than ever before. Smart offices are catching on and are performing stronger due diligence in the selection process to represent their company. RECP is here to help you in all aspects of your agents careers…start to finish!

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