Hands down, one of the biggest obstacles brokers have to kicking off their recruiting efforts is building the list.  It’s a little funny, because most of these same brokers would be first in line to teach their AGENTS the importance of building THEIR list – their farming/prospecting pipeline.  In a time where competition is high, and recruiting isn’t a ‘should do’ but a ‘MUST do’ – it’s time for all brokers to ‘walk the same walk’ that they encourage their agents to walk.  In other words – build your list.

Here are three great places to start:

1. Competitors:  List ten companies in your market that are at an equal or just below market share level comparatively to your office and identify the 5-10 agents you would most like to recruit from each and put them into your database.  Jot down any facts you know of these agents, the more information you have on the front end – the easier it is to identify their hot buttons during your marketing and eventually, in your interview.
2. Your Agents:  Some brokers find this a little tricky, but here’s a great approach for making that conversation easier. Here’s a sample dialogue for you:  “Hey Bill, I’d love for you to do me a favor.  Take out two of your business cards.  Now flip the first one over and write co-broke on the top for me.  Please share the name of an agent who you really had a great co-broke experience with in the last 90 days.   Awesome – now, flip the other card over and write One Desk on the top.  Now if you don’t mind share  the name of the person who if we ONLY had room for ONE AGENT in our market who you’d think would be a great fit for our office and you’d be proud to be associated with – who would that be?”  Then you can quickly discern who the top agent fits would be by comparing all the cards from your agents. Follow up with these agents is a very ‘warm’ recruiting call.  “Hi (name) – I asked my agents recently to let me know, if we only had ONE desk – who their top choice in the market would be to fill it.  Your name came up 7 times! I’m very impressed.  I’d love to make a little time for us to get to know each other better and discover how we might be able to make that happen!”  You won’t get all of them right away – but put those in your database as well – with an identifier as “co-broke” or “one desk” and stay in touch!
3. Your local board:  The agents most likely to make a move fall into the 1-7 year category.  We’ve shared strategies and dialogues before for recruiting those 12-24 month agents that usually a great prospect.  Take a look at the top 200 agents in your market and find some common denominators that would make them a good fit for your company.  A good rule of thumb is for every 100 agents on your prospecting list…10 should be top producers, 20-30 new agents, and everyone else should fall into that mid-range producer level.  The last group will have the most turnover and highest potential for recruiting.  Put them all in your database with identifiers for the level they are at and their time in business – as well as any other information you can find.

Now, start marketing!  Connect with them all via your weekly eNewsletter.  Next segment your top hit list (A group) and send lumpy letters to these top 25 or so per month.  Stay in touch, follow up, and be present in the market place.  Recruiting is all about POSITIONING yourself to be the broker agents WANT to call when they are ready to make a move!

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