Below is Part 2 of “Tips for Brokers”. Part 1 (viewable here) offered up some golden nuggets of brain food by covering Who to Recruit and How to Recruit Them. We pick up where we left off below by discussing the all-important interview process. The interview is a face-to-face interaction that can be handled several different ways to achieve successful results. Unfortunately, the process on the whole is oftentimes overlooked and/or poorly conducted. Read on to learn how to make the most out of your next series of interviews.
What to Do Once You’ve Recruited… Let’s set up a hypothetical: Broker Bill has fifteen prospects in his lobby. His end goal: narrow down his findings to three ‘possibles’. His problem: which way to go about interviewing. Should Bill conduct his interviews in the traditional manner, i.e. a mano-y-mano grilling of each prospect, ending only when they begin to break into tears? Or perhaps the Boiler Room route is best, a la Ben Affleck’s “Hitler youth rally”-like group interview that is less of an interview and more of a shock-and-awe presentation of your company’s new-hire philosophy. Whichever you choose, make sure you have multiple people sit in on the interview process. It is nigh impossible for an individual to make an objective decision; they will subliminally cater to like-minded prospects, unintentionally closing the door to the other potentials regardless of their merits. For this reason, include several people in the initial interview/questioning, or set up a tiered interview system that passes off prospects to a different ‘interrogator’ every time. This will ensure that potential hires will pass through selection based on merits, not likeability.
While in the process of assessing candidates, it’s important to remember to trust your gut. Resumes will only tell you so much, and oftentimes paint a greatly exaggerated picture of a prospect’s achievements and work habits. As interviewer it is your responsibility to break through the ‘front’ put on by most potential hires; the facade that has been cultivated and polished to depict a perfect employee, but may not necessarily mirror what is truly on the inside. The qualities that make up an ideal salesman (quick thinking, confidence, communicates well, works with others, you get the idea.) are indefinable but easily recognizable. And if not by you, then most definitely by the rest of your team. Since his potential hires will be working directly with the agents he already has in place, it may be a good idea for Broker Bill to embark on a sort of office-wide field trip. This would give his ‘Top 3’ a chance to interact with his existing team, which offers the team a chance to evaluate Bill’s prospects; a move that stealthily passes the decision-making onto the agents, since of course Bill is going to ask for their feedback…
One final note: Background Checks! (Click here to view a list of background-checking groups.) While it may seem like a formality, due diligence is of the utmost importance when it comes to background checks. A complete check includes reference checks, criminal history checks, and work history checks that produce clear job descriptions and requirements. Armed with this info, you’ll be able to lay down the hammer when potential hires begin to embellish their former positions.
I hope this post provides you with some ideas to implement when it comes time to hire some fresh meat. Hiring valuable agents will be an integral facet of the industry’s uphill struggle; if we keep populating the field with under-trained, incompetent bags of air, the market numbers will go nowhere but down. It should be a no-brainer at this point that a brokerage’s profitability is directly attributed to the style of agents they hire. For this reason, I encourage you to spend as much productive time as possible when screening new hires; your decision could put the market back on its feet.
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