Posted by Wendy Forsythe
1. Use competitors’ recruiting letters as part of your interview package.
Last week during the RISMedia Leadership Conference in NYC, I spoke on a panel about recruiting. A member of the audience asked the panel what she should do when her agents bring her copies of letters they are getting from other brokerages asking them to join their offices. Many of you have probably told agents to use those letters on their listing presentations as testimonials. Why not take that advice and use the letters as part of your presentation when interviewing potential new agents to join your office? Nothing demonstrates your ability to develop successful agents more clearly than the desire of your competitors to have your agents work at their offices!
2. Know your “days to first contract” stats.
We focus on market stats like average days on market and listing to sales ratio. Why not add a new stat to the mix? How about tracking how many days to the first written contract for your new agents in your company? Imagine speaking to a potential new agent who is interviewing at other offices and being able to share that, on average, new agents in your office write their first contract within 30 days of starting with your company. Encourage them to ask your competitors what their average number of days to first contract is. I bet they won’t know.
3. Trust your instincts.
The funnel of potential new agents getting into the business is not as robust as we experienced a few years ago. This means we need to be more choosy, not less. Trust your instincts. If the candidate doesn’t feel right to you, chances are they are not going to feel right to your current agents.
