Liz Boone’s Training & Recruiting Blog

Is it my imagination - OR - are we seeing fewer and fewer open houses being held open in the current market? Is this because there are more foreclosure properties that ever before with many of them not having utilities turned on? Is is because we have fewer new agents working in local markets while many of the experienced agents have turned their focus to prospecting referral leads from their existing and previous client base?

Whatever the reason . . . many agents are missing out of one of the easiest, cheapest, and more effective activities that can start or restart their real estate careers.  Everyone touts the current market as a strong buyer’s market with many tremendous buying opportunities.  If so, agents should be seeking out open houses to sit and create the perfect setting for attracting those buyers that are really out there looking for existing bargains.  Perhaps two or more agents work out a plan to sit multiple properties open in the same neighborhood to create even more activity and maybe even a friendly contest to see who can draw the most prospects.  What a way to add buyers to your existing sphere of influence and build a good database of prospects for now and for the future.

Of course we always hear agents tell us that they have tried doing open houses and they don’t work!  We need to challenge these agents to look hard at how they are preparing for the open house.  Are they canvassing the neighborhood prior to the Open House event?  Have they sent post cards to the neighbors to invite them to the open house? Have the previewed and studied the neighborhood to ensure that they are so knowledgeable as to be the “expert” in that area?  Do they follow-up with note cards or emails to those who attended?  If so, the open house will be much more than just coming into contact with prospective buyers; it will result in more buyer-controlled sales than would otherwise occur.

This is exactly what we mean when we talk about “getting back to basics”!  So have you agents spend a few dollars on open house signs - OR - dust off the ones they have not used in quite a while, and take on the day!  Please let me know what your office is doing with open houses in this market.  Also consider sharing with us some good results or unique situation that led to an unlikely sale.

Liz Boone

The past couple of blogs have dealt with the need for agents to be grounded in the basic of the real estate business so that their prospecting and target marketing activities become ingrained habits tied to realistic goals.  Are you making the same commitment and effort in your own recruiting activities? Do you schedule your recruiting activities in your calendar each week as your first priority?  In Stephen Covey’s terminology, is recruiting in your weekly goal planning one of those “big rock” activities that enjoys the priority  it deserves?

Again we expect our agents to plan each week with prospecting activityies that lead to a targeted number of appointments each day in order to achieve their weekly, monthly, and annual production goals.  Are you doing likewise?  Are you setting the example in your recruiting efforts that inspire your agents to emulate your efforts in their real estate prospecting?  If not - why not?  Are you following the coop side of your closed sales and asking your agents for good referrals from coop agents they have worked with in those transactions?  Don’t we encourage our own agents to always ask for referrals from their clients?  Of course we do!  Then why do so many of us fail to do exactly the same thing when we are trying to reach out to the best agents that may be working for our competition?

I realize that most real estate recruiters are placing an emphasis, if not a premium, on seasoned agent recruiting in the current market.  In fact, nearly 70% of agents recruited in this market are seasoned agents working for the competition.  Therefore it is even more critical to make contact and then follow-up, follow-up, follow-up until that agent is ready to make a change.  Doesn’t that sound a whole lot like a farming campaign?  Of course it does!  So the answer to effective recruiting is as simple as getting back to the basics in exactly the same manner as we have suggested for our agents.

Then why don’t we do that? What is getting in the way?  It’s just a matter of time management and setting priorities so that we remain focused on long term, high priority results.  It’s fighting the temptation to always get caught up in the day to day emergencies, soap operas, and fire drills that distract all of us from remaining focused on the mission.  We all take our eye off the ball and easily fall into this trap!  It is simply too easy to chase numerous B and C priorities that are in our face rather than carving out the time to accomplish those A priority or “Big Rock” items that will advance our commitment to recruiting, retention, and education.

This is a great time of year to take stock and re-evaluate our goals, priorities, and achievements.  It is the perfect time to tweak those goals and set the tone for the remainder of 2008.  There is plenty of time to take charge of our recruiting and production goals to make this year the most successful year it can possibly be.  So let’s get focused and get back to the basics of recruiting for the remainder of this year.

Liz Boone

In my last blog we discussed how the current market conditions require agents, both newer and experienced, to really know their markets and return to real estate basics like never before.  This may require brokers to conduct sales meetings, seminars, or classes that discuss the current market realities with their agents. 

For example, what percentage of your local market sales are made up of bank owned foreclosure properties and/or short sales?  What are the current inventory levels and how long are they staying on the market?  What is your company’s market share and how does it impact your agents on the listing sold side as well as the buyer controlled sale side in your market?  Do they truly understand and believe that each and every market provides fabulous opportunities for the agent willing to adapt his/her skills to that market?

We keep hearing the expression, “It’s time to get back to the basics”.  But what does that really mean?  Let’s start with “knowing the inventory”!  How many of our agents really KNOW the inventory in the areas that they work?  I would suggest that if an agent is holding an open house in a neighborhood, that he/she should be able to field most questions without having to say, “That’s a good question, I’ll look that up and get back to you.”  Hopefully the agent has previewed every possible house in the neighborhood, reviewed all the comparables, knows all the floor plans, and is thoroughly familiar with the history of sales, pendings, and available properties in that neighborhood.  Do they now . . . or are they considering the possibility of farming this neighborhood?

Getting back to the basics starts with an exceptional knowledge of the local market conditions and inventory.  However, are those agents prospecting the expired (or withdrawn) listings?  Do they have a plan for working with the For Sale By Owners in the area?  What canvassing and door knocking programs have they initiated and consistently work?  What other target marketing activities are a part of their regular routine? How do all of these activities tie back to an overall business plan?  How are the activities and results being tracked by the agent and by the responsible manager?

In my opinion much of this is lacking in the current market!  Too many agents are looking to their brokers for leads rather than learning how to generate their own leads! The past couple of years has tested the commitment and perserverance of many good agents.  That’s why “getting back to the basics” is critical!  This is the only way to develop the skills necessary to be top producers in this market.  But those skills must be further developed into permanent habits that will sustain the agent in good and bad times.  Prospecting and target marketing offer agents those multiple streams of income, realizing that some activities generate better results than others at any given time.  However, agents with great skills habits continue those activities that produce long-term results as well as that are good for the short term triumphs. 

Success is derived from a balace of experience and training; the more experience one has - the more training that will be required.  For those that are struggling now - training is essential, now!  One program that changed my life and entire career in real estate was Floyd Wickman’s “Sweathog” training regimen; today it is the Starmaker program.  It’s by no means the only good training program available, but I highly recommend this program for anyone who needs to develop not just the skills, but the ingrained habits, that will create career success in real estate.  More information can be found at:

www.starmakerteam.com

Perhaps it’s time to help our agents “learn how to fish” rather than depending on the broker to do the fishing for them.  Otherwise, they will be “Just Hangin’ In There” and perhaps tomorrow’s attrition statistic!

Liz Boone

How do you define a seasoned or experienced agent?  Each of you probably has a notion or perception of what a seasoned agent is in your respective organizations.  Whatever that looks like to you is fine; this post is not an attempt to focus on any particular defintion.  Rather, lets look at how the market conditions of recent years have impacted those we have already recruited.

Many local real estate markets bustled with activity and soaring sales during the period from 2003 through much of 2006.  In truth a number of markets were so hot that new agents often achieved success just because they were there.  It may have had little to do with their experience, training, development, coaching, or inherent skill sets.  In fact many small brokers were so busy working this market themselves that they could not devote the time and energy necessary to properly train their newly hired recruits.  

It is no surprise that many of these recruits floundered as the market changed.  The days of the “blind squirrel being able to fall on an acorn” are pretty much over. The attrition that resulted from the changing market conditions was predictable.  Yet, there are those who survived that we may want to target in our recruiting efforts.  Keep in mind that the current recruiting trend for most real estate brokerages around the country has changed dramatically.  The typical brokerage recruits seventy percent (70%) experienced agents in this market; compare this to the thirty percent (30%) they were recruiting a few years ago.

First there are fewer new agents being trained in pre-licensing schools than during the boom markets.  Morever, seasoned agents have the potential to bring in business more quickly and therefore increase company market share compared to new agents.  Still these experienced agents may not actually have the experience that you might expect.  It’s common to learn that their production was great in 2004 or 2005 but has continued to deteriorate ever since.  The declines are often so great that they cannot be written off due to the downturn in the market they are working.

Many of these “survivors” exhibit the raw materials for success, but truly lack the training and coaching necessary to successfully transition from one market to another.  Therefore it is essential that some form of assessment be conducted prior to . . . or just after hiring an experienced agent.  Assume that their knowledge of real estate basics is fairly weak and evaluate their mastery of prospecting, target marketing, and getting appointments.  Do they even have a business plan with details about how much business they plan to do this year and where they expect that business to come from.

Does your newly hired experienced agent have a farming program - either a geograpical or logical one?  How committed is she/he to this farm?  Or has this experienced agent abandoned most traditional farming and prospecting avenues due to the recent market conditions?   We certainly do not see the same attention given to these activities that was present prior to 2004!  Of course some of this is due to cultural and technological changes in recent years.  That’s fine!  So how is your seasoned agent incorporating technology into their prospecting plans?

What I am suggesting is that we must almost assume that many experienced agents will require nearly the same amount of training as new agents because so many of them never really had to learn the basics of real estate.  They will also benefit from a focused coaching effort as the combination of “back to basics” training in combination with the coaching will expedite their growth and bottom line success.  They will not need nearly as much time to reach their goals as the new agent and the time invested is well worth it for you and your newly hired experienced agent.  This is part of the value they were looking for when they made the change to your company!

Liz Boone

How much are your recruiting mistakes really co$ting you and your real estate brokerage? It is estimated that a simple recruiting failure can easily cost an organization $40,000.  This is precisely why there is a major shift in thinking amongst the top real estate recruiters around the country about traditional hiring philosophy and practices.  Brokerage overhead continues to increase even when the market is soft and yielding less revenue and lower profit margins.

Classical real estate recruiting believes that it is entirely a numbers game and therefore it is necessary to “get the numbers” knowing that only one or two out of ten will make it.  Yet, even this has become more difficult because fewer new agents are graduating from real estate schools and launching real estate careers.  That alone has made it more difficult for brokerages in need of agents to merely work the old numbers game as in the past.  Some areas such as Florida have really seen a decline in new agents and have been forced by circumstances to completely revamp the recruiting paradigm and efforts.

What are the primary keys to financial success for any broker/owner in the current market?  More than ever this real estate market is all about acquiring market share.  That also means that to be profitable a brokerage must maximize per agent productivity while reducing overhead and operating costs. This is exactly where the old “numbers game” fails miserably; it’s too much like rolling the dice at a casino. The hidden and not so hidden costs of unproductive agents can mean losing the edge in market share, falling behind the competition, and definitely affect the bottom line.

Let’s take a brokerage of 500 agents with 25% of the agents consistently contributing to listings and closed sales.  Are you providing space for all 500 agents?  Do they use your phones, computers, copiers, fax machines, email services, and office computers? How much management and staff support time is being utilized by these individuals?  Certainly some of this may be a good investment for the future, but enough so that three quarters of the on-board agents remain relatively unproductive?

I would propose that a better model for today is one in which recruits are targeted by management with an eye towards these hires being able to add immediately to the bottom line with less time and energy spent in training, development, and mentoring.  This desired result can and is being accomplished by top real estate recruiters by screening and assessing the prospective recruits.  Once screened and assessed, training, development and coaching should be tailored to the specific strengths and weaknesses of the newly hired agent.  In this scenario that same brokerage of 500 might be reduced to 350 - 400 productive agents and attain significantly more market share with substantially better bottom line profitability.  So let’s quit throwing the dice and stack the deck in our favor using the tools and technology that is available for that purpose.

AlignMark remains the leader in offering real estate brokerages and recruiters the tools to accomplish exactly these results.  I have worked with many of these individuals and have witnessed the transformation in their recruiting efforts.  I would love to have the opportunity to do the same for your organization.

I would also encourage you to comment about your own recruiting experiences and the ideas presented in this blog.

Liz Boone

 Are you using current internet technology to your advantage in your recruiting and retention programs?  Your competition may be!  We all know that the key to successful recruiting is follow-up, follow-up, follow-up.  That is even more true as we see the shift towards recruiting seasoned agents in the current real estate market. 

We understand that seasoned agent recruiting is a longer term proposition and can be more of a timing issue.  It’s great to establish the rapport, but what are we doing to “be there” for them when they are ready to make their decision to change brokers?  This is where using an effective, programmed drip campaign can be invaluable.  It does not replace the need to periodically call these propects, but rather augments the calls by providing information of value to your prospects from time to time.  Does that sound a lot like what our agents try to accomplish with their own farming and target marketing?  Of course it does!  The only real difference is that there is wonderful technology to assist us in developing and implementing these campaigns for recruiting and retention. 

In fact, you may want to check out Stephanie Andre’s article in RISMedia on this topic. Drip Campaigns.  Alternatively, the article can be found at:

http://rismedia.com/wp/2007-12-04/alignmarks-drip-campaigns-signal-shift-toward-electronic-recruiting-communication/

Stephanie discusses the shift in recruiting by using current communications technology and relates how several real estate brokerages are using this technology effectively by integrating it into their recruiting programs.

However, let’s expand the use of this same technology for retention of our existing agents.  Has your company or franchise released new tools, services, or products recently?  How many of your existing agents are aware of the new products, services, or tools that you have to offer clients?  This may be an excellent opportunity to create a drip campaign or simply to program an email blast designed to inform and update those agents. 

This can be accomplished quite efficiently and effectively in the iNTELAGENT database that we offer at AlignMark.  The Communications manager within iNTELAGENT is very robust and ideally suited to this task.  I recommend starting by creating a new label with the database that groups all of the existing agents that you want to keep in touch with on a regular basis.  Perhaps you name this label “retention” and add those agents to this label.  It is then very easy to either create a drip campaign or an email blast tailored to the needs of these individuals.  Drip campaigns will certainly add company dollar to your bottom line.  Try it out and tell me what you think!

Liz Boone

Clearly every real estate franchise and brokerage I work with is working overtime on recruiting and retention during this difficult period in the real estate market.  It is no mystery that a great corporate culture makes it easier to attract and retain the best, most productive agents.  In fact the current recruiting trend appears to be more focused on selectively recruiting those that are a good fit for the company’s culture.  Many of my clients relate to me how they are using the Real Estate Simulator as both a screening and assessment tool to accomplish this purpose in their current recruiting and retention programs. The truth is that attracting and recruiting the right individuals will grow and foster the current culture even more.

But where does leadership and vision fit into the mix?  What does the interaction between leaderhip, culture, retention and recruting look like?  Don Kottick, VP Products and Services, for Alignmark Inc. addresses this topic; his commentary appears in RISMedia online and is entitled:

Real Estate Leadership - A Fish Rots from the Head Down

Don highlights the leadership and vision of Rick Haase, Simon Dean and Nelson Goulart in his insightful commentary.  I know you will enjoy reading it.

Liz Boone

The buzzword of the current presidential campaign by all candidates is “change“.  The economy has changed; the real estate market has precipitated much of that change; the mortgage markets have contributed dramatically to current changes.  But the nation has experienced tremendous change over the past several decades; so has the ever shrinking world.  Technology and the internet have fueled changed like nothing before it.

So what about the recruitment of real estate agents amidst the ever changing real estate brokerage and business models? What about the obvious generation changes in the pool of individuals that are arriving into the workforce?  It is reasonable to conclude that real estate recruiting must necessarily adapt to this fast-paced, changing world replete with all of the amazing technology at our fingertips!

The following commentary by Don Kottick, VP Products and Services at AlignMark, which recently appeared online in a RISMedia article, discusses the evolution of recruiting in a changing world. 

http://rismedia.com/wp/2008-05-05/the-evolution-of-a-real-estate-recruiter/

Don is on point with his observations; you will enjoy his unique insights into this issue.

Liz Boone

We’ve all recently been reading articles about Career Seminars. The topic range from do you host them or are they actually effective? I’ve continuously heard from brokers/recruiters that they tried them a few times, but they didn’t work. The people that attended weren’t interested or they didn’t show up. I’ve also heard that Career Seminars are a part of the company’s marketing plan. Ask yourself the following questions:

•Were your career seminars promoted on a consistent basis?

•Did you host them weekly?

•Did you host them twice a week; once during the day and maybe once in the evening?

•Did you think of offering them daily?

•Was the schedule of dates and time readily available?

•Did you post your career seminars on your website?

•Did you advertise your career seminars in the newspaper?

•Did you advertise your career seminars online?

•Did you send your prospect database a consistent monthly invitation to attend so that when the time is right, they’ll attend your program?

•Do you reach out to your past clients to see if they’re interested in a career?

•Do you have a power point presentation explaining what the industry is about?

•Do you have a presentation that explains your corporate offering?

•Do you offer something the prospects something of value for attending?

•Do you open your career seminars to local companies that may be “right sizing” as a career development alternative to their staff members?

•Would you rather spend one hour with one applicant?.

•Would you rather spend ten hours with ten applicants?

•Would you rather spend one hour with ten applicants then have a constructive interviews?

Another positive aspect of career seminars is that your “diamond in the rough’ shines through in a crowd. I’m sure you can see the list can go on and on, but with the right marketing, advertising, and consistent effort career seminars can not only be a cost effective way to reach out to many, but most importantly a time effective tool that can help you place prospects in your funnel and select the right people for your company.

We all wish we had more time in our days. Career seminars offer you the ability to maximize your time and cast a wider net to get more people into your recruiting pipeline.  Give it a try! You have nothing to lose, just more “time” to gain.

Liz Boone

As former recruiter and now a recruiting consultant, I rant and rave to my clients the following, “Recruit Experienced Agents” followed by “Recruit Experienced Agents”. The timing is everything and now is the time to focus on experienced agents. Go after the newbies as well, but I will reiterate, “Recruit Experienced Agents Now!!!’. This is a statement shared by many throughout the industry as with the changing economy, agents finally have some time to consider their surroundings and explore the value proposition from other brokerages. Get the word out now that you are looking.

I have a few questions, “When you send them information is it about how great of a company you have?” “Is it what you can do for them?” “Is it about you or do you offer them something of value? ” Communicate your points of differentiation. Communicate your value proposition. First and foremost - Communicate!!!! Communicate that you are interested in them. Ask and you might receive.

So, the next time you put together a campaign, try a Tip of the Month or even a Tip of the Week. Messages, tips or techniques that can help them grow THEIR business. If you’re not creative to come up with your own tips, search coaching websites or blogs; and request permission to distribute some of their tips as long as you promote their company and provide a link to their website. Topics include Personal Promotion, How to Stay in Touch, Tips for FSBOs, Recent Articles in the Industry, Prospect Marketing, etc. Don’t forget to send these to your own agents; it will make a valuable retention tool.

These tips offer a way to stay in contact and they’ll be looking forward to your next idea you share with them. You’ll be their broker before you’re their broker. When the timing is right and they’re ready to move, they’ll never forget you! So in conclusion, with the changing landscape, get out there and connect with the experienced agents in your trading area.

Happy Tipping!

Liz Boone