10 Tips for Recruiting and Retaining the Best Real Estate Agents in Your Area

In today’s competitive, technology-driven real estate business landscape, success is always the result of a solid team effort.

It’s not enough for brokerages to simply know how to identify and recruit their area’s top real estate agents; retention is just as important. Keeping top talent is just as crucial as hiring top talent.

Here are 10 essential strategies to keep in mind for building a stellar roster of experts for your top-producing real estate firm:

1. Understand what agents are looking for in a brokerage.

   Every good real estate professional wants to work and be associated with a brokerage that bears the following qualities:

   • Leadership and expertise in the field
   • Prestige and presence
   • A sterling track record in the local real estate market
   • Opportunities for growth
   • Professionalism

   But on top of these, there’s more you can do to gain an advantage. Stay one or two steps ahead of your hiring prospects by having a clear idea of what draws them to an organization.

   Motivation comes in different forms for different individuals. Real estate professionals who know their worth will always have particular interests or requests. Some might ask for more favorable commission splits. Others may want to have the latest tools and technologies to support their day-to-day productivity.

   To be able to address these individual preferences, begin by actively listening to your job candidates as they voice out their requests. Probe deeper to learn the underlying motivations behind them.

   It will be a process that takes some time, but gathering these individual insights will provide you with a valuable database of perspectives that will help you create an adaptable company culture.

   A brokerage that can accommodate or respond to every employee’s needs and interests will be irresistible to agents. It will no doubt boost your company’s real estate agent retention as a result.

2. Be proactive with your hiring.

   Recruiting team members into your real estate firm should not be a periodic or occasional activity.

   Imagine if one of your agents wanted to leave your firm on short notice. In this situation, your company may be left at a disadvantage, operating while short-handed and rushing to find a replacement. To further complicate matters, your options may be limited to agents who are actively looking for a job at that time.

   Instead of waiting for something like this to happen, take charge and be proactive with your talent search.

   The real estate business banks on relationship-building, so make good use of this skill to connect with fellow real estate professionals whether or not your brokerage is actively recruiting. Develop and cultivate positive relationships with your professional network. Lay the groundwork for agents to keep in touch with you well before they even think of changing employers.

   Having open lines of communication between you and your peers will create convenient opportunities to work together when the right time comes.

   

3. Use professional and social events to your advantage.

   The real estate business can be a real grind. This is why everyone in the business appreciates having an opportunity to relax, enjoy a few drinks, and engage in casual conversation with friends and colleagues every so often.

   With this in mind, plan and stage regular events that welcome your peers and colleagues in the industry.

   Between formal speaking engagements and purely social gatherings, you can explore several opportunities to expand your network. These events will help you build rapport with agents who might eventually have interest in joining your firm.

   Events can be an invaluable tool in your brand-building arsenal, too. They will make your name resonate among your fellow real estate professionals in your area, especially when your events successfully and consistently show your guests a good time.

4. Recruit talent at every experience level.

   When you want to recruit top talent, cast a wide net. The most skillful and effective real estate professionals are not only those who have spent years in the business. There are always up-and-coming industry rock stars and game-changers just waiting to be discovered.

   The challenge when taking this approach to real estate agent recruitment and retention is managing different sets of expectations. Like crafting and adjusting pitches to suit the varying needs and requirements of real estate clients, so should your recruitment efforts reflect your ability to zero in on a specific target audience.

   Impress more experienced agents with a professional and technologically up-to-date working environment. Even better, provide them with private offices if you can. An impressive office space is one that not only accommodates productivity, but also inspires a sense of pride and esteem.

   For new real estate agents, make sure to include upskilling, mentorship, and brand-building in your recruitment pitch. Brand recognition is something that has great value for those who are just starting out in the real estate business.

   

5. Establish and market a clear and defined company culture.

   Recruitment builds the team. Culture keeps it running.

   Culture is an often intangible but crucial element that determines whether or not a real estate brokerage can keep the top-level talent that it hires.

   Every outstanding real estate company should be more than the sum of its parts. It must not only be a group of real estate agents and brokers, but a complete and cohesive unit. The world’s most renowned brokerages are driven by the same goals and motivated by shared values.

   Defining and establishing a definitive culture for your real estate firm is an investment. It simply does not happen overnight. You need to be clear about your brand and mission before you can showcase and build on it with the right pieces – that is, the real estate agents that you’re aiming to recruit.

   Once you do have a well-defined company culture though, by all means promote it as part of your recruitment effort.

   Use your company’s unique culture to attract the types of agents that you want to be part of your team. The prospects best suited to fit into your company’s culture will feel more welcome and more encouraged to approach you for employment opportunities.

6. Create an environment where agents can keep growing.

   A great way to build a strong and attractive company culture is by providing all members of your brokerage with the means and opportunities to further their career growth.

   Committing to your employees’ continuous learning and skill development is an effective way to ensure real estate agent retention in a competitive business landscape.

   When you invest in your employees, you put them in a better position to succeed over the long term. Your support can be the morale boost that spells the difference between competent work and ground-breaking, career-defining excellence.

   In addition to making a profound impact on your agents’ lives, supporting the career growth of your team members is also an effective way to demonstrate your industry expertise and leadership.

   Provide firsthand mentorship. Remember that your agents look up to you as their leader. You have the distinct advantage of experience that’s been enriched and refined over your many years in the industry. Use this to your advantage to train a new generation of real estate experts that shares your unique insights and values.

   With effective mentorship, you will not only make your voice resonate throughout your own company, but also across the industry.

   

7. Put some thought into your company’s perks and benefits.

   When recruiting real estate team members, you might focus on presenting prospects with compensation packages that match their talents. You could consider some flexibility toward salary ranges or commission arrangements. You could even offer referral fees to motivate your current employees to invite their peers to join your company.

   These are all good ways to attract potential new employees. But you can do much better.

   Sweeten the pot by offering benefits that go beyond financial compensation. Guarantee healthcare insurance, for example. There might even be opportunities to explore unconventional ideas like personalized gifts or customized benefits packages.

   Consider this an excellent opportunity for you to exercise your creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

   Making job perks and benefits hard to resist ties back to this guide’s first point about knowing what agents want out of the opportunity that you present. When you understand what motivates your employees and potential hires, you will have an easier time creating solutions to satisfy their needs and preferences.

8. Invest in real estate technology.

   Technology is an essential component to facilitate any transaction. From property searches to home valuation, buying and selling properties has now been made easier by online tools and resources.

   Internally, technology plays a crucial role in enabling real estate brokerages to build, maintain, and grow their agent teams. Before you can impress clients, you first have to impress your agents.

   Investing in relevant technology-driven tools and solutions should be among your company’s top priorities to stay productive and competitive in the dynamic real estate industry. Target these essential, productivity-enhancing tech products to boost your company:

   • Document management software – In a business where piles of paperwork and legal documents are the norm, automated electronic document storage, management, and cataloguing are a lifesaver – especially for top-producing agents who deal with multiple clients simultaneously.

   • Video marketing tools – These days, traditional marketing materials and photographs are not enough to catch attention. With the internet and social media having such a great impact and influence on people’s daily lives, rich content such as video clips and virtual tours can make real estate listings appear more sophisticated and appealing.

   • Customer relationship management solutions – Like document management solutions, CRM software helps keep prolific agents stay on top of their every client’s needs and concerns. These products store client profiles, automate tasks, and provide a reliable time management solution that keeps agents sharp and efficient, even on their most hectic days.

   • Accounting solutions – Dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars annually requires precision tools and systems that protect you and your company from dangerous mistakes and oversights involving money. Accounting software not only helps you streamline your bookkeeping needs, it also ensures accuracy, consistency, and scalability as your company continues to prosper.

   Your current roster of employees will thank you for this essential investment. They will feel supported and empowered because these solutions are designed especially to make their jobs easier and more efficient. At the same time you are making your company more attractive to young, technologically-savvy new talent.

   

9. Build a strong online presence.

   Another significant way to invest in technology for the benefit of your real estate brokerage is to enhance your brand’s visibility online. Like many real estate customers, your hiring prospects will also turn to the internet to try to learn more about you and your company.

   To this end, having your own website is just the tip of the iceberg. Your website must also make a strong, positive, and lasting impression on everyone who sees it, whether it’s a potential new employee or a new client.

   Here’s how to do it:

   • Invest in search engine optimization (SEO) – This ensures that your company is always the top result that appears when people search for relevant information that you can expertly provide.

   • Create and maintain quality content – Your website is the ideal platform for showcasing expertise and values. Stay relevant in your market with constant and consistent updates to your website’s content.

   • Optimize your website’s user experience – Getting attention from top search results is just step one. You also have to keep your viewers engaged. This is why a streamlined user interface is key for every website.

   • Leverage the reach and influence of social media – Your online presence is not limited to your website. With the abundance of social media platforms, each tapping different user profiles, your potential for exposure and reach multiplies exponentially.

   • Drive traffic to your site with PPC – Through pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, you can target a specific market and gain immediate visibility at the same time. And since you only pay every time a prospect clicks on your ad, you can control how much you spend.

10. Provide your agents with individual IDX websites.

    Now that you know how to make your brokerage stand out in the online real estate landscape, you can also offer to do the same for your potential new agents.

    Equipping agents with their individual IDX website is an effective way to boost their careers in today’s internet-powered real estate market. By giving them their own online platform, your agents can lay the groundwork for their own brand-building as real estate professionals.

Turn to Agent Image for the most reliable solutions for your real estate company’s needs. Want to find out how our digital marketing products can boost your real estate agent recruitment and retention efforts? Talk to one of our digital marketing experts today.