Category Archives: Real Estate Recruiting Tools

Disruptions in the Marketplace:  What it Means for Brokers

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter
16 Jul

By Judy LaDeur

The buzzword for the last 18 months? DISRUPTER.

A disrupter is anything that disrupts the way that we do business. Your ability to remain profitable is determined by how you and your agents respond to disrupters. There will ALWAYS be disrupters and disrupters will always affect our industry and retention.

So much change has happened. New companies jockeying to take over the market, and a few who left the market or merged. There have been billions of dollars in investor backing for startups 18 months ago, but not so much today. Now we are seeing leadership shakeups, mergers, alliances, technology – and lawsuits. And honestly – we won’t even know the full extent of disruption for probably two years!

So, what do agents want and need during this time of change?

Solutions. Calm. Systems. Training. Tools. Answers. Now is the time to improve, re-engage, and re-examine what you by way of offerings and determine where you can make things even better.

If you can be agent-centric and provide the support that they need to be consumer-centric – you’ll have a winning combination.

On our recent webinar, I shared the stats and numbers you need to compete in this changing and sometimes challenging market.

Profitable Recruiter Members, login here and head to Webinars on Demand to watch the full hour video.

The bottom line?

  1. Know your numbers. Understand where you are right now in terms of agents, growth, retention, and market share.
  2. Know your competitors. Who is growing in your market? Who is adding services and tools? Who has the kind of training agents are lining up for?
  3. Know your value. What are the things that you do or offer that are exceptional? How can you not only build on that value, but improve on it?

We’ve put together this worksheet to help you evaluate where you are and where you can create the shifts you need to be a 5-star office that agents can’t wait to join! Profitable Recruiter Members, you’ll find the pdf version of this in your Resource section, along with stats that I shared on the webinar.

Want to learn how to master these skills and build an extraordinary team?  Bookmark our blog, and join The Profitable Recruiter today.  We have a full spectrum of membership benefits with all the tools, strategies and solutions you need to position yourself to win this year and every year. Our goal is for you to become the “turn-to” broker in your area for every agent.  

Join today and take advantage of our special offer of 40% off with the promo code 40OFF any pro membership.  That’s 40% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training!  What are you waiting for? When you join – you and up to 10 managers can access your account! Try it for a month and see what it can do for you.

 

 

Agent-Centric Offices or Consumer-Centric offices?

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter
07 Feb

By Real Estate Recruiting Coach Judy LaDeur

I am reading a lot of articles which say that 2019 is the year of the consumer-centric real estate office. Let’s evaluate that.  I’ve always believed in managing from the top down, one layer at a time. Leading from the top down, one layer at a time, with the right people, is still the most effective way to be a profitable and dominant real estate organization. Nothing that I’ve seen in the past year or two has changed that belief.

What that means is that the owner, the person at the top of the pyramid, needs to be a visionary. They’re the rainmakers. They create opportunities. They create the atmosphere. They have the vision and they share it with the builders of the organization. That’s what they love to do! Here’s the catch — every good visionary needs a person to keep it all running and to keep it together. The Leader needs a person with great people skills and lots of patience. Sometimes this is a general manager. Sometimes it’s a manager. If the leader of the organization chooses the right individual, who cares about their people and gives them the support, that’s the best recipe for success.

Next, empower that person or persons to hire the right agents. When you take care of your agents and give them what they need, emotionally, physically, and professionally, they will take care of your clients. Ours is a relationship business which means that the client needs to have a relationship with the agents for repeat referral business and long-term business relationships. When everyone from the top down embraces and empowers those in their care to do their job to the best of their ability, everyone wins. Well-trained, well-educated agents who care for consumers. I think that is when the consumer wins.

What is a consumer-centric organization? That’s when the person at the top jumps over the agent and focuses on what the consumer wants and needs. From my viewpoint, 20% of consumers would like to handle every aspect of the transaction. They love all the new technology as well as the control that they now have to be involved if they choose to do so. However, 80% of consumers still prefer to have an agent they know and trust to handle the details for them. Agents-centric or consumer-centric? My money’s on agent-centric. Not only today but as we go into the future.

Want to learn more about mastering your management and recruiting skills? We have a full spectrum of membership benefits with all the tools, strategies and solutions you need to position yourself to win this year and every year. Our goal is for you to become the “turn-to” broker in your area for every agent.  

Join today and take advantage of our special offer of 45% off with the promo code 45OFF any 6 month or annual membership.  That’s 45% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training!  What are you waiting for? When you join – you and up to 10 managers can access your account! Try it for a month and see what it can do for you.

 

 

Growth, Culture, & Retention Webinar

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter

How one powerhouse recruiter brought on board 52 agents in just three months? 

We are delighted to share our January Profitable Recruiting webinar with everyone to kick start our 2019 off on an amazing foot. Learn the strategies, mindsets, and tools she learned from Judy LaDeur’s One-On-One retreat coupled with savvy marketing intuition, and a passion for hitting her goals.

Meet Jackie Root, who, nine months after becoming an agent, (after a long career in marketing and development) Jackie was asked if she would be willing to create a position that did not exist at that time and work with her company’s team to grow the company.  Her compelling insights, ideas, and strategies to increase culture, agent retention, and expand into new markets took them from 215 agents to 487 and increased transactions from 4500 per year to 6850 this year and went over a billion dollars in volume.

You’re going to want to take notes — and then take ACTION! Thank you, Jackie, for sharing with our membership!

It’s time for every broker to make this YOUR year for increasing profits, productivity, and growing your team with the right agents for your organization.

Want to get results like Jackie is getting? We can help!

Learn how to master recruiting skills and be the broker to join in your market.  We have a full spectrum of membership benefits with all the tools, strategies and solutions you need to position yourself to win this year and every year. Our goal is for you to become the “turn-to” broker in your area for every agent.  

Join today and take advantage of our special offer of 45% off with the promo code 45OFF any 6 month or annual membership.  That’s 45% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training!  What are you waiting for? When you join – you and up to 10 managers can access your account! Try it for a month and see what it can do for you.

Disruption Doubt and Industry Predictions

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter
16 Jan

By Judy LaDeur

Take a poll of brokers from all over North America, and most will tell you that they thought 2018 was a year of change largely filled with many disruptors. However, I have to ask, did they REALLY play the huge role everyone thought they would?

There were many new startup companies, some they’re still around, but talk has definitely died down. From my perspective, the two primary disrupters in 2018 were technology and private funding.  I think 2018 will long be remembered as the year of new technology and change.  Everyone is still scrambling to get their sites completed, renovated, updated and relevant. The new technology is a permanent change, and we predict that it will benefit all. My predictions at the beginning of 2018 were that the disruptors would not truly interrupt most businesses and that the focus of every broker should be that of taking great care of their agents, staying vigilant, and providing the tools and resources that agents need most to best serve their clients.

As 2018 came to an end, those companies who paid attention to their agents and stayed focused and prepared to deliver the tools, training, support, and guidance their agents needed to serve their clients and community – they were the real winners. I don’t see technology as the disruptor in 2019. I see it as the catalyst to take our industry forward. Will private funding continue? As long as the market stays strong, private funding will continue to flood into our market. There were a lot of lessons learned in 2018. A big lesson that many brokers learned was that agents don’t usually leave just because there is a check being offered. Statistically speaking, market research shows that only 20% of agents approached with a monetary enticement made the decision to leave. I talked to many agents who did take a check. Each one who accepted a check confirmed that they had already made the decision to leave the company they were with. The check just made the choice of companies to go to easier.

Looking ahead, I think 2020 will be a very interesting year. Many agents who made a move in 2018 are under a two-year contract, so the pressure is on those companies to provide the agents with the support they want, to make them feel special, and to create the experience that they’re looking for. If not, I think those companies will see those same agents leave in search of that experience they had hoped to find when they made the move to begin with. My message remains the same for brokers. Most agents are emotional decision makers which means that they are in it for the connection, the feeling they get when they are part of your team. The support that they feel. The sense of belonging. These are all big factors for agents that will determine whether they will stay or go.

Some are predicting that this year will be the year of the consumer and that ours is becoming a consumer-centric industry. Here’s my prediction for 2019. The Brokers who will come out on top are those who remain agent-centric. I saw many examples over the last 12 months. Don’t worry about your competitors in 2019. Keep your eye on your game, and up your game, if needed. Focus on the needs of your agents. Create an experience within your organization that they want to be part of. Recruiting agents is easier when you create the experience. My final closing tip for every broker is that 2019 is going to be a great year to increase profits. If you want to increase your profits, you have to increase your revenue. You increase your revenue by increasing the number of productive agents that you add to your team and by increasing the number of opportunities that your agents have to do business. How can you improve their skills so they can do more business? It’s going to be a great year. Are you ready?

Continue to learn how to be the master recruiting skills and be the broker to join in your market.  Bookmark our blog, and join The Profitable Recruiter today.  We have a full spectrum of membership benefits with all the tools, strategies and solutions you need to position yourself to win this year and every year. Our goal is for you to become the “turn-to” broker in your area for every agent.  

Join today and take advantage of our special offer of 45% off with the promo code 45OFF any 6 month or annual membership.  That’s 45% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training!  What are you waiting for? When you join – you and up to 10 managers can access your account! Try it for a month and see what it can do for you.

 

Define Your Compelling Reasons

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter
06 Jan

What Makes You DIFFERENT? 

by Real Estate Recruiting Coach Judy LaDeur

The most important asset within your company is the people. Attracting the right people means attracting those aligned with your values and vision.  This gives you an opportunity to create a flourishing environment that translates into an improved bottom line.

Putting a strong team in place will require you to answer a few tough questions first. You must be able to share details about your company in “what’s in it for them” terms. Explain how a move would benefit them both personally and professionally. Because let’s face it, switching companies is a very scary decision for most people. Diffuse fears by accurately and effectively sharing the “WHY” that sets you apart from your competition. What does this look like?

You must clearly define:

  • What you do better than your competitors
  • What you are doing that your competitors are not
  • How you can help potential recruits earn more money through your systems and tools
  • How you enhance the working environment of your agents
  • What real results other members of your team have seen since making a move

Once you answer those questions, the next step is spelling out the reasons any agent would want to join your team. In my training, I ask each broker to come up with their 12 most compelling reasons. Unfortunately, twelve reasons can be difficult for a lot of brokers. For that reason, we have created a blueprint that you can follow to begin crafting your own list.

12 Compelling Reasons Recruits Will Say YES to Joining Your Company

# 1:  Strong Leadership: Vision, support for problem-solving, and leaders who are acting like leaders. Take it one step further and determine what specific value you and your expertise bring to your team.

#2: Lead Generation: Agents need to prospect, but they want companies that are working to generate leads for them as well. There are lead generation companies out there that are charging agents up to $1000 a month for leads and believe it or not, agents are paying. Why? Because agents want those internet leads, or any leads that the company can provide. What are you willing to provide?

#3: Name Brand Awareness: Companies with a strong presence in the market, locally and nationally, are doing well with their recruiting efforts. Name awareness is tied to market share. The best agents understand that the stronger the name/market share, the easier it is to compete for business.

#4: Education/ training: Agents are looking to fine-tune their skills. Many agents know they need to get back to the basics and most realize the value of staying current in an ever-changing real estate industry. The best agents also understand the value of securing specialized training or securing certain designations for areas of specialization. Such areas might include: Luxury market training, working with seniors, working the condo market, working with various ethnic groups which are moving into the country, and working the short sale and foreclosure market.

#5: Positive office attitude and healthy environment in the office: Agents want a positive work environment with competent and positive peers. It is easy for me to see that the offices with the best production and best attitude have brokers with a great attitude. Those same brokers spent the last 5 years getting rid of their dead weight and many are more profitable today than they have been in years!

#6: Mastermind Groups and networking opportunities with other top producers:  Many of the best agents enjoy connecting with the other successful agents. Their needs and approach to the real estate business is different from those just getting started, so why not give them the opportunity to grow and play together? Agents who work hard, play hard and spend time together are more likely to stay together.

#7: Marketing support/tools: Marketing is the #1 thing that agents need to stay in touch with their sphere and past customers. What can you do to assist or support their marketing efforts?

#8: Client/ data management tools: Many agents struggle when it comes to managing their data and client info. Do you have an easy-to-use customer relationship management tool that allows them to input their data, send out marketing, and locate client data quickly?

#9: Coaching and accountability: We see many companies implementing very successful coaching programs, with some great results. If the company does not provide coaching, the agents might hire outside the organization. The cost can range from $500 -$1000. What that tells me is this: if they want it and it has value to them, they will pay for it! Your agents need accountability and sometimes a third party is the best way to keep them on track and accountable. Your best option is to coach them yourself or have someone else in-house that can effectively coach them. If this isn’t possible, seek out a good coach and work out an agreement with them to coach those agents who want it.

#10: Administrative support: Agents are working harder, but most are not working smarter. What can you do to support them behind the scenes?  What can you take off their plate to give them more balance in their life and work?

#11:  Proven results with proven systems: It’s not enough to have systems and tools. You need to know what the results are from each of the systems and tools you offer. Use exact results, NAR survey results, national brand results, testimonials from your agents as well as success stories. Bring those results into your interviews.  Everyone says they can help potential recruits, but those who can prove it are winning in today’s market.

#12: Security: The bottom line for any agent making a move is whether or not they will feel secure at their new location. The more answers you can provide on the above list, the better they will feel, and when they feel good…they join!

Profitable Recruiting Members- the PDF template for TWELVE compelling reasons recruiting package is on your membership platform. Go to the Resources for Recruiters tab on your navigation bar. You’ll see the download there as well as a new template for a new My Why testimonial template in various colors you can use to create social media posts with agent testimonials. 

Need help customizing your templates for your company? Contact Julie today to learn more.  

Want to learn more about building your dream team in less time and with less headaches?  Join The Profitable Recruiter and gain access to 7 hours of training via downloadable links including interview skills, scripts, objection handlers, and more. PLUS, you’ll have access to entire libraries of recruiting letters and notes, emails, social media content, resources for recruiters, training webinars for recruiting and retention, and opportunities to network with the best of the best. Join today and take advantage of our special 40% off with the promo code 40OFF.

The Art of Pre-Selling Webinar on Demand

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter
26 Oct

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this week’s webinar on the Art of Pre-Selling. We took a look at pre-listing books, and Broker Success books with fresh eyes and a new spin to see what’s working for agents and brokers and what’s not. Real estate recruiting coach Judy LaDeur delivered some powerful insights and tools that could help you differentiate yourself in your market.

Watch it below: 

Having the right systems and strategies in place year-round takes some of the guess-work out of your success.  We are happy to be a resource to help you stay in touch month-after-month, give you the scripts and dialogues you need to close even the savviest of agents to join your team.  Want to learn more about how to become a more profitable recruiter?  Check out our Membership Benefits and enroll today.   

Take advantage of our special offer!  Make any Profitable Recruiter Pro Membership part of your business plan, and take 40% off with the promo code 40OFF — PLUS, have the ability to add up to 10 managers or admins to your account at no extra cost!  That’s 40% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training, more than 30 webinars on demand, scripts, letters, social media tools and more!  What are you waiting for? Register today! 

Proving Value in the Age of Disruptors

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter
04 Sep

Last week, we hosted a powerfully informative and insightful webinar with Coach Judy LaDeur on which she discussed discuss what brokers and agents need to do to position themselves to thrive despite disruptors such as companies “buying” agents, technology interruptions and more. Empowering, insightful and just what real estate brokers need to hear during this transitional time.

Profitable Recruiter Members, log in here and visit webinars on demand to watch our other recent webinar all about the DISRUPTORS in our industry.

Continue to learn how to be the master recruiting skills and be the broker to join in your market.  Bookmark our blog, and join The Profitable Recruiter today.  We have a full spectrum of membership benefits with all the tools, strategies and solutions you need to position yourself to win this year and every year. Our goal is for you to become the “turn-to” broker in your area for every agent.  

Join today and take advantage of our special offer of 40% off with the promo code 40OFF any 6 month or annual membership.  That’s 40% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training!  What are you waiting for? When you join – you and up to 10 managers can access your account! Need more information? Contact us at 813.957.2989. Happy recruiting! 

 

Seeing is Believing!

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter
26 Jul

We live in a visual world! We have all heard that people remember more of what they see than what they hear, but do you know why? There are several reasons, but first, let’s take a look at how your brain stores information.

Did you know that your brain stores audio information in one way — a more temporary way — and it stores visual information in an entirely different way. A way that will make the memory easier to recall. You see, visual images tend to have more things we instantly associate with them — for example, a picture of some horses on a farm, instantly calls up images of hay, riding, a barn, a cowboy, etc., and those connections make the information more “memorable” and thus, makes recollection easier and more likely. Or in the world of Recruiting, a visual of one of your agents, with a quote about their success, or a graph of your success, will stay in a prospective recruit’s memory longer.

Think about it like this: Has someone told you their phone number and before you could say it a few times over in your head or write it down, you got briefly distracted by something … and POOF! The phone number is GONE! Or someone asks you to get something for them, but by the time you get to the next room, you forget what it was! The short-term memory can forget things almost instantly when you are distracted, which happens frequently in our business. Think about sales agents. Are they focused and always listening while you talk, or are they sometimes distracted and thinking of all the things they need to do? A verbal recruiting presentation to a distracted agent is a recipe for disaster!

Here’s another great tip: If you want someone to remember your message, tell them a story. Our brains are far more engaged by storytelling than a list of facts–it’s easier for us to remember stories because our brains make little distinction between an experience we are reading about and one that is actually happening. And visuals add a component to storytelling that text cannot: speed.

According to research compiled by 3M, the corporation behind Post-it Notes, visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text, which means you can paint a picture for your audience much faster with an actual picture. It’s no surprise then that HubSpot’s social media scientist Dan Zarrella found tweets with images are 94% more likely to be retweeted than tweets without. When you are talking about your tools and success, use real-life scenarios and stories to have a more powerful presentation.

Since 65% of people are visual learners according to the Social Science Research Network, one of the best ways to drive your message home is through visual content. Which is why we created an easy-to-use tool for Brokers and Recruiters to use for their recruiting presentation.

Our tool of the month earlier this year was a set of Compelling Reasons templates, ready to customize with your info and use in your next interview. September is recruiting season, which makes THIS the time to get prepared.  As a member of The Profitable Recruiter, this tool is included in your membership and is easily customizable.  You can also buy a customized set of 12 for your company for $198 for non-members. Email us here.

Sign up today and join us for a free webinar July 31st at Noon Eastern on effective marketing and positioning, just in time for Recruiting Season. REGISTER HERE.

It’s a fact that Top Recruiters and Top Agents use visuals in their presentations for the same reasons that I am going to recommend that you do. It works! Not only does it have more of an impact when you are giving the presentation, it’s absolutely essential if they don’t sign up that day. Within JUST THREE days, 97% of info they HEARD is gone! Make a lasting impact using visuals that convey your value propositions and the compelling reasons to join YOUR team.

Continue to learn how to be the master recruiting skills and be the broker to join in your market.  Bookmark our blog, and join The Profitable Recruiter today.  We have a full spectrum of membership benefits with all the tools, strategies and solutions you need to position yourself to win this year and every year. Our goal is for you to become the “turn-to” broker in your area for every agent.  

Join today and take advantage of our special offer of 50% off with the promo code 50OFF any 6 month or annual membership.  That’s 50% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training!  What are you waiting for? When you join – you and up to 10 managers can access your account! Try it for a month and see what it can do for you.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Posted on by The Profitable Recruiter
14 Jun

The Cyclical World of Real Estate Sales

By Judy LaDeur

The world of real estate is one of cycles. What goes up, must come down. We had enjoyed a strong real estate market for about five years, but will that bubble burst again this year, or next? No one knows and it’s impossible to predict what will happen, but you can be prepared.

Interest rates have increased and may increase again. Some say that rates will go as high as 6% by the end of the year. For those of us who have been around a while, we are smiling as we remember the days of 20% rates, and how we dreamed of a day when rates would fall below 10% again. It’s not really about how high the rates are or will be. It’s about how that information is delivered to the agents and how they perceive the market.  After all, perception is reality. As the Broker, you are the captain of the ship. The person in charge of the information that is distributed, as well as how it is perceived. You are also responsible for the routing of the journey. As the captain of the ship, if you saw that there was a potential storm on the horizon, would you alter your course? Would you start to make plans and prepare? Of course, you would. A real estate office is no different. Regardless of what happens in the market, there are things on the horizon that you should be planning for today.

Things that you know will happen such as:

  • Agents will have lots of closings in the next 30 days and they’ll be planning their summer holidays, meaning they might not work as hard the next few months. How will that affect your company revenue in September and October?
  • Most agents start September with an empty pipeline of business, which makes it easier for them to change offices. That makes you vulnerable as a Broker but also creates opportunities as a Recruiter. What are you doing today to prevent your agents from leaving, and what are you doing to position yourself as the Broker agents think of when making a move at the end of summer?

When you look forward, you can be better prepared for whatever the market does. Here are a few tips to help navigate through any storms on the horizon.

  1. Schedule training for your agents, to begin September 1, designed to re-launch their business for a strong finish to 2018.
  2. Host some fun events, or contests, in the month of July to keep your agents focused on business, even in the summer months!
  3. Create marketing pieces for your agents to use to position themselves in front of their clients for those fall listings.
  4. Remind your agents that there is no better time to stay consistent with their Monday morning messages to their clients than the summer. Everyone is talking to and visiting friends and family. Stay top of mind for additional business opportunities.
  5. Don’t forget to send your Monday Morning Motivation Messages to your recruits each week. Summer is especially important for you, as the Broker, to stay positioned with potential recruits. September is one of the strongest recruiting times of the year.

And don’t forget, there are always changes and cycles in this business. You can change the size of the wave, but you can learn to surf! 

Want to learn how to increase your market share and build an extraordinary team?  Bookmark our blog, and join The Profitable Recruiter today.  We have a full spectrum of membership benefits with all the tools, strategies and solutions you need to position yourself to win this year and every year. Our goal is for you to become the “turn-to” broker in your area for every agent.  

Join today and take advantage of our special offer of 35% off with the promo code PLAN35 any pro membership.  That’s 35% off everything you need to be in the right place at the right time when the agents you want are ready to make a move – including SEVEN HOURS of recruiting audio training!  What are you waiting for? When you join – you and up to 10 managers can access your account! Try it for a month and see what it can do for you.