For your real estate brokerage to grow, you need to invest in recruitment. With top-performing real estate agents, you can more easily hit targets, maintain good client relationships, and continuously push your company to greater heights.
Of course, this is easier said than done. In a market as competitive as real estate, it can be quite challenging to hire let alone find suitable candidates. In fact, there may be times when you feel like you aren’t receiving quality applications at all.
If you feel like your brokerage’s candidate sourcing needs some work, here are some tips for improvement:
Keep Everyone Aligned
The recruitment process involves multiple people, including sourcers, hiring managers, and at least one manager or executive. It’s not all the time that everyone’s idea of the “best candidate” aligns, which can create confusion and miscommunication.
To prevent this from happening, you should work on having a singular concept of who the “best candidate” is for your brokerage. Conduct meetings with all the relevant individuals right from the beginning and build a list of qualifications. This way, sourcers will have a better idea of where to look and hiring managers will have an easier time determining who’s a good fit. Ultimately, everyone will be satisfied by the results.
Consultations along the way should also be the norm. This allows you to make adjustments whenever necessary, ensuring that you’re always on track to hiring the best agents.
Invest in the Right Tools
Having multiple applications for a position can be both a good and a bad thing. Good because you’ll have the luxury of choice, especially if you have an abundance of quality applications. Bad because you can quickly get overwhelmed by all the things you have to keep track of—that is, of course, if you don’t have the right tools.
One of the best tools you can invest in is a recruitment CRM; for an all-in-one platform, Getbrokerkit. With features like integrated SMS texting, automated outreach, email campaign templates, lead capture, and data import, Brokerkit will both simplify and enhance your real estate recruitment programs. Ultimately, it can help ensure that you’re hiring all the right people for your brokerage.
Offer Something More Than Money
One of the most important parts of a real estate job posting is the compensation package. After all, agents want to know that they’ll be compensated well for what they can bring to the table; this is doubly true for those with years of experience, since they have a better grasp of just how much their skills are worth.
Having an attractive commission structure is just one part of it, however, because “compensation” is not just monetary in nature. Many real estate agents also look for other types of compensation, such as career growth opportunities and skills training. Don’t take work-life balance for granted, either. Sometimes, even just a couple of additional days of paid time off can make it easier for you to find the best candidates.
Offline Channels Are Still Viable
Nowadays, if you’re not sourcing real estate agents online, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities. However, it’s not the only avenue for candidate sourcing. In fact, offline channels remain to be viable ways to find great applicants. In fact, depending on the situation, you may even find better-qualified candidates offline.
Some of the best offline sourcing channels are real estate events, like conferences and trade shows. You can also host your own networking event, which can serve two purposes: to build a sizable candidate pool and to promote your brokerage. Hold one on a regular schedule, say once a month or every two months; the key is to make your networking event something that industry professionals look forward to.
Of course, you should also attend networking events organized by other brokerages. This is a good way to widen your net, so to speak, not to mention establish your presence as a brokerage.
Source All the Time—Even If There Are No Openings
The time for reactive sourcing—only looking for people when there’s a job to fill—is over. These days, real estate recruiters should always be recruiting. Even if there are no openings, you should always be looking for potential candidates for future roles. Have a workforce plan ready so you can more or less gauge how many new real estate agents you’re going to need down the road.
Another benefit of sourcing consistently is that you don’t have to rush when a post becomes vacant. All you have to do is pull up a list of candidates based on the requirements of the open post and go from there. This shaves off a lot of time in the overall recruitment process, which means you can allocate more hours into screening and evaluation. Ultimately, this gives you a higher chance of hiring the right person.
A good recruitment strategy starts with effective, efficient sourcing. Once you get this down pat, it will be easier for your brokerage to win over the best real estate agents. Hopefully, these simple tips can be the answers you need to improve your sourcing results.
Good luck!
