Most real estate teams struggle with recruiting because they treat it like an emergency response rather than a core business function. Our recent “Recruiting Mastery – Session #1” tackled the fundamentals that nobody talks about.
The 30% Problem
Let’s start with a cold fact: 30-35% of your team will likely leave within the next 12 months. This isn’t speculation—it’s industry data. When an agent quits, most team leaders scramble to replace them, leading to rushed, poor hiring decisions.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Elon Musk
Before you can recruit effectively, you need to know your local competitive landscape. We examined:
- Commission splits within a 20-mile radius
- What services teams actually provide (not what they claim to)
- Fee structures that agents genuinely care about
Many participants discovered they were either underpricing their value or offering benefits nobody actually wanted.
The Four Agent Types (And Why This Matters)
We broke down recruiting targets into four distinct categories:
- New licensees – Hungry but need extensive training
- Mid-level producers ($2-5M) – Looking for stability and growth
- Top producers ($8M+) – Want autonomy and higher splits
- Pre-licensed – Long-term play requiring significant investment
Each requires a completely different pitch. One participant admitted he’d been using the same recruiting presentation for all four groups—and failing miserably.
The Planning Gap
The session revealed most team leaders lack:
- Specific numerical recruiting targets
- Dedicated budget for recruiting activities
- Structured onboarding process for new agents
We created a 90-day tactical plan with these elements:
- Weekly activity metrics (calls, meetings, interviews)
- Budget allocation for job posts, events, and incentives
- Day 1-30 onboarding checklist with accountability measures
