Romance or Reality: Is your recruiting story missing the mark? Real estate recruiting resembles romance. First, therea��s the attraction. Then the a�?best lighta�� representation. Then, the promises. Finally, the marriage and honeymoon. What happens when the honeymoon is over? As reality sets in, those who married in a blush of romance wake up in the cold light of day. Too many times, it looks way different.
When Expectations Dona��t Match Reality
In courting, the ultimate letdown results in divorce. Ita��s the same in real estate recruiting. Recruiting promises made when the market was on fire are creating a backlash today. We go through trends in recruiting stories. Our last trend was promises, promises, promises. And, because the market was on fire, sometimes those promises got kept.
Now, therea��s a new era. The market isna��t driving success. So, the promises made are falling flat. In fact, therea��s a huge backlash from the agents recruited with high romance.
About Those Promises
Roughly, there are two categories of real estate companies:
- Traditional
- Revenue-sharing
Both types of companies have been guilty of a�?extreme romancea��. Leta��s take the traditional brokers first, just because theya��ve been here longer.
Common promises for them are:
a�?Youa��ll be successful with us because wea��re a big, established companya�?
a�?We have the top agent and youa��ll be a top agent, tooa�?
Now, leta��s tackle the revenue-sharing companies. Their promises sounded like this:
a�?Join us and youa��ll receive thousands in residual income.a�?
a�?You dona��t have to sell real estate. Just recruit.a�?
Side note: I just Stefan Swanepoela��s 2011 Trends Report. Out of the 6 residential companies he picked as new companies to watch, three had some kind of revenue sharing. This is a trend. Ia��m afraid, though, that, just like franchises in the a�?70s and a�?80s were thought to be answers to a prayer, now revenue sharing is seen as the answer. Not so fast Ita��s not that simple.
Who Actually Does the Work?
Unfortunately, neither type of promisea��a�?easy businessa�� or a�?revenue sharinga�� can be kept without the individual agent doing some work.
Give Me Your Opinion
Take a look at your recruiting story. Is it too ‘romantic’? Are you creating a ‘revolving door’ company?
Have you seen this happen in real estate? Agents–what are your experiences?
In my next post, we’ll talk about the great damage to our reputations and recruiting chances when we create disgruntled recruits.
