Agent recruiting is the lifeblood of real estate brokerages. Brokerages either grow or shrink -- they never stand still. Because business always changes, companies need to have a smart strategy and effective tools to proactively search for and secure the talent that will help them expand and meet their goals. The good news is that the industry has a variety of technologies available for them to choose from that will help them with just this.
Implementing recruiting technologies within the framework of the recruiting funnel keeps recruiting efforts focused for continued growth; the recruiting funnel follows the well-known sales funnel logic: at the top of the funnel there are many candidates, while the selections narrow toward the bottom of the funnel. T3 Sixty has researched, evaluated and identified the top recruiting technology vendors in the real estate space, and for each of the key areas of the recruiting funnel -- Top, Middle and Bottom.
Top of Funnel: Spinning Plates
“Spinning plates” is a visual analogy that encourages recruiters to have a minimum of five areas of focus. For example:
- New agents – not licensed
- New agents – less than one year in the business
- Experienced agents – having a bad year vs their prior year, etc.
- Experienced agents – less than a year in the business.
- Experienced agents – whose year-over-year business is down.
Brokerages not providing consistent attention, energy and effort on recruiting, keeping their plates spinning, will struggle to find success.
Top of Funnel: Identification
Identification really starts outside the top of the funnel, and it plays off the concept of recruiting personas. Recruiting personas are a generalized example of the personalities brokerages want to recruit. Each brokerage will have slightly different personas, as they craft them to match their models, culture and systems. They are intended to sharpen brokerages’ understanding of who and what they want and why -- that of a given agent in a specific life situation. When utilizing this concept to identify top-of-funnel recruits, here are a few questions brokerages should consider:
- What type of agent are you trying to attract?
- What are these agents motivated by?
- What are these agents’ needs, resources and goals?
This is where data, trends and market stats play a large role. Here are some solutions to consider for identification, both for new and experienced agents:
| 3 Data Pulse | MoxiTalent |
| BrokerKit | Real Estate Schools |
| Broker Metrics | Secondary Education w/Real Estate Colleges |
| Job Fairs | Seize the Market |
| The CE Shop | |
| MarketView Broker by ShowingTime |
Top of Funnel: Attraction
This part of the funnel is where brokerages use digital, email and traditional marketing for recruiting. The goal here is getting prospects into the funnel to get to the first face-to-face meeting. Potential recruits require nurturing, and the old adage of “seven times, seven ways” of interacting with company messaging and value propositions holds true here. This piece comes down to advertising and content marketing.
Here are some solutions to consider for identification, both for new and experienced agents:
| Active Pipe | OnTask Recruiter |
| Adwerx | The Real Recruiter |
| Back at You Media | ThirdPool |
| Bullhorn | Xceed.io |
| iXact Recruiter |
Middle of Funnel: Conversion, Contact Management and Accountability
Tracking the process of first call, first outreach to face-to-face meeting is extremely important, and a recruiting CRM is a big need for businesses serious about holding their recruiters accountable. Nurturing these leads to get a second face-to-face meeting is the ultimate goal. Here are some solutions to consider for recruiting lead conversion, contact management and accountability:
| 3 Data Pulse | LionDesk |
| BrokerKit | OnTask Recruiter |
| iXact Recruiter | Xceed.io |
| MoxiTalent |
Bottom of Funnel: Intent, Negotiation and Commitment
Landing the prospect once they are on the hook is challenging when they go back to their day-to-day businesses. To remain top-of-mind at this stage, leverage personalized content marketing and engaging leadership. Here are some solutions to consider for adding a personal touch and ensuring outreach happens:
| BombBomb | LoLo Gifts |
| DareMe |
Post Funnel: Affiliation and Onboarding
A smooth transition ensures the recruit will not feel like they are drinking from a firehose. Having an onboarding system in place makes the transition process smooth for everyone. Here are some solutions to consider for onboarding agents both new to the industry and new to a company:
| 3 Data Pulse | Bullhorn |
| BrokerKit | Dotloop |
| BrokerMint | Inside Real Estate (Broker Sumo) |
Post Funnel: Retention
Recruiting and signing new talent is half the battle. Don’t lose sight of the other half—retention. Here are some solutions to consider for agent retention:
| 3 Data Pulse (retention AKG) | DareMe (retention challenge) |
| Active Pipe (retention journey) |
Takeaway By integrating key support technologies throughout the Recruiting Funnel, your organization can stay on the path to higher levels of growth and profitability. Reach out to T3 Sixty SVP Dean Cottrill at dean@t3sixty.com for more strategies and insight on putting together an end-to-end recruiting system.