To Script or Not To Script: recruiting real estate agents scripts

The Importance of Real Estate Recruiting Scripts

You’ve started down the path of recruitment for your real estate brokerage. We’re not talking college football, military, or your second cousin’s kooky group of ‘followers’ he keeps trying to invite you to. This is real estate recruiting and real estate brokerage recruiting, where you are the salesperson, selling your brokerage to salespeople, to convince them to do their sales under your brand. Just as the saying goes, “Don’t BS a BS’er”, it’s just as hard to sell to a salesperson.

Any salesperson, or Realtor worth their salt, is already being headhunted by every other real estate broker around. They are looking at the same reports from the MLS that you are: sales volume, transaction sides, team growth and putting together their plan of attack, which usually includes their recruiting real estate agents scripts.

Do scripted conversations really work in the sales world anymore?

While the short answer and the common knowledge is yes, when recruiting realtors you don’t want to be the broker who is using the real estate recruiting scripts from www.RecruitingRealEstateAgentsScripts.com ← Not a real site, please don’t click it, not even for ideas. Just don’t.

When it comes to embracing or eighty-sixing scripts, just keep in mind that if you’re going to do something, do it right and jingle all the way, no one likes a half-a$$ed jingler. This holds true if you’re recruiting real estate agents through text or developing cold calling scripts for real estate recruiting. Create a thoughtful and dedicated approach. So let’s jump in and explore the world of recruiting real estate agents scripts and how to recruit real estate agents, and get you a good place to start.

Why You 

Before you can even think about pitching your ‘insert whatever you’re selling here’, it doesn’t matter if it’s your brokerage, your used lawn mower on Craigslist or your niece’s Girl Scout cookies, the absolute first thing to figure out is why anyone would listen to you or want to know about this product in the first place.

This goes true for real estate recruiting agents and considering how to recruit other real estate agents as well. Whatever it is you’re selling, I promise you’re not the first to sell it, I have probably heard of it before, and I may already have one, so what makes yours so great that I should give you the time of day? Sound harsh? Maybe this isn’t the best position for you then, because real estate recruiters have to be sharks on the hunt, and you need to be ready to start throwing elbows on the last lap when that finish line comes into sight.

That is where effective real estate recruiting scripts can come into play to enhance your real estate brokerage and recruiting success.

What’s the difference?

What makes your brokerage different than all the others that are calling, texting, emailing, and taking these agents out for coffee to recruit real estate agents and in their scripts for real estate? Anyone who is willing to listen to your pitch has one question in their mind- “What’s in it for me?”.

This is especially true when recruiting experienced real estate agents. You need to be ready with the bullet points of what you are offering a new recruit that no one else is in your real estate agent script. This does not have to be gimmicky when you’re piecing together your real estate agent recruiting scripts, we’re not looking for a “Come on down! Sign over your license and you can pick a mystery door”. This is the time to think about what agents really want from their brokerage and include it in your scripts for realtors. If you are providing those things better than your competition, you have a winning how to recruit real estate agents script.

What Do Agents Want

Ahhhh, the age-old question to the greatest mystery of life, oh no wait, that’s what WOMEN want. Back to agents. Agents, like men, are not difficult creatures to figure out and effective real estate agent recruiters will have a few bullet points in their back pocket and in their real estate agent recruiting scripts.

Especially for new brokerages or independent brokerages wondering how to recruit other real estate agents, they will have to work even harder to set themselves apart and the best real estate recruiters understand this. The basic outline of what makes a real estate salesperson loyal to their brokerage boils down to these following 5 points that you should keep in mind as best practices when recruiting agents and developing effective recruiting appointments and scripts for real estate agents:

Compensation Plan

Brokerage compensation plans have become more like health insurance plans in that they are difficult to understand, you feel nickel and dimed and by the time you’ve signed on the dotted line, you’re pretty sure you’re getting a raw deal but are too tired from signing your life (and your paycheck) away, you just deal with it. At times, for a real estate recruiter compensation can be an uncomfortable conversation, but it does not need to be. Think about all of the fees associated with being a Realtor nowadays and incorporate these details as part of your agent recruiting and in your real estate agent script.

• Commission splits

• Referral fees

• Monthly fees

• Setup fees

• Yearly fees

• Training fees

• Desk fees

• Transaction fees

One last thing to consider before embarking on the compensation conversation is the level of experience of your candidate. Newly licensed real estate agents will need more coaching to understand their options whereas an experienced agent will know the drill. Be sure to tailor your script to your audience. You can expect that compensation will be among the top real estate recruiter questions, so get out in front of it at the beginning.

Honorable mention

Agents also have to consider and payout association dues, MLS fees, out of pocket health insurance, and having to save to pay their taxes. When you’re putting together the ‘why you’ portion of your recruiting real estate agents scripts and scripts for real estate agents, this is going to be one of the most important pieces.

The public may think that real estate agents are overpaid because all they see is the small portion of what the agent does for them during their transaction, but agents have overhead like every other entrepreneur running their own business. Be sure to address this when you are recruiting agents and in your how to recruit real estate agents scripts.

How does your brokerage compare and help them with these expenses while still earning enough on the back-end to keep more business for your brokerage not only afloat but profitable? If you don’t have an answer to this question yet, you want to put in your research and compare companies as part of your real estate recruiting agents process. I assure you, the agents you are going to be contacting with your scripts for real estate have already done the same and it will come up in the interview and real estate brokerage recruiting process.

Leads

Is it rude to say ‘duh’ anymore, because, well, DUH! Agents want leads like Koala bears want water! What, no one else read that National Geographic article? Well, they do. Badly. What can your brokerage do about getting agents leads? You don’t necessarily have to go the pay-per-click route through search engines or social media. Some brokerages have partnerships with lead generating programs or are simply willing to do the research and setup for their agents for any site that qualifies leads and routes them out. Again, this will be a different conversation with an experienced agent versus newly licensed real estate agents. Be sure to address this in your real estate agent script.

Whichever way you go about helping your agents, you can bet dollars to donuts, while you’re realtor recruiting the right agents, it will be their second question once they agree to hear your pitch. Be prepared to discuss how you will help them build their online presence so they will show up in a Google search and have some thoughts on this in your real estate recruiting scripts. This leads us to our next point, which the agent may not think to ask about but is incredibly important, not just for the sake of good business but for the sake of your brokerage compliance standards and reputation.

Training

We understand that ‘training’ doesn’t sound like a day at Swing-Around-Fun-Town, but it needs to be a discussion point when recruiting realtors. Sure, agent training sounds like a day of trying not to fall asleep, while a monotone teacher taking roll call keeps saying ‘Bueller’ and you spend the entire time counting how many dots are on that ceiling tile. However, training is essential in this industry and effective real estate recruiters will know how to address it when creating recruiting scripts for real estate agents. If you’re considering how to recruit other real estate agents, take some time to consider your training program.

Anyone who has dealt with a poorly trained agent, either as a broker, the other side of the transaction, or the unfortunate client who put their largest investment into the hands of said poorly trained agent, will agree that passing the Realtors exam does not make you a real estate agent. The classes to attain your license, mostly just cover real estate law and vocabulary words like ‘Chattel’ that you’re never going to use again. Real training is crucial to know how to actually buy and sell a property. How can you pitch during your realtor recruitment and recruiting real estate agents scripts about training to the best talent?

• Do you offer it

  • What is covered

  • Is there a cost for it

  • Mandatory or Optional

  • Available virtually or on-site only

• Mentorship programs

  • Follow an experienced agent

  • Join a team to gain experience

  • In house technology training

  • Broker availability

• Continuing Education Courses

  • Does your brokerage contract with a reputable CE school to get your agents discounts

  • Does your brokerage host any classes that are free to your agents

Everyone wants to feel like they know what they are doing. It’s a terrible feeling to be flying blind. Let newly licensed real estate agents know during your recruiting conversation and in your scripts for realtors, what types of other training resources you have available to them and that you have their best interest in mind to help them through their biggest challenges. This holds true for recruiting experienced real estate agents scripts as well—they want to know there will be opportunities to expand their skills or serve as a mentor. 

A poorly trained agent is good for no one, including themselves. When they close zero deals, the poorly educated aren’t going to blame themselves on Google and Yelp. Outline your best training programs and put pen to paper in your script to recruit new real estate agents.

Gone are the days of handwriting contracts and faxing over offers, Brenda. It’s 2020, five years past the timeline of Marty McFly cruising a hoverboard. When it comes to real estate technology, make sure you’ve chosen systems that are user friendly, especially for agents who think of themselves as technological dinosaurs, and explain these systems as part of your realtor recruiting scripts.

How your firm leverages technology and what type of technological support you provide to your team will be among the early real estate recruiter questions. Have answers prepared and teed up in your scripts whether it’s an email or text scripts for recruiting real estate agents.

A couple of systems that agents are looking for that you should address in your scripts for real estate and if you want to figure out how to recruit experienced real estate agents:

Transaction Management

Real estate tech providers offer built-in offer management, showing schedulers, task templates, and even client logins for transaction transparency. This is important to mention when you are writing scripts for real estate agents.

A great CRM is crucial to agents to gain access to keep track of their current recruiting prospects and past clients, communication with leads, SOI, drip campaigns, and staying in front of any potential business.

Good news broker- Trix may be just for kids but CRMs aren’t just for agents and their leads. All that customer relationship management we just mentioned, Brokerkit does that for you, the recruiter! Ditch the excel sheet and move into a professional CRM that was designed around your needs and will be helpful to tour when you are recruiting agents for your team of real estate agent recruiters.

Support

You can lead a broker to water but you can’t make them answer their phone. Most real estate questions and emergencies come up outside of 9-5 and there are too many brokers who hold office hours of 8:30 am-8:45 am and don’t want the phone calls outside of those times. Don’t try to reach them outside of that block, they apparently have a life that doesn’t include assisting their agents. Support from the leadership team is an absolute must when outlining your recruiting of real estate professionals and agents scripts. Indicating how you provide this support is key to thinking about how to recruit good real estate agents. Agents, like any of us, want to feel part of something. Everyone feels good with a safety net and someone they can rely on to ask their questions. As real estate recruiting agents, it’s important to reassure your recruits in your scripts for realtors that you’re all on the same team (or you hope to be) and their success is your success. If you want to know how to recruit experienced real estate agents, tell them what kind of support they can expect by joining your brokerage in your real estate scripts, such as:

• Support Department

• Compliance Department

• Brokers cell number

• Legal line

• Transaction Coordinators

Perhaps your brokerage has a general inbox or phone number that multiple people monitor to offer quicker customer service to your agents, after all, they are your clients and the ones you need to keep happy. An effective script to recruit new real estate agents will detail the support structures that exist for talented agents at your agency.

The Rookie vs The Expert

Your recruiting real estate agents scripts and scripts for real estate agents are going to vary depending on the talent you are after and your value proposition. You’ll want to create a script to recruit new real estate agents as well as scripts for recruiting real estate agents with experience. A new licensee will be understanding of a higher split but will want more in terms of a great training program, while a seasoned pro will likely be the opposite. Be sure to differentiate in our real estate scripts especially when recruiting experienced real estate agents. The players may be different, but the game is the same, so when putting together your attack list of recruits, make sure you sort them by skill level so you know what the big guns in your arsenal are going to be to get folks who will be a good fit. This will help you drive the content of your scripts for recruiting real estate agents.

Using Bullet Theory To Recruit Real Estate Agents

When writing recruiting real estate agents scripts and figuring out the best way to recruit real estate agents, you want to pre-plan for the agents’ rebuttals. I like to call this plan the ‘bullet theory’. As a way to improve your real estate recruitment, for every excuse the agent comes at you with, the best realtor recruiters have a pre-thought out, quick reply, just like a bullet in your chamber. This is an essential component to recruiting for real estate agents and holds true when thinking about how to find newly licensed real estate agents and recruiting experienced real estate agents scripts. You’ll want to understand the most common reasons an agent does not want to switch brokerages:

Compensation plan

Go back to the top and have your answers ready in your real estate scripts about how you plan to beat their current plan. As a real estate recruiter compensation is one of the most important conversation topics you’ll cover. Back to the health insurance comparison- agent A may prefer a higher premium with less out of pocket while agent B prefers an HSA. The point? They’re paying about the same but it’s the options and choices that were presented to them that make them feel more in control about their decision and make it seem the right thing to join your real estate team. To be an effective real estate recruiter compensation plans and associated details should be part of your realtor recruiting scripts.

Co-workers and the atmosphere

Good news! You can bring your team members with you, the more the merrier. Some brokers even offer some type of referral program benefit for bringing your agent friends who are the right people along with you when you switch. Think of hard expenses vs lost opportunities in the hiring process. Instead of paying the agent out a cash referral fee, maybe there is a credit you can give them from their brokerage fees as one of the great reasons to join. Keep this in mind when recruiting experienced real estate agents who will likely have a lot of in-industry contacts.

My Broker has been so good to me

Remind the agent that they are an independent contractor, not an employee. Friends are great, but you don’t owe your broker anything. Take them out for a happy hour, don’t limit your earning potential. It’s business, not personal. Maybe remind them that with the better compensation plan they will receive at your brokerage, they can go on vacation with their old broker buddy. Maybe the first round is even on them. This is an important issue to address in your scripts for real estate agents if you want to figure out how to recruit experienced real estate agents.

Benefits of the brokerage

What do you do for your agents that they can’t get where they are? You need to emphasize this in your realtor recruiting and realtor recruiting scripts. Some chummy things to consider researching would be, discounts for their everyday lives, maybe a partnership with a phone provider. Host agent happy hours or team building to ramp up the camaraderie. Other ideas are to partner with preferred vendors that offer the agents and their clients discounts for being part of your brokerage which is the best way to recruit real estate agents. Once you have these components in place, be sure to include the details in your how to recruit realtors scripts. One of the first real estate recruiter questions you can expect from a new agent prospect is what’s so special about your brokerage? Have your answer ready.

Comfort of the familiar

When recruiting for real estate agents, remind the agent that this is their business and they want to get the most out of it. Resting on your laurels is for the birds, get up, and make your life what you want so you can retire. Make a side by side comparison of their current brokerage vs yours before your realtor recruiting meeting to present to them and show them if they were willing to step outside of their box, that it’s not so scary out here and you can actually expect more than you have. Do you want to be the cowardly lion or the king of the forest? The best realtor recruiters can entice agents to take that next step.

Recruiting Real Estate Agents Scripts

In order to be as effective as possible to recruit real estate agents, you need good recruiting real estate agent scripts and campaigns. However, one size does not fit all and the same one real estate recruiting script will not work for every agent and circumstance. It’s important to differentiate based on whether the agent is #1 In Real Estate School, #2 Newly Licensed, #3 Experienced, or you are recruiting at a #4 Charitable/Community Event. If you’re thinking about how to recruit good real estate agents, you need to be specific and targeted in your search. Below are examples of each type of recruiting real estate agent scripts that can help you think through where to recruit real estate agents.

Everyone’s market, agent population, and competition are different. Just like there’s no one campaign that resonates with every agent, there’s no one campaign idea that works in every market with a mass email. Use these as a jumping-off point. The more you can customize the campaign the better. The best scripts for recruiting real estate agents are thoughtful and unique. Add your own language and adjust it to fit your prospects for real estate recruitment agencies. This goes for your cold calling scripts for real estate recruiting as well as text scripts for recruiting real estate agents. The medium doesn’t matter, your approach is what will make the difference.

All of these campaigns are fairly short and meant to be delivered within 10 to 14 days. They are effective if you are recruiting real estate agents through text or putting together a plan for cold calling scripts for real estate recruiting. You can stretch a campaign out to cover a longer span, but that isn’t always necessary. If someone isn’t responding to your approach, the answer isn’t to keep them on a multi-month campaign that hammers the same point. Rather, you should have several short campaigns built where you can change up your angle of attack as needed and see what connects. If you are not getting any responses, change your messaging, and experiment with changing your subject line. There isn’t one single approach for recruiting for real estate agents, try a bit of everything until you find what fits.

In-School/Considering School 

• Step 1 – Text – “Hey FirstName, I heard you were getting into real estate. Congrats! Do you need any study guides or help with test prep? – MyName with XYZ Realty”

• Step 2 – Email – Flier celebrating a recent recruit for landing a deal shortly after joining. Use the contract date rather than the closing date to make it seem more impressive, and include the property and price point only if it’s noteworthy.

• Step 3 – Email – Flier for your career night with a title like “Starting At Success: How to avoid the most common pitfalls when starting your career in real estate.” with an Eventbrite link leading to registration.

• Step 4 – Text – “Hey FirstName, we’re hosting a career night on what to expect and plan for when you’re first getting into real estate next week. Think you can make it?”

• Most people don’t delete texts, so unless your marketing rules require it, there’s no need to include your name and brokerage on the second and third text you send. Doing so can look odd and overly formal, and we want the prospect to see you as a friend and resource. It’s helpful to keep the tone of your texts casual/informal so your campaign does not sound automated.

  

This campaign assumes you have something of value to give a prospect who’s in or thinking about real estate school and the job she/he will get after. If it all possible, make it something they have to physically come in and pick up – not something you can email. This may also be an effective group for recruiting real estate agents through text as that medium may appeal more to a younger demographic.

When thinking about where to recruit real estate agents, sometimes getting out of the office is the best approach. This also assumes you have some sort of regular, weekly prospecting event. You can adjust according to your schedule.

Whenever possible, use Eventbrite or a similar service to schedule your recruiting realtor career nights. This way, your campaigns are always up to date, and prospects have the option of signing up for future sessions if they aren’t immediately available. It also gives you a way to easily record how many prospective recruits signed up so you can track the success of these events to measure your results. The best way to recruit real estate agents is by engaging in person, so keep these events top of mind.

The below scripts include options for both email and text scripts for recruiting real estate agents. Plan your strategy based on the best medium for you and your business.

Newly Licensed and First Year Agents

• Step 1 – Text – “Hey FirstName, congrats on getting your license! How have things been going so far? – YourName with XYZ Realty”

• Step 2 – Email – Flier celebrating a recent recruit for landing a deal shortly after completing training. Use the contract date rather than the closing date to make it seem more impressive, and include the property/price point if it’s noteworthy.

• Step 3 – Email – Flier for your career night with a title like “Hit the Ground Running: How to land your first deal in 30 days or less” with an Eventbrite link leading to registration.

• Step 4 – Text – “Hey FirstName, are you free to grab a coffee next week? I’d love to sit down and share what’s working for a lot of our agents.”

Almost a carbon-copy of the last campaign, but instead of focusing on “how am I going to pass” we’re targeting “when am I going to get paid?” You don’t always need to reinvent the wheel increasing how to recruit realtors scripts – small changes to existing marketing materials can provide an entirely different angle for real estate recruitment to go after folks just getting started in their real estate careers. When considering how to find newly licensed real estate agents, tailor your approach to be informative and keep them interested.

Experienced Agent

• Step 1 – Text – “Hey FirstName – YourName with XYZ Realty. I was going over production numbers and it looks like you had a great 2019. Are you on pace to beat that this year?”

• Step 2 – Email – Flier celebrating a top producer in your office who managed to increase their production/total listings/team size by X% over last year. Use whichever figures are most impressive.

• Step 3 – Email – Flier for a seminar on “Reaching the Next Level: How to break out of your sales rut and achieve more” hosted by you or a top agent in your office, aimed at bringing over already producing agents. Run those sorts of meeting periodically and include an Eventbrite link.

• Step 4 – Text – “Hey FirstName – can I ask a favor? We put a lot of effort into making sure our agents have what they need to win. I’d love some outside perspective on any challenges you might be facing. Is there anything you feel is slowing you down that a brokerage could help more with?”

• Step 5 – Email – Short flier advertising one of your top agents with a testimonial of why they like your office and how it’s helped them achieve more.

Experienced agents know the score – they expect to be recruited and often won’t respond if they’ve had a good experience & they’re happy where they are. However, getting them to open up about what they want from their brokerage – coaching, transaction support, tools to build their own team, etc – lays out the problem you need to solve to win them over. All of these components should be included in your recruiting experienced real estate agents scripts.

Never be negative about where they are currently, and never assume you know their motivations. Most will want more money, certainly, but plenty will want to increase their average price point or grow a team so they don’t have to work as many deals and have a better work/life balance. Everyone’s why is different. Each one gives you a different opportunity to sign them. Try to identify what will best motivate your top talent or prospect to consider changing firms, focus on it, and customize your campaign accordingly.

Charitable/Community Event Campaign

• Step 1 – Text – “Hey FirstName – YourName with XYZ Realty. We’re collecting canned goods for the local food bank. Just wondering, do you have anything you’d be willing to donate?”

• Step 2 – Email – Send a flier announcing the food drive. Use local charity logos and pictures of your team if you have them, and include your address and number to “schedule” donations.

• Step 3 – Text – “Hey FirstName – just wanted to shoot you an update. We’re up to 150lbs of canned food. It’s been great seeing all the agents come together over this to really help our community.”

• Step 4 – Bulk Email – Tag everyone who donated and send them a Bulk Email. Use photos of your team with the total donation or at the drop-off, and thank them for their contribution. Follow up with a thank-you call and transition into business and recruiting.

You’ll have to fudge the numbers in Text #2 since you’re writing it a few agents in advance, so pick something that’s impressive yet possible – 50 coats, 30 volunteers, 150 lbs of canned food, or whatever seems reasonable given your number of agents and the task at hand.

New agents can bring their donations in and see the office. If you’re asking for food or clothing donations from a more experienced agent, offer to meet them somewhere and buy them coffee for their trouble. Either way is an easy transition into an informal appointment.

This sort of campaign works around anything – food and coat drives, Habitat for Humanity builds and local park builds, litter cleanup, and community rehab. Aside from the direct and obvious good you’re doing for people, charitable works are a great way to strengthen office culture, get positive exposure in your community, and pull more agents into the fold. In thinking about where to recruit real estate agents, incorporating a charitable component is a win-win.

Advertise What You Already Offer

There are tons of campaigns and recruiting real estate agent scripts for real estate recruitment that you can build that capitalize on what you’re already providing. A few ideas of who realtor recruiters can target when thinking about how to recruit good real estate agents:

• Agents at franchises with high splits, letting them know what they’re leaving on the table.

• Agents at 100% and fee-only brokerages, advertising the services, technology, training, and coaching you provide that they likely don’t have access to.

• Agents working in low-price point areas with seminars on how to expand their farm area and branch out into higher-priced properties.

• Mid-tier and high price point agents regarding your relocation program to expand their reach and give them an easier source of deals.

• Agents who want great office culture, advertising your team outings for a bowling night or happy hour.

• Agents who want to own or expand their rental inventory, advertising your property management division and it’s team-member discounts.

As long as you understand the basics of how to construct a campaign and don’t try to over complicate it, there’s really no limit to how you can approach your prospects when recruiting realtors. Try some different campaigns, and record the results, so you know what works best and can adjust your recruiting scripts for real estate agents accordingly. Keep in mind that your methods for how to find newly licensed real estate agents versus how you look for more seasoned candidates will vary. Keep your strategy flexible.

Now you have a starting point in your skip down the yellow brick road of real estate recruiting, realtor recruitment and real estate scripts. The biggest advice to take away from this when you’re writing your real estate agent recruiting scripts is, let’s say it together, Don’t BS a BS’er, because agents are like bloodhounds, and can sniff out a weasel a mile away. Still true in 2020, honesty is always the best policy for real estate agent recruiters. Be confident enough in your brokerage to never fib facts to get them to drive the car off the lot because when it breaks down in 100 yards, they’ll push it back. Your how to recruit realtors scripts should be clear and honest. Do your due diligence, your research, and map out your plan of attack. Find the line between good follow-up and stalker, don’t take the no’s personally. Remember you are selling to a salesperson when you work in realtor recruitment and develop scripts for real estate agents. Good Luck.