Teach to Recruit and Grow Your Business

Gary and Jay write in The Millionaire Real Estate Agent that “Because Millionaire Real Estate Agents have made a commitment to succeed through others, they will continually need to look for talent,” (p. 203). This means “building your bench” and consistently looking for people who could be great additions to your organization, should the opportunity arise. 

Share Your Knowledge and Discover New Connections

One of the best ways to scout for talent is to offer training. Not only does holding an educational event help you build trust within your community while building your reputation as an expert, it introduces you to people who are looking to level up their skill in real estate. These are the kind of empire builders that you want to identify and attract for your bench. 

To ensure that you’re able to connect with the people from your workshop or seminar, don’t forget to require attendees to sign in or register. This way you’ll have accurate contact information on hand to add to your database, or to facilitate a TCPA-compliant follow-up call. 

Identify Talent 

Although it’s natural to assume that talent is talent, there are actually two types of talent: capacity talent vs. cul-de-sac talent. As you’re looking to hire people to add to your team (or are identifying people to keep on your short-list for future opportunities), it’s important to keep this in mind.  

Capacity talent is someone who has the ability to do not only their current role really well, but has the desire and ability to take on and learn new tasks and responsibilities. 

Cul-de-sac talent is someone who has the ability to do a role very well, but has no desire or capacity to take on new tasks. Just as a cul-de-sac doesn’t really go anywhere, this person doesn’t have the ability to grow with their job. 

A learning environment is a natural place to identify talent. When teaching your seminar, you’ll be aware of those who are following along, engaging with the material. These people will show a learning-based attitude, being curious. They may push you to provide deeper explanations or ask you a question. But don’t make the mistake of assuming any quiet students aren’t paying attention. There are introverted agents who have remarkable talent.  

Take note of any promising students. You can say, “That’s a great question, unfortunately I don’t have the time to go into it with all the other material we need to cover today, so why don’t we connect about it later?”

Use the contact information that you collected at registration to follow up and schedule a conversation at another time to find out more about their goals and motivations. 

Move from Expert of Choice to Mentor of Choice

You can form a relationship with your promising recruit by moving from teacher to mentor. 

The word “mentor” finds its roots in Homer’s Odyssey, where the Greek goddess Athena disguised herself as Mentor, who passed on wisdom and guided Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, while his father made his long journey home from the battle of Troy. In case you’re a little fuzzy on your ancient literature, Athena’s advice eventually led to Telemachus, who had never seen his father before, identifying his father when he finally returned home. 

In the same way that Athena helped guide Telemachus toward his long-lost father, we use mentors in our lives to help guide us through the challenges we face. 

The great thing about being a mentor and mentee is that it is a powerful relationship with the potential to help both parties — without having to take on the financial burden of hiring an additional team member before you (or your business) is ready. Working with your mentee can help you get to know them as they are on the bench, and make you confident when the time is right to put them on the ice. 

COMING SOON: 

THE ROOKIE REAL ESTATE AGENT WORKSHOP: How to Net $100k in Your First 12 Months

The workshop shares proven models and strategies from Jay Papasan’s new book, Rookie Real Estate Agent, and helps attendees build their roadmap to a six-figure business. Dive deep into the systems and leadership skills required to grow profit and hit goals. Plus, gain real-world insights from a panel of top local leaders who have successfully built their own six-figure businesses

• A customizable presentation to guide the attendees through mindset, financials, lead generation, and role play.

• A workbook with integrated activities that helps students build a plan for their income and business. 

• A folder of marketing materials to help attract talent to your workshop. 

Sign up here to be notified when the workshop goes live on Connect!