by: Michael Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®)
REALTOR® Magazine - November, 2007

In any market, recruiting top sales talent is always a top priority for success-minded broker owners and managers. In today’s challenging markets fraught with so much uncertainty and discontent, smart recruiting can yield a veritable gold mine for your company. What very few companies realize however is that the most powerful way to tap into that gold mine is through the Web. Here’s how…

Three of the Biggest Recruiting Mistakes Companies Make on the Web

Most Web-based recruiting efforts I’ve seen are little more than a one page advertisement about how great the company is. This is not a very effective approach. Here are the three biggest “sins” committed by brokerages attempting to use the Web to recruit:

1. Use the corporate consumer site as a recruiting platform – if you want to powerfully connect and engage seasoned agent recruits you need a Website dedicated to just that. To do otherwise “dilutes” your message to them and your consumers.

2. Talk about how great your company is – let me say this as delicately as I can: They don’t care! Potential recruits only care about what your company can do for them —period! Far too many companies and managers confuse features vs. benefits when it comes to recruiting online or offline for that matter.

3. Fail to engage – “Call us for an appointment!” or asking them to fill out a Web form to schedule one is hardly a compelling call to action. There is a huge gap between a seasoned agent’s first thoughts of switching companies and risking an interview with you. This is a long sales and trust-building process that requires far more sophisticated levels of safe, discretionary Web engagement before they are willing to set that appointment.

Fortunately there is an approach using the Web that powerfully addresses the above issues and provides a highly systematic way of generating a steady stream of seasoned recruits for your company. The first critical step however is understanding potential recruits from within an online context…

Agents Are Online Consumers Too

Just like your real estate consumers, recruiting prospects enjoy the ability to “shop” for brokerage alternatives using the anonymity and convenience of the Web. Pushing them to reveal who they are or setting up an appointment before they complete their “information gathering” is a big mistake which will only push them away from you. Instead, you can use their need for information gathering (i.e. checking out the alternative company options available to them) to help them come to their own conclusions that your company is the best option.

To achieve this goal of beating your competitors for the best recruits requires a separate Website dedicated to the recruiting process. Here are some of the critical elements necessary for a Web-based recruiting system:

• Make it about them – everything within your recruiting site needs to answer the question “What’s in it for me?” from the perspective of the seasoned recruit. And it needs to do so in a unique and powerful way that differentiates you from your competitors. Avoid the temptation to talk about how wonderful your company is, instead focus on how they can have an extraordinary career that focuses on making more money, having more free time off and enjoying more what they do. You can even tease them with ideas on how they can create a powerful “exit strategy” that will pay them big dividends for when they will retire. If this sounds a bit like coaching, that’s because it is. They will only care about you and company once they know, really know you care about them. Each bit of Web coaching content can be tied to a “contact point” that steps them through the process of eventually setting up an appointment once their trust level is built up.

• Engage them, don’t “tell” them – you recruiting site copy should be written in 2nd person (i.e. lot’s of “you, your, yours”) and ask open-ended questions that causes your recruiting prospect to think about their career in ways that they may never have considered before. The use of a well-designed “Career Assessment” is ideal for this purpose. Remember, when you (or your site) “tells” them something, they will take it with a grain of salt. By asking the right questions, your site will facilitate them coming to their own conclusions that your company is a superior option. The most powerful form of persuasion is helping people come to their own conclusions.

• Constantly reassure them – from the perspective of the typical seasoned recruit, exploring other company options can be a risky pursuit. It is incumbent upon you to have your recruiting Website constantly reassure them that you will maintain the highest levels of discretion and confidentiality. This includes having a link to your Privacy Policy on every page and language on every Web form that essentially says: “We understand that discretion is of upmost importance to you as you explore your career options. Be assured that if you are not ready to open up about who you are at this point that is perfectly okay, our staff will completely respect your need for privacy.”

• Have an automated follow up system – when recruits request addition information from your site, put it in the form of a series of “coaching” emails. This is effective drip marketing where every message they receive from you will be considered highly valuable and unique to your company.

Just like online real estate consumers, your online recruiting prospects need time to build trust in you and your company and be convinced that you offer them the best option. Eventually they are likely to contact you for an appointment. When that happens, your dedicated recruiting Website has done its job and then it’s time to enter into the “sales & closing” phase of the recruiting process when you meet them face-to-face.

Driving Traffic to Your Recruiting Website

Forget about using search engine positioning to drive any meaningful traffic to you recruiting site. Very few if any veteran agents will use a search engine to look for alternative brokerage options. Let’s face it, unless you are in a humungous market, they already know you exist as an option. Here are the steps to driving traffic to your site:

1. Determine Your Target Market – this means generating a database of names and home addresses of every agent in your market place you feel meets your criteria and will be compatible with your company culture;

2. Create a Compelling Drip Postcard Campaign – I suggest an 18 piece campaign that is sent out to your database every three weeks (to their home, not their office!) Now this next part is important. The whole purpose of the postcard campaign is to have them go to your recruiting Website, perhaps to receive a complementary business assessment or special coaching tip. Don’t make the mistake of highlighting the benefits of joining your company. If you do, the postcard will be “round filed” instantly. They must go to your recruiting Website if you expect it to do the heaving lifting of the recruiting process for you.

3. Use An Attention Getting Postcard Design – you can send 11.25″ x 5.75″ super jumbo two-sided, four-color fully laminated postcards with addressing and postage for about 75 cents apiece through Expresscopy.com. This is an incredible service at an unbeatable price. And, if designed appropriately, this super-sized postcard really gets their attention.

Now you can try to create your own recruiting Website and back-end marketing and tracking systems yourself, but I don’t recommend it. It’s a lot of work and takes an enormous amount of planning and programming to pull it off correctly. Fortunately, there is a turnkey solution that can get you up and running with a fully customized Web recruiting system in no time…

The Industry’s First Web-based Recruiting System

TheCyberRecruiter.com is the industry’s first comprehensive system to utilize the power of the Web in the recruiting process. I was so impressed when I saw a demonstration of their system and how closely if followed my principles for online engagement that I became an advisor to the company. The folks at The Cyber Recruiter will create a customized recruiting Website designed to fit the culture of your company. These sites focus heavily on the career of the recruit and have many points of “engagement” that help build trust so that calls to action (i.e. setting up an appointment) is a natural outcome of the process.

You can see an example of their recruiting sites by going to www.palosverdesrecareers.com. As you review this site you will see that the focus is primarily on the recruit. It even gives them free coaching on how to improve their business, without any commitments of any kind. In addition to the site, The Cyber Recruiter system has a complete Web-based recruit tracking system and also provides live group coaching on how to most effectively use the system and how to “close the deal” once you meet with the recruit. One of the founders of this service is Jon Cheplak, one of the most experienced and well-known names in real estate recruiting.

Is this a perfect Web-based system. No, but it is the closest to it I’ve yet seen. Part of my role as an advisor to the company is to help them incorporate even more powerful Web methods and strategies to turn recruit clicks into solid hires for your company.

Now Is The Time

Uncertainty in the market place breeds discontent. Discontent is a powerful initial lever to have great seasoned agents look at other affiliation options. Today’s environment is a huge opportunity to gain enormous market share —if you do it right and take action now. Incorporating a well-designed Web-based recruiting system is not only right thing to do, it’s the strategically smart thing to do.

NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.

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Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. You’ll see his column on REALTOR® Magazine Online every month and in the magazine quarterly. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.russer.com

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This article is reprinted in its entirety from the October 2007 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. November 2007. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark and IEC™ and Ask Mr. Internet!™ are trademarks of RUSSER Communications.

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