1. Advertise on your website. Something as simple as Google ad words can provide income.
2. Want the consumer to use your affiliated services? Try going B2B instead of B2C. Put some responsibility on the affiliates to drive business to your business instead of having them sit passively waiting for the agents to send them business.
3. Offer agents a chance to blog on your company website. This will give your agents added exposure, drive more traffic to your site and also provide hyper-local content that consumers want. It can also be a great recruiting tool.
4. Form affiliations with worthwhile companies that agents need. Train your agents on how to use these products and reap the benefits. They key here is “worthwhile” – make it something the agents want and need and will benefit the consumer in the end.
5. Stop thinking the only way to recruit an agent is to offer them a higher split and/or an opportunity to make more money. This is a relationship business. Take the time to form relationships and they will come. Get to know them in online communities, Meetups, Realtor committees, etc. Real estate companies need to step up and become leaders in real estate technology so they can pass this knowledge onto their agents. Corporate leaders being ignorant with regards to technology is just not acceptable.
6. Along those lines…stop recruiting anything with a license and a pulse. You are the driver of the industry…act like it and set some standards. Ask yourself, “would I let this agent work with my mother?” – then decide if they’re worth hiring. Think of things you can offer besides a split that will attract today’s agent. A few examples: a featured agent spot on the company website, free company training for a year, free coaching for a year…these all cost very little.
7. Teaching sales techniques to agents is great; however, add industry education. Agents need to be students of real estate, not just sales. Teach them the economics of real estate, trends, history, etc. The consumer will reward you for this. Along these lines, think about adding content on the company website that is not just about houses. Have agents put together short videos for your site about the market in their area, how mortgage rates are determined, their favorite park in their city….the content is fabulous and the exposure priceless.
8. Stop being passive with referrals. Use the power of the internet to attract referrals which you then pass to the agents. Engage with relocating consumers online and form relationships.
9. Being open 9-5 Monday through Friday is so 1980′s. Your website needs to be open and have instant chat available 24-7. Look into overseas agents to keep working while you sleep. It’s surprisingly affordable; and consumer friendly.
10. Your cost of carpet, bricks and mortar is huge. Look at how many agents (and consumers) are actually walking on that carpet on a DAILY basis and you will most likely realize that it can be cut dramatically. If you train your agents to be mobile and work a paperless transaction, this cost can be reduced even further.
