Why do I ask the question?My observations and experience have been that many agents see the internet as a threat to their livelihood vs. a powerful tool to not only keep them in the business, but elevate productivity and service delivery.

How can that be with the internet world we live and function in professionally and personally?

1. For many it’s a different way of doing business and most human beings don’t like change, especially the real estate agent species.
2. The inability to commit to a system and process for a sustained period of time.
3. Lack of direction, leadership, and understanding of the online experience at the Broker level.
4. Proof for the agent that a pleasurable online experience is what the consumer wants and actual results that can be realized.The proof is out there, are you presenting that data to your agents.

Let’s eliminate any thoughts of the internet pushing agents out of the business.

1. Technology can’t show a house
2. Technology can’t automatically write an offer with the specific items necessary for each individual contract or sale.
3. Technology can’t negotiate.
4. One question to ponder:Can technology build trust?

Here’s the good news, the consumer still needs you, but only if you have the following key pieces in place to support the personal side of the buying and selling process.

1. The consumer wants information NOW!!!Is your website the information portal for all real estate needs and community information for your marketplace?
2. Is your website “ego based” or is it “value exchange and informational based”?The consumer doesn’t care if you sold a Billion dollars of real estate, they want information they can use.
3. Do you have a lead capture mechanism on your website?Remember, the only way you will capture leads is if you have something of value the consumer is receiving in return for their information.
4. Do you have a lead incubation system?You can have all the leads in the world, but if you don’t have a follow-up system, you have leads and your competition with a follow-up system has sales.

Here’s the bottom-line.Technology is a lead generating, lead capturing, lead incubation and time management tool for your business.Technology is here to stay and so are you and your agents if you are consistent and committed to the process and a system the consumer is asking for.

For those that don’t commit to technology, you will be pushed out of the business by the choice that you make.

© 2008 The Real Estate Recruiters/The Real Recruiter

Jon Cheplak, ABR, GRI, CRS, CRB, CLHMS is the President and Founder of The Real Estate Recruiters, The Management and Recruiting Solutions Experts for the real estate industry and The Real Recruiter. He can be reached at 775-846-5748 or e-mail him at recruit@therealestaterecruiters.com. Visit his website at www.therealestaterecruiters.com or www.therealrecruiter.com

A couple years ago I was training a group of managers and one of the first comments was, “I have mailed out 5,000 postcards to experienced agents and have not received a single call.”

What are the 2 most used prospecting methods for recruiting experienced agents? Postcards and mail have been my observation. What is the least effective prospecting method for recruiting experienced agents? Postcards and mail is also my observation (a caveat to that is the effectiveness goes up dramatically with a follow up call, but who’s making consistent experienced agent recruiting calls?).

I will share with you some prospecting methods to recruit experienced agents, but remember this; they are all worthless without picking up the phone. We will visit the telephone prospecting later in the article.

Strategy #1: The Postcard: “Wait a minute,” you’re saying, “You just told me that’s the least effective form of prospecting.” You’re right, I did, but I kind of left myself an out. You’ve got to pick up the phone. You can’t just rely on reactionary prospecting. You’ve got to take action. Let’s get back to the postcard. There are some rules that go with this strategy. First I have a question. If you sent out 500 postcards to an agent” office, how many would actually be received by the agent? That would be zero, but I see it still taking place. Any and all recruiting mail must go to the agent’s home address.

The next question: What are you communicating in your postcards? There’s only one communication, how you can personally take their business to the next level and a call to action that will prompt them to call you or at least peak their interest when you make the follow-up.

Simple postcards mailed to their home address that provokes thought about your ability to take their business to the next level.

Strategy #2: Training Events: Rent a training room at a local hotel and put on a half day training event for all the agents in your marketplace. That’s right, train the competition. How else will they be able to measure you and your leadership, training, and coaching skills? These are the reasons an agent will join your company. If you are not comfortable enough with your training skills, then bring in an industry trainer to your market and invite your agents and your target recruits.

Strategy #3: Acknowledgment: Do for your recruits what their manager is not doing for them, acknowledge them for their work. On a weekly basis, have your assistant monitor the sales and listing activity of the agents you are trying to recruit. At the end of the week make a simple call to each and every one of them.
Hi Eric, this is Jon with ABC Realty. I wanted to call and congratulate you on your new listing and sale this week. If there is anything I can do to help you sell more real estate, please don’t hesitate to call.
Very simple and not a big old sales pitch. One other question: Is their manager acknowledging them on a consistent basis. More importantly, are you acknowledging your agents for their work?

Strategy #4: Pick Up The Phone and Prospect: I know, we just talked about picking up the phone in strategy #4. That was just to warm you up. Strategy #4 is the real deal. This call has one purpose, get an appointment. Before we go further, I would like to ask you to reflect on your current calling strategy. Hopefully you do have one……O.K., let’s move forward. The call is quite simple and is not designed to “sell” the recruit, it’s designed to provoke thought and allow them to see value in meeting with you. Here’s what it looks like.
Hi Eric, this is Jon with ABC Realty. I’m calling today for a couple reasons. First of all I want to congratulate you for the great work you are doing with your business…..Second, I wanted to know if you are open minded?……Great, I would like to take the time to sit down with you and learn more about you while coaching you with some strategies and tactics that I’m sure you can use to increase your business.

Notice I’m not leading with my brand new super cyber prospecting secret that all of our agents are now using to make a billion dollars. That’s the antiquated method of recruiting. It’s about having the confidence and ability to sit down with an experienced agent and display your value proposition by coaching them. Pretty simple, isn’t it?

© 2008 The Real Estate Recruiters/The Real Recruiter

Jon Cheplak, ABR, GRI, CRS, CRB, CLHMS is the President and Founder of The Real Estate Recruiters, The Management and Recruiting Solutions Experts for the real estate industry and The Real Recruiter. He can be reached at 775-846-5748 or e-mail him at recruit@therealestaterecruiters.com. Visit his website at www.therealestaterecruiters.com or www.therealrecruiter.com

Does this sound familiar to you? It sure does to me. I hear it all the time, “Jon, I can’t find time to recruit agents with all of the managerial issues I am dealing with.” Most brokers I talk to want the time management “magic pill”.

Before we talk about the solution, let’s look at the truth. Can you really manage time? Of course not, but you can most certainly manage your decisions. Time management is simply based on an attitude and the choices you make. So for the purpose of this article we are going to focus on the choices and your attitude, as both are critical in gaining control of your day, activities, and results.

1. Time blocking: Scheduling a certain activity during a specific time, quite basic and I know you have all heard this one before. If not, start doing it today.

   Challenges: The phone rings, you check your email, or someone interrupts you with a great problem on one of their transactions and wants you to come be the ‘Deal Doctor”. You dash out of your office with your Superman cape in tow to fix the deal. You’re not committed to your schedule. Oh, wait a minute, it’s really not your schedule because management is about reacting to everyone else’s problems…..NOT TRUE, but we’ve all been there before, right?

2. Vision: Yes, I said vision. Create a picture in your mind and on paper of who or what your organization is going to be in the future (stated and realized in the present tense), inclusive of your principles and values. Now you have a real meaning for the recruiting activities you are doing every days.

   Challenges: Very few leaders have a clearly articulated vision statement. Do you have a clear vision? If not, how can you commit to activities without a purpose and picture of what your work will create for you? This is where the recruiting activities become a grind. No vision = no inspiration in the work that you do.

3. Skills: You’ve got to be skilled. Work on your telephone, interview, and coaching skills. You must be good at all three to be a GREAT recruiter.

   Challenges: You have areas in your skill-sets that need to be improved or enhanced or maybe you feel that the old maintenance style of management will drive profitability. You’re like most people and move to the activity that is most comfortable; deal doctoring, and it monopolizes all of your time. You go through the daily grind and are exhausted from fixing deals and agent problems. No recruiting takes place.

It’s no mystery, we all know that recruiting is the lifeblood of our business, but it’s not getting done. The greatest reason I hear is a lack of time, but here’s the truth; it’s typically a lack of commitment, lack of skills, and leadership styles that disable by being a helper instead of empowering agents to self-discovery.

Validation is the big issue, not time management. You can experience immediate validation by fixing a deal or listening to someone’s problems, but validation for your recruiting work takes time. I’m not telling you to ignore your agents. I’m simply suggesting that you empower them by allowing them to go through their own discovery processes while leading a culture that supports. If you continually help people, you will become a helper. If you empower and inspire people you will become a leader, which one sounds better to you?

You have one main objective as a leader in the real estate industry, and that is to recruit agents. Stop being a helper and start being a leader, create a vision, build your skill-sets, and commit to the activities and time that is necessary to get the job done. You see, it’s really about managing you, not time.

Jon Cheplak, ABR, GRI, CRS, CRB, CLHMS is the President and Founder of The Real Estate Recruiters, The Management and Recruiting Solutions Experts for the real estate industry and The Real Recruiter www.therealrecruiter.com He can be reached at 775-846-5748 or e-mail him at recruit@therealestaterecruiters.com. Visit his website at www.therealestaterecruiters.com

Drip Campaigns may be a “passive” systems… but they are by no means ineffective. As a matter of fact, it can be one of the most effective methods of recruiting that you will use. There is a key here: it MUST be helpful and informational – not “I Love Me” stuff. What do I mean by this? “I Love Me” is what this industry has been raised on since the beginning of time. It’s the “we’re the greatest…” or “we have the best email and websites…” or “our income systems are the best in the industry …” This is no different than the agent who only uses “Multi Million Dollar Producer” or “#1 Sales Agent in the marketplace…” The only people who care about the bragging are those that are declaring it.

Let’s face it – in the 21^st Century, everyone has great technology and “stuff.” What everyone doesn’t have is SUBSTANCE! Here’s where you can set yourself apart from the crowd. Develop at least 2 drip campaigns: New/Rookie Agent and Experienced Agent. If you want to add even more substance, develop retention drip campaigns for your current agents, we will talk more about that later.

Let’s talk about the New or Rookie Agent Drip Campaign first. A new agent (or one who is going through the real estate licensing course) is looking for certain things - support, coaching, training… and the biggies – making them feel safe, secure and important. They are going to get bombarded by every company in your market with the same message: we are the best, come join the best. Your message needs to address the other issues. Your message needs to get that prospective agent “involved” in the process. How? By not only giving them the normal company information, but by asking them questions, getting them to reflect, and inviting them to participate in your office activities before they pass the real estate exam.

Your New/Rookie Agent Drip Campaign should be an 8 week intensive contact series focusing on your training, support, systems, and constant invitations to visit your recruiting website and attend your career night and other training opportunities. Let me ask you this question. Will you generate loyalty and a sense of belonging if a prospective agent starts attending your events long before getting their license? Of course you will – you’re bringing them into your family and feeding their need to “belong.” You are creating the sense of “belonging”, long before most other brokers will sit down and speak with them.

The second critical Drip Campaign is your experienced agent series. Let’s talk about the length of the campaign first. The experienced agent recruiting process is a “long escrow” – sometimes it can take YEARS to recruit the experienced agent. This means that your experienced agent campaign must last YEARS as well. If it doesn’t last for a minimum of 4 years you are going to miss some serious retained company dollar walking through your door.

The frequency is also important. The internet has made us indifferent. Direct Marketing Association statistics used to say the optimum length between contacts was 21 days. The internet has drastically changed that interval. It is sooooo easy to hit the “delete” button on your computer. If the subject line doesn’t hit us at the right time or tell us exactly what is in the email…. DELETE! The interval now has to be a maximum of 14 days and in our experience, we have the best results at 7 days between contacts. That’s right, every week, BUT it has to have the right message.

Your message is critical for a number of reasons. First, the message must show your knowledge. Second, the message must offer the agent something of value. Third, the message must offer just enough information to leave them wanting more. And fourth, every message must have a call to action.

Show Your Knowledge. This is the most critical element. The agents today have spoken with their dollars. They are spending millions of dollars each year on coaching. Agents are looking for a coach and a mentor with knowledge and skills. Your ultimate goal is to become their coach and mentor.

Offer the Agent Something of Value: Your drip campaign should be content and value rich. Each message in the drip campaign should contain information that an agent can actually use to build their business. Hmmmm… maybe they should be called “Business Building Tips.” Include tips about Lead Generation, For Sale by Owner marketing, Business Planning, Building a Team, sourcing their business, and more.

Just Enough: You are not going to take them step-by-step through every system and process. For example, if you are speaking of the 8 key steps to success in real estate and one of your steps is develop a business plan, you don’t have to walk them through every step of the business plan. Only give them the basics of “you must have a written business plan.” This leads to the fourth critical piece…

Calls to Action: to get someone to do something or take action what do you have to do? ASK THEM TO DO IT! It’s a step that we miss so often in the marketing process. To continue with the business plan example, if we tell them that step number 1 of the 8 key steps to success is to have a written business plan, then our Call to Action will read something like this: Call or email me today and I will help you develop your written business plan! When you do this, you are giving them the answer to their question of “how do I develop a written business plan?” You are also letting them know that you can, and will help them with this process.

You can always have more Drip Campaigns but at least have these two.

The breakdown in the recruiting process is due to a lack of systems. The email drip campaign will provide you that system in an automated fashion.

What do you currently have in place that is maintaining contact with your prospects consistently and in an automated fashion?

Emperical data has shown that it takes on average, 14 contacts before an experienced agent makes a decisioin to change companies. What is your current 14 contact follow-up system?

To learn more about The Real Recuiter and our powerful drip-campaign program, contact Jon Cheplak at 775-846-5748 or email him at joncheplak@msn.com

The most important component when recruiting with technology is a lead capture mechanism. The lead capture mechanism is your public website. I’m not talking about your company website, I’m referring to a recruiting specific website. This recruiting website is used to generate agent traffic. The traffic you generate will be in two categories, rookie agents or agents in real estate school, and experienced agents. Let’s talk about the rookie agents first. To a rookie or a new agent, your information on the recruiting website should be specifically directed to getting their license, how to choose the correct company to affiliate with, and how to become successful as a newly licensed real estate agent. The experienced agent is looking for completely different information. They are looking for a safe environment to gather information that they may be lacking. This will include information on changing from one company to another in a seamless fashion. Training information that they may not be receiving at their current broker is also a necessity for your recruiting website and real usable information on how to increase their business.

These agents, regardless whether they are rookies or experienced, are not looking for fluff or hype. They are looking for information that has real substance in developing a successful real estate career. While this website provides information to the agent, it is also a showcase for your company. Here’s how that’s accomplished: by providing useful information you are setting yourself apart as a coach, leader, and a company that cares about the agent’s success. Further, you are demonstrating your commitment to technology, training, and resources that are available. Here are the key ingredients that must go into every recruiting website: Changing companies, licensing process, training and events, news and announcements, career information, and of course, the about us section.

Critical parts of the recruiting website are the lead capture opportunities. These should include tips for success or business building information, opportunities to attend your training and events, and the ability to request career information. All of this must be incorporated into a contact management system that will automate your recruiting process.

In today’s world of information and the internet, the public, which includes prospective agents, value anonymity. How this relates to your website starts with their very first introduction to the site and that’s your domain name or url. Here’s an example as it relates to your agents and their internet marketing. We have seen over the past 5 years, a prolific increase in lead generation companies that target your agents. These lead generation companies succeed because they offer information to the public without the need for contact with an agent. How do they do this? By starting with the right domain name that will assist in driving traffic to their lead capture website. Here’s a specific example: Is a homebuyer going to click on an ad for Joe Smith realtor.com or charlestonhomesearch.com? Which would you click on if you were searching for a home? Take that and now think of your recruiting website as an agent lead capture mechanism. It starts with the basics and that includes your url. If you’re an agent or a prospective agent looking for real estate information, are you going to go to abcrealty.com or charlestonrealestatecareers.com. Think about the advertising and marketing you are doing for prospective agents….. A simple change in the domain name that you advertise will see your web traffic explode. Here’s the other piece, remember the website we were talking about a moment ago? The url alone will not generate the capture opportunities. If a prospective agent goes to charlestonrealestatecareers.com, they must see career building information, first and foremost. That will lead to prospective agent lead capture.

Finally, your domain name or url won’t get it done alone. You must have a consistent off-line marketing campaign, inclusive of print media and postcards to drive traffic to your site.

Stay tuned for my next article in the series of Recruiting with Technology; Your Recruiting Drip Campaign. To learn more about The Real Recuiter go to www.therealrecruiter.com or contact Jon Cheplak at 775-846-5748 or email him at joncheplak@msn.com.

Does it seem like our industry has evolved from “The Real Estate Industry that involves a little bit of Technology” to “Being in The Technology Business that Involves a Little bit of Real Estate”?

Today we are clearly focused on the internet experience the customer is having with us in their home selling and home buying process, it really makes us wonder what business we are in. The consumer now has and wants even more information than ever before. They want to get that information confidentially and many times they don’t want to be contacted. Then there are others that want information, will provide you their information, but only want to be contacted electronically. Finally, you have the customer that wants to inquire on-line and expects an immediate response.

The on-line experience is rather interesting as many still feel that it is a risk to our industry and our ability to build the personal relationship. My belief is that the internet has created a condition where we can provide more and even a better level of service to a lot more people.

Here’s why; as mentioned above, everyone has a different level of expectation regarding communication. Do they want to be contacted? How do they want to be contacted? How often do they want to be contacted? In addition, what do they expect in the transference of information? Here’s a clue, most want it all without having to do much on their end until they are ready to take action.

What does all this have to do with recruiting? I look at the agent experience with great similarity to the home buying and home selling experience. When an agent is evaluating a “destination broker”, a broker the agent is considering joining - just like the consumer when they research homes, agents research companies/brokers on-line. By the way, rarely do they make an inquiry, schedule an appointment with the broker, and for lack of better words “buy immediately”. It would sure be nice if recruiting worked that way.

First of all, agents are concerned with confidentiality because they don’t want their broker or other agents to know they are considering a move. Second, would it be fair to say that it can be challenging to get an appointment with the experienced agent? Sure it is, it’s the number one challenge brokers experience. So if an agent wants confidentiality and it’s tough to get an appointment, wouldn’t you agree that a powerful recruiting website is critical?

Before you run out and start building a website, take a look at some of the recruiting websites that are currently posted for real estate companies. Better yet, if you have a recruiting website, take a look at yours and keep these thoughts in mind. Is it all about you? What do I mean by this? Is it a “brag site” or is it a site that transfers value?

Another critical part of your website is lead capture. The number one objective of your recruiting website is to capture leads. How do you do that? The simple principle of fair exchange. You must provide something of value to get something in return, the capture of data….a lead.

Value transference: So how do you transfer value to an agent that is visiting your website? Provide them with something tangible they can use in their business. How about a business plan? How about business building tips? How about a training center? Are you following me? Everyone expects you to say how great you and your company are on your recruiting website, that’s easy. Be different by transferring value they can use. You will be head and shoulders above the competition. To learn more about recruiting online, visit www.therealrecruiter.com or contact Jon Cheplak at 775-846-5748, joncheplak@msn.com.

Las Vegas, NV, — What happens when hottest leading edge, web based real estate recruitment tool is partnered with the top expert on internet marketing for REALTORS®? It’s better than peanut butter and chocolate, Fred and Ginger, or even a Ferrari on the Autobahn… at least if you are an agent looking for a new job or a broker needing to hire new agents. Launched in 2008 by Jon Cheplak, The Real Recruiter is an online lead capture, cultivation, and conversion mechanism, automated through action plans provided to the individual broker or hiring manager, for recruiting and retaining real estate professionals. Recently, they stepped their services up a huge notch by establishing a partnership with Michael Russer, aka Mr. Internet®, international speaker, author, and exclusive internet columnist for REALTOR magazine since 1998.

“Michael Russer is the number one expert in the online experience for the real estate industry. To have his brilliant insights and solid experience in collaboration with our platform really drives the service forward, creating a more valuable and credible product to our clients,” says Mr. Cheplak, though he is hardly a novice in the field himself. He has attained the ABR, GRI, CRS, CRB and CLHMS designations and was the 2003 top graduate of The Real Trends Leadership Institute. Mr. Cheplak has worked in real estate for over 17 years, providing training and consulting services to some of the top managers in the industry. With his consistent ability to develop leadership in the industry, his passion lead him in a new direction – providing tools, resources, and opportunities which enable others to utilize those same skill sets, all in a custom designed, simple to use but uniquely effective solution at The Real Recruiter.

The partnership between The Real Recruiter and Mr. Internet has already proven to be valuable to the product’s users. Mark Sampson of Call Realty Company, Inc. says “Many thanks for the system! I have six experienced agent interviews and five newly licensed for next week. Never could keep track of the follow-up with out your systems and method. Fantastic!”

To learn more about The Real Recruiter or to set up a personal tour, go to www.therealrecruiter.com, or call (775) 846-5748