Our Biggest Surprises from 40,000 Recruiting Calls

Last week, I shared our biggest learnings from making over 40,000 recruiting calls on behalf of brokerages across the country (click here if you missed that article).

This week, I’m sharing our five biggest surprises.

Surprise #1 – There Are No “Right” Days or Times to Make Calls

We’re on the phone Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (in the local times of our clients).

And after reviewing the data on answer and opportunity rates across dozens of brokerages in markets large and small, we haven’t found any “right” days or times to make calls.

We haven’t found any “wrong” days or times either.

So don’t worry about the timing of your recruiting calls. That you make calls is far more important than when you make them.

Surprise #2 - Agents Change Their Minds…Quickly

We have a system for how often we call prospects who tell us they’re “happy” or “not interested”.

And at first, I assumed it would take at least six months for some of those uninterested agents to change their minds.

But I was wrong.

We’ve had uninterested agents change their minds in as little as two or three months.

So reach out to your prospects on a regular basis (even the ones you think you have no shot to recruit). You can’t predict when their minds will change.

Surprise #3 – Newer Brokerages Do Particularly Well

We work with several companies that have been in business less than two years. And the traditional concern with newer companies is their lack of market share or a track record will hurt them with recruiting.

But it turns out the opposite is true.

On average, our less established clients have higher percentages of agents willing to meet with them than our more established clients.

The same applies when existing brokerages expand into new markets. They get higher than average opportunity rates.

Agents are curious about new. They want to make sure they’re not missing out on something better.

So if you’ve recently opened your brokerage, or if you’ve expanded into a new market, make recruiting a priority now.

Surprise #4 - Competing Broker Isn’t an Issue

Many of our clients sell in addition to owning their companies. And we thought the “competing broker” issue might prove an obstacle to getting appointments.

We were wrong.

I’m willing to bet fewer than 10 agents have said anything about broker competition (and we’ve spoken to more than 20,000 agents).

In fact, our producing clients’ name recognition and reputation in the marketplace earns them more opportunities on average than our clients who do not sell.

So if you’re a competing broker, don’t worry about your production getting in the way of recruiting.

Surprise #5 - The Busy Season Is NOT the Most Challenging Time to Get Appointments

The busy season has a reputation as the most challenging time to recruit. The assumption is agents have too much going on to explore their options.

But once again, the numbers prove the prevailing assumption wrong.

We didn’t see a meaningful drop in the number of recruiting appointments until late June/early July. And in most markets, that’s when the busy season is either winding down or has already ended.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the number of appointments didn’t fall off a cliff. But, our average opportunity rates in July and August were down about two to four percent from previous months.