A question I get on a consistent basis is "Where do I find agents for my team?" It's a very significant question, because the team you build ultimately dictates the success of your business.

A question I get on a consistent basis is "Where do I find agents for my team?" It's a very significant question, because the team you build ultimately dictates the success of your business.

With a bad team, you'll have a bad business. With an average team, you'll have an average business. But if you build a great team, you will have a great business.

This little secret is the key to success in real estate, but nobody bothers to tell you this, do they? I learned not in my licensing or continuing education classes, but learned it the hard way instead. I seemed to recruit "bad" agents when first building my team, and my business suffered. I got a little better, finding some average agents, and things got a little better. When I was finally able to put together a team of great agents, my business really took off.

Bad Agents

Bad agents are people who suck a lot of your time without selling any homes. They actually make your business worse because you have to deal with all of their problems, complaints and/or issues. When you ask them why they didn't sign a prospect to an exclusive agreement, they'll almost always give you some sort of excuse.

It's easy to attract bad agents to you. Tryrunning a "Help Wanted" advertisements in your local newspaper or on Craigslist. You might not believe me, but it's the truth. Stop and think about it for a minute: A great salesperson wouldn't be looking at the help wanted advertisements. Why? Because he or she would be too busy selling.

Average Agents:

The average agents are the ones who get by. You know what I mean. They can be counted on for a sale every so often, but they don't get after it. They take the cream off the top -- making the sales to the easiest prospects to convert, but not doing a good job following up with other prospects. Sales kind of fall to them. They go through the business without much effort.

Average agents can easily be recruited from other companies. I still remember a meeting I once had with an agent form another brokerage years ago. This agent wanted to join my team, but the timing wasn't right to leave the brokerage she was with. This was because she owed them $7,000 in commissions that had been advanced to her. Would a great agent be $7,000 to the negative in commissions? No.

The big problem with "average" is that we tend to let "average" hang around. Average agents make some sales, which generates some some commisiions. We worry that if we let the average agent go, we lose out on the money they are generating. This is incorrect thinking, coming from the mindset of scarcity. We look at losing out rather than looking at what we stand to gain. It's better to replace average agents, especially when you can find great ones.

Great Team Members

Great agents are the ones who can turn dirt into gold. They rarely make excuses,consistently perform at high levels and have the ability to really "hear" a prospect or client. They can "feel" what the prospect wants, and they deliver accordingly. They adapt and adjust, depending on who they are working with, and they ALWAYS self-correct. They are not afraid to close, and they typically have the highest conversion and sales numbers.

The challenge with great agents is that they aren't easy to find. You can't find them running "Help Wanted" advertisements. You also can't find them working in other real estate companies. If they were already great agents, they wouldn't be interested in working on your team. They would have their own team...

In order to find great agents, then, you have to look outside the pool of real estate agents. The trick is not really a trick. Just find great people, not great agents. My best team members came to me as:

Past Clients

As I would help a client with their real estate transaction, I would have the opportunity to get to know them very well. I always asked myself "Could this client be a great real estate agent?" After the transaction completed, I would set an appointment with them and explain that I thought they could be excellent in real estate sales. I highlighted how my business operated and explained the opportunity to them. I would then suggest they get their license and offer to help them through the process.

This little strategy led to 5 great agents and 1 great office manager.

To make this strategy work for your business, always be looking for great people. Most agents wait until they need a new agent, then try to find someone for their team. This is a BIG mistake. You must do the opposite. If you come across someone good in your daily life, figure out how to somehow make a spot for them on your team.

Great team members build great businesses.

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