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Field Guide to Recruiting & Retaining Salespeople

In this highly competitive real estate marketplace, how do you find and hire successful agents—and what's the best way to prevent your top producers from switching to another firm? The material on this page will help you discover what makes a top producer and offers some of the latest tips and techniques for hiring successful, reliable agents and keeping them on your team.


Tenure of REALTORS® at Their Present Firm

  2012
Survey
2011
Survey
1 year or less 14% 17%
2 years 10% 12%
3 years 10% 9%
4 years 7% 7%
5 years 6% 6%
6 to 10 years 26% 24%
11 years or more 27% 26%
Median (years) 6 5

Source: 2012 NAR Member Profile, (National Association of REALTORS® - Research, 2012).


Recruiting Basics

Do You Recruit? Be Aware of FTC Rule, (REALTOR® Magazine – Speaking of Real Estate Blog, Mar. 20, 2012).

Recruiting: 5 Ways to Cross the Line, (REALTOR® Magazine, Mar. 2012).

5 Tips to Improve Retention, (REALTOR® Magazine, Mar. 2012).

Avoid Threats to Your Livelihood, (REALTOR® Magazine, Mar. 2012).

Ten Steps to Hiring Top Salespeople, (www.quickanddirtytips.com, Sept. 11, 2011).

Recruit, Retain, Expand, (RISMedia, May 17, 2011).

3 Unexpected Places to Find Sales Associates, (REALTOR® Magazine, Apr. 2011).

Recruiting Salespeople, (REALTOR® Magazine).

Are You Creating a 'Recruiting and Retention' or a 'Selection and Development' Culture?, (RISMedia, Dec. 21, 2010).

Finders Keepers: Social Media Strategies Help Find Top Talent, (Journal of Property Management, Nov./Dec. 2011). Q

Tips for Retaining Sales People, (Searchwarp.com, May 25, 2010).

Recruit Today, Profit Tomorrow, (RISMedia, Apr. 8, 2010).

Recruiting and Retaining Top Sales People, (Sales Management, Apr. 4, 2010).

Recruiting & Hiring: What to Expect Next, (HR Focus, Oct. 2009). Q

What is Your Strategy to Recruit Experienced Agents?, (RISMedia, Sept. 19, 2009).

Hire for Keeps, (Florida REALTOR®, Mar. 2008).


Gen X / Gen Y Agents

"Jen Dollar: Recruiting Gen Y Sales Associates", (Florida REALTORS®, Apr. 20, 2012)

What Does Gen Y Want?, (REALTOR® Magazine, May 2011).

Seven secrets to hiring Y, (realestatejobsearch.com, Apr. 15, 2011).

Positioning Yourself to Hire the Next Generation Winners, (housingmatrix.com, Feb. 28, 2011).

Is Corporate America Forcing Generation Y to Innovate?, (experience.com, Feb. 18, 2011).

Gen Y Talent - Tips to Turn Gen Yers into Productive Assets, (RISMedia, July 10, 2010).

Like it or not, employers need gen-Y, (Canadian HR Reporter, Nov. 16, 2009). Q

Recruiting the Agent of the Future, (RISMedia, Oct. 6, 2009).

On-boarding Millennial Talent: 5 Tips for Effectively Attracting & Recruiting Generation Y, (jobdig.com, n.d.).

Hiring Adjustments for Generations X & Y, (articlesnatch.com, n.d.).

Generation Y - An Opportunity and a Challenge, (RISMedia, May 29, 2009).

5 Ways to Recruit and Retain Gen X, Gen Y, (REALTOR® Magazine, Apr. 2009).


Real Estate as the Hot New Career Choice

What Type of Person Succeeds in a Real Estate Career?, (about.com, n.d.).

Building a Career in the World of Real Estate, (palmbeachpost.com, n.d.).

Recruiting Experienced Agents is More Important Than Ever, (RISMedia, Oct. 22, 2008).

Attracting Quality Agents, (Realty Times, Mar. 28, 2008).

Personnel Assets, (Commercial Investment Real Estate, Jan./Feb. 2008).

How Do I Recruit the Experienced Agent?, (Realty Times, Oct. 24, 2007).

How to recruit 10 agents in 30 days—Three systems for success, (RISMedia, Mar. 13, 2006). 

Retention: Eliminate High Turn-Over of New Agents, (Realty Times, Oct. 5, 2005).


Multicultural/Diversity

Tips on Diversity in the Workplace, (smallbusiness.chron.com, n.d.). 

Come Together, (Commercial Investment Real Estate, Mar./Apr. 2007).

Cultural Crossroads, (Journal of Property Management, Jan./Feb. 2007). Q

The Real Estate Market Reflects Growing Diversity, (Realty Times, Aug. 24, 2006).

Embracing Diversity and Preventing Workplace Discrimination, (Mortgage Banking, July 2006). Q

Shatter the Glass Ceiling, Dodge the Shards, (HR Magazine, Apr. 2005). Q


eBooks & Other Resources

eBooks.realtor.org

The following ebooks and digital audiobooks are available to NAR members:

Be a Recruiting Superstar (Kindle, Adobe eReader)

Bringing Out the Best in People (Overdrive Audiobook)

Confessions of a Recruiting Director (Kindle, Adobe eReader)

Hiring the Best: The Fast Track Guide to Win by Effective Interviewing, Recruiting Hiring and Keeping the Best People (Adobe eReader)

How to Hire and Develop Your Next Top Performer (Adobe eReader)

Making Successful Hires (Adobe eReader)

Recruit or Die (Kindle, Adobe eReader)

Recruiting on the Web (Adobe eReader)

Recruiting, Retaining and Promoting Culturally Different Employees (Kindle, Adobe eReader)

Retaining Top Employees (Adobe eReader)

Who: The A Method for Hiring (Kindle, Adobe eReader)

Books, Videos, Research Reports & More

The resources below are available for loan through Information Central.  Up to three books, tapes, CDs and/or DVDs can be borrowed for 30 days from the Library for a nominal fee of $10.  Call Information Central at 800.874.6500 for assistance.

Compensating the sales force, (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004). HF 5438 C48

Real estate office management: a guide to success, (Mason, OH: South-Western, 2003). HD 1375 H47

How to recruit top producers, (New York: Alexander Communications Group, Inc., 1999). HF 5438 R22ho

Recruiting and retaining highly successful agents, (Chicago, IL: National Association of REALTORS®, 1999). HF 5438 N21rec

Recruiting and retaining the best, (Washington, D.C.: National Association of REALTORS®, 1996). HF 5438 N21re

Field Guides & More

These field guides and other resources in the Virtual Library may also be of interest:

Field Guide to Compensation Plans for Real Estate Agents

Field Guide to Mentoring

InfoCentral Blog


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The inclusion of links on this field guide does not imply endorsement by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR makes no representations about whether the content of any external sites which may be linked in this field guide complies with state or federal laws or regulations or with applicable NAR policies. These links are provided for your convenience only and you rely on them at your own risk.