If you're a recruiter for your company, a brokerage owner, or a team leader, there's something important you need to understand: you have to recognize the strength in every weakness and the weakness in every strength to succeed.

We can't be all things to all people in real estate. You might have a large brokerage or a small one, a great physical office or none at all, be part of a franchise or independent, have top-tier technology or limited resources. The key is not to get hung up on what you don’t have. If you use it as an excuse to avoid recruiting and prospecting, you’re holding yourself back.

Instead, ask yourself: what's the strength in the weakness? What's the weakness in the strength?

For example, let’s say someone tells you, “I don’t want to work for a competing broker.” That’s a valid concern. If you are a competing broker, you need to be prepared with the right response.

You could say:

"I totally understand where you're coming from. But can I share why being a competing...

Let’s talk about the Primadonna agent.

We’ve all heard the term, but what does it mean? It refers to someone—hopefully not in your office—who believes they hold power over the broker or staff. They might wield this perceived power by being verbally aggressive or abusive, saying and doing things that are completely inappropriate. They think they can get away with it because of their production level or tenure in the office.

So, what do you do with a Primadonna agent? Here’s the unspoken fear many office and team leaders face: If I get rid of them, I’ll lose money. Maybe they’re a top producer, and you’re thinking, “I can’t afford to lose someone like that.”

But when you let this fear control your actions, it gives them even more strength—and their behavior gets worse over time. Worse still, having this kind of toxic person in your office impacts your recruiting. Potential recruits may avoid your office entirely, even if they don’t say it outright. They may think, “I’d join, but I can...

When you step into the role of recruiter for your team or office, you have to shift gears. You likely came from production, where you were a top agent and a confident salesperson. Talking to buyers and sellers felt natural.

But then you put on the recruiter hat, and suddenly making that first call to a potential recruit feels daunting—like the phone weighs a thousand pounds. It feels awkward and uncomfortable. Why is that?

It’s because you don’t have the skillset yet. Confidence comes from competence, and competence comes from learning and practice. The good news is you can develop those skills by getting coached and learning from others who’ve been where you are. We’ll share some tips and tools to help with that in a moment, but first, let me give you something to think about.

If you’re serious about growing your team or office, you need to commit at least one hour a day to recruiting. Without that, your business is at risk.

Here’s where many people get stuck: they think they can ...

You might’ve had a call where you had a great conversation with a potential recruit—someone you thought would join your company—and then suddenly they went cold. They didn’t join.

What happened?

Well, it’s not about your offer. It’s not about you, what you said, or didn’t say. It’s about their timing. Timing is unique for every agent. Every agent has a runway—that is, the time it takes for them to join your firm. Some have a short runway, some a long one, and others a really long runway.

It’s not about your timeline; it’s about theirs. And here’s the key: the fortune is in the follow-up. But you don’t want to apply pressure.

Here’s what the worst recruiter does: “Jim, we’ve got to get you over here. Let’s make it happen!”

That approach is all about your needs, not theirs.

People often have legitimate reasons they can’t make a change right now. They may have things going on in their world—deals, listings, personal matters—that make it logistically impossible. If you make it about ...

I've heard this so many times over the years: "My market's different, Jim." When it comes to recruiting, people say, "We're in a tiny market, a rural market, a niche market, or a very cliquey market. People here don’t make moves like they do in big cities. Recruiting doesn’t work here."

Let me tell you something: I come from a small town with a population of 25,000. I’ve worked in big cities, small towns, medium-sized cities, and even cliquey ones. Here’s the reality: the numbers behind recruiting aren’t something I’m making up. These are national statistics.

The average agent in America moves every five years.

Look at your entire database of agents in your market and think about this: every single one of them will likely move in the next five years.

Statistically, some will move sooner, some later, but overall, they’re going to move.

The question is: where are they going to go?

Think about your own career. Did you stay at one company forever without ever making a move? Probably ...

I get this question all the time from brokerage owners and team leaders: “How do I start recruiting today when I don’t have everything built yet?”

They often feel stuck in a catch-22: They think they need to build their vision first in order to start recruiting, but they don’t have the money or resources to build it because they don’t have agents yet.

Here’s the answer: People will buy into your vision as long as you can articulate it clearly and tie it to a timeline.

When you’re talking to agents, say something like:

"I’ve got this vision of the kind of company I want to build. I’m looking for a few people who want to get in on the ground floor and help me build it. We call them ‘founder agents.’ They’ll be right there, side by side with me, helping shape this vision. Can I explain to you what I’m trying to create?"

If you can sit with people and lay out a clear vision of what you’re working towards, they’ll buy into it. It doesn’t have to be 100% built yet—that’s what you’re wor...