How to Use LinkedIn to Recruit Real Estate Agents

Social media is easily the most misunderstood of all the recruiting tools. Ask around and most people will tell you the keys to using social media for business are:

1.) Get followers

2.) Post regularly

3.) Post content that gets likes and comments (memes, infographics, contests, etc.)

While those keys might work for many businesses, they don’t work for real estate brokerages trying to recruit productive agents.

So, let’s discuss a few social media strategies that generate recruiting appointments. And we’ll start with a proven LinkedIn strategy you can execute in as little as 20-30 minutes per week.

Why LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is my favorite social media recruiting tool. Agents are more likely to connect on it than they are to accept friend requests on Facebook.

Agents also tend to get fewer likes, comments, and messages on LinkedIn. That makes it easier for you to get prospects’ attention and begin conversations.

To recruit using LinkedIn, do the following two activities once per week.

Connect with Five

Your first weekly activity on LinkedIn is to send five new connection requests to agents in your area.

If you have a list of recruiting prospects, use LinkedIn’s basic search function to locate their profiles. If you don’t have a list, use the advanced search function to find agents near you (search by your city and by company or title).

Once you locate the five prospects’ profiles, check them for any information you can use to personalize your connection requests.

For example, if you notice you attended the same school as a prospect, mention it in your request. Or, if you find glowing recommendations on an agent’s profile, compliment her on them.

Prospects are much more likely to accept connection requests when you personalize them.

Message Five

Once you’ve sent five new connection requests, next send five messages to your existing connections.

Your goal when messaging prospects is to start conversations. By engaging a prospect in conversation, you open the door to ask for either an informal “get-to-know-you” meeting or an outright recruiting appointment.

To strike up a conversation with an agent via LinkedIn, you must first do your homework.

Start by viewing the agent’s profile and clicking the link for “see all activity”. Here you can check out everything the agent posts, likes, and comments on.

Look for anything you can use to jumpstart a conversation. If you can’t find something useful, return to the prospect’s profile and search her highlights, experience, education, and accomplishments.

When you’re ready to send your message, keep it short (a few sentences at most). Reference the information you found on the agent’s profile or recent activity and close the message with a question. 

Here’s an example:

“Hi Jane, I saw the market update you posted earlier this week. Great stuff! Out of curiosity, do you also email that information to your database?”

When the agent responds to your question, either keep the conversation going on LinkedIn or offer to take it offline by scheduling a call, coffee, or a recruiting appointment.

If you commit to making five new connections and messaging five existing connections on LinkedIn at least once a week, you’ll build relationships with your prospects and generate appointments.

P.S. – You don’t have to limit your connection requests and messages to five. But, if you’re pressed for time, doing at least five of each ensures you don’t drop the recruiting ball entirely.