The Five Recruiting Traps You Must Avoid

Do you remember the old “Indiana Jones” movies starring Harrison Ford?

If so, you might remember Indiana always seemed to find himself up against an ingenious set of traps that threatened to derail his mission.

The other day, one of the movies in the series was playing on TV and it got me thinking about recruiting.

I see a handful of common traps snag brokers on a regular basis. And I don’t want to see those same traps snag you.

So, here are the five traps you must avoid to recruit productive agents.

Trap #1 – “Spray & Pray”

You’ve fallen into the “Spray & Pray” trap if you’ve ever sent a mass email or direct mail campaign to prospects and then waited for them to call you.

Email and direct mail have their place in an effective recruiting program, but they can’t stand alone. You must have direct, one-to-one contact with productive agents if you want to recruit more than a handful of them.

Trap #2 – “DIY”

If you feel you are the only person who can handle the recruiting responsibilities for your company, the “DIY” trap has snared you.

You don’t have to do everything yourself.

You can delegate the administrative aspects of recruiting to your receptionist. You can enlist a manager to help with prospecting and appointments.

Or, you can outsource portions of the recruiting process - like appointment setting - to a 3rd party.

Trap #3 – “Agreeable Agent”

Let me guess. You’ve had a “great meeting” with a prospect and expected her to join, but then - poof - she disappears never to be heard from again.

Recruiting appointments can go too well. If you’re meeting with a prospect and she nods, smiles, and seems to agree with everything you say, you’ve stepped into the “Agreeable Agent” trap.

Some agents have agreeable personalities and will avoid conflict at all costs. They’ll tell you everything you want to hear even when they have questions or objections.

So, if you think you’re in a meeting with an agreeable agent, avoid direct questions that force a “yes” or “no” answer. Because you’ll always get a “yes” even when the real answer is a “no”.

Trap #4 – “Shock & Awe”

Shock and awe is a military strategy that uses overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to destroy an opponent’s will to fight.

And while it might work on the battlefield, it doesn’t work in a recruiting appointment.

If you do most of the talking during your meetings and you have an arsenal of visual displays at your disposal, the “Shock & Awe” trap has you.

You cannot pummel an agent into joining with a lengthy presentation about every single last thing your company offers.

Instead, focus your appointment on the agent by asking questions about her goals, plans, challenges, and obstacles.

When the time comes to discuss your company’s offerings, present the two or three main reasons the agent should join. Then, let her ask questions about anything else that’s important to her.

Trap #5 – “No Time”

Do you tell yourself you have “no time” to recruit?

If so, you’ve fallen into the most common recruiting trap of them all.

Recruiting isn’t an urgent activity. No one is going to bang down your door and demand you do it.

But, recruiting is an important activity. And when an activity is important but not urgent, you must make the time to do it.

Next week, I’m going to dive into the trap of “no time” a bit further and share a fantastic TED talk I discovered on the subject.