How to Build a Real Estate Recruiting Prospect List

One of the keys to a successful real estate recruiting campaign is building a targeted prospect list. Whether you’re just getting started with recruiting or are looking to improve the results of a current campaign, here are some best practices for building your list:

#1 – Invest in a data provider

Yes, you can likely buy or access a list of all current licensees in your area from either your state or your local Realtor association. But if that list doesn’t include production data, you could waste a significant amount of time trying to recruit agents who do little or no business. That’s why you want to invest in a good data provider.

We recommend MarketView Broker, Relitix, and Courted. The companies vary in what they charge and what type of data they provide, so it’s best to check out all three to see which provider best fits your budget and recruiting goals.

#2 – Set your criteria

When a new client joins our recruiting appointment setting service, we send them a document with best practices for building a prospect list. Here are the criteria we recommend you use when running your list:

·      Start with the minimum and maximum production levels of the agents you want.

·      Use a search radius that includes agents who are no more than about a 15-20 minute drive from your office, if you have one. If you’re a virtual brokerage, run the list for the areas you cover.

·      If your data provider gives you the number of years agents have been in business, prioritize those agents who have three years or less of experience. All else equal, they’re more likely to move than agents who’ve been in the business longer.

·      You can also search by production trend (if your data provider has it) although we’ve found you don’t need to change your messaging based on trends to get appointments.

#3 – Clean up the list

Once you’ve run your prospect list, the final step is to clean it up. Start by removing any companies you don’t want to recruit from or that you’ve had no success recruiting from in the past.

Next, remove anyone you don’t want to recruit or who you know is an owner or manager of a company. Don’t worry about catching all the owners and managers because it’s virtually impossible with the sheer number of brokerages in most markets.

Finally, before you start making recruiting calls, randomize the list so it isn’t sorted by company. Making a high volume of calls to a single company in a short span of time tips off leadership and the agents to both your message and the number you’re calling from. If that happens, it’s much more difficult to get people to pick up or hear you out.