Most of the new agents who will join your company over the next decade will have one thing in common: They’ll come from traditional jobs where things didn’t work out like they had planned.
Brian Rashid calls this experiencing the slow cubical death.
In a recent Forbes magazine article, Brian explains the reality employees must embrace before they step out on their own and start businesses.
It’s helpful information for anyone who wants to be successful at recruiting in the real estate industry, but it’s only the first step. Showing them how to escape is the valuable insight necessary to endear them to you and your organization.
Identifying the Problem
In an attempt to wake employees up from a fear-induced stupor, Brian delivers this short manifesto to his corporate readers.
If you have a 9-to-5 job, you probably have a target on your back. You may not even realize it, but here is what it says. “Fire me whenever you’d like and with no warning. I will probably be screwed when you do, but you don’t need to worry about it. Until then, I will be here doing whatever you tell me.”
You need to leave your job.
Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or next month, or even this year. But you need to start building additional sources of revenue right now….
People, good people, are getting fired left and right. Even if they are good at their job, they are being let go. In many cases, they have no clue what to do next. This makes them stressed and anxious and depressed.
They were lulled into a false sense of safety. But it’s just that, false.
Everything is being outsourced. If your job can be done by someone or something else at a lower price, you are gone. It is not even personal. I don’t think your boss is a bad person. If his or her job can be outsourced, his or her boss will fire them, too.
But it is happening. And you need to be ready for it.
You’re the Solution
When considering a real estate career as an option, the objection candidates hang onto most passionately is that working as an agent is more risky than staying in their “get a regular paycheck job.”
Brain’s message is clear—what most people think is secure is not secure at all.
What can you do to convince them of this reality? Unfortunately, not very much.
If you push too hard on this idea, the candidate will start to feel like you think they’re stupid or you have something to sell. They will feel attacked and fight or flight will set in.
What you can do is illustrate how owning a business is not as risky as it may seem.
In the last couple of years, what have you observed your most successful new agents doing to overcome their feelings of insecurity?
Since insecurities typically have to do with finances, what financial tactics do successful new agents use to compensate for the gap in pay and benefits?
Make a list of these ideas and tactics and keep it handy during your interviews.
After asking lots of open-ended questions about the candidate’s financial situation and the fears associated with these concerns, try to match some of the common solutions to their unique situation.
The old saying about the grass being greener is true. Spend most of your time making sure your lawn looks enticing.
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