Tyler
Morton,
owner
of
Ohio-based

REMAX
Victory
+
Affiliates,
said
recruiting
gained
traction
when
he
shifted
his
mindset
from
pitching
to
providing
value.
“It’s
led
to
recruits
joining
us
six
months
later,”
he
said.
“It’s
led
to
recruits
who
are
now
on
drip
campaigns,
and
it’s
definitely
a
long
game.
Yeah,
you
get
lucky
every
once
in
a
while
and
you
catch
them
at
the
right
time.
That
happens
and
that’s
great.
I
also
think
setting
your
boundaries
and
making
sure
that
you’re
recruiting
to
your
culture
is
one
of
the
most
important
things
that
you
can
do.”

Authenticity
remains
key

Tad
Fulford,
director
of
vision
at
South
Carolina-based


RE/MAX
Southern
Shores,
another
RealTrends
Verified
brokerage,
said
culture
begins
with
authenticity.

“I
think
authenticity
is
the
king
of
all,”
Fulford
said.
“If
you
don’t
genuinely
like
people,
it
sounds
silly
to
say
in
a
room
like
this,
but
if
that’s
how
you
feel,
I
think
you
need
to
have
a
conversation
with
yourself.”
He
believes
clarity
about
who
you
are
—
and
who
you
are
not
—
strengthens
recruiting
and

retention.

“I
don’t
have
a
mission
statement
for
my
business
and
a
mission
statement
for
my
personal
life.
They’re
exactly
the
same,”
Fulford
said.
“It’s
just
who
I
am.
You
know
who
that
attracts?
People
like
me.
Everyone
needs
to
know
who
you
are.
I
believe
so
much
in
my
heart,
that
(recruits)
will
have
a
better
life
if
they’re
with
us.
You
have
to
find
that
authenticity
and
that
passion.”

Measuring
accountability

Panelists
agreed
that
accountability
must
be
tailored.
Morton
checks
in
frequently
with
newer
agents
but
avoids
over-coaching
top
producers.
“You
have
to
meet
them
where
they’re
at,
and
I
don’t
know
if
there’s
a
correct
cadence
for
every
single
agent,”
he
said.
“If
I
checked
in
with
my
top
producers
every
single
week,
they’re
going
to
start
saying,
‘Why
are
you
calling
so
much?’
But
my
newer
agents
need
that
help,
that
accountability.

“I
was
checking
in
with
a
newer
agent
quite
often
for
the
last
month
and
a
half,
because
she
was
struggling,
and
we
worried
she
might
be
on
the
fence.
There’s
not
some
sort
of
one-size-fits-all
solution.”

Fulford
frames
accountability
around
personal
ambitions.
“If
you
can
figure
out
what
someone’s
dream
for
their
life
is,
you
are
escorting
them
there,”
he
said.
“Hold
that
dream
in
front
of
their
face.”

Wilhoit
detailed
some
of
her
firm’s
tracking
methods
for
new
recruits
and
those
tasked
with
bringing
them
into
the
fold.
“Every
one
of
our
directors
reports
to
a
scorecard
every
month,”
she
said.
“The
recruiters
are
reporting
who
they’ve
brought
in,
who’s
experienced
and
who’s
inexperienced.
We
report
who
we’ve
removed.
The
director
of
development
is
also
reporting
the
percentage
of
people
that
are
attending
his
classes.

“So
as
an
owner,
we
can
take
a
peek
at
that
for
all
three
offices
and
make
sure
that
each
of
our
directors
are
reaching
their
benchmarks
that
we
hire
them
to
reach.”

Onboarding
and
AI

Wilhoit
said
onboarding
must
function
like
an
operational
assembly
line
—
with
clear
ownership
of
tasks
and
defined
goals.
“The
last
thing
you
want
is
to
promise
an
exceptional
onboarding,
an
exceptional
transition,
and
then
you
or
your
staff
fail
at
that,”
she
said,
warning
that
agents
evaluate
their
decision
in
the
first
72
hours.
Technology,
checklists
and
automation
have
been
invaluable
in
preventing
breakdowns
for
Morton.

Like
Wilhoit,
he
cited
feelings
of
regret
after
a
company
newcomer
has
a
bad
experience
through
no
fault
of
their
own.
“There’s
nothing
more
embarrassing
than
having
an
agent
leave
after
30
days
because
you
suck,”
he
said.

Morton
has
invested
heavily
in

artificial
intelligence
(AI),
even
developing
an
internal
AI
app
to
unify
disjointed
systems
—
from
messaging
platforms
to
document
storage.
The
tool
answers
common
agent
questions
and
reduces
repetitive
interruptions.

“We
had
so
many
disjointed
systems;
Slack
for
some
things,
WhatsApp
for
other
things,
a
different
calendar
system
and
Dropbox
for
logos,”
said
Morton.
“We
wanted
to
put
it
all
together,
and
I
think
it’s
allowed
for
so
much
more
ease
of
use
for
the
agents.
We
also
built
a
layer
on
top
of
the
AI
to
answer
common
questions
like
what
document
is
needed
to
terminate
a
buyer-broker
agreement.

“We’re
not
even
at
the
cusp
of
what
(AI)
is
capable
of.
I’m
so
excited
for
what’s
coming.
We
have
a
huge
opportunity
to
leverage
this.
You
don’t
have
to
build
your
own
app
to
do
that.”

Fulford
offered
a
generational
perspective.
His
24-year-old
son,
who
is
18
months
into
the
real
estate
business,
credits
AI
with
compressing
work
time
dramatically.

“He
told
me,
‘I
already
saved
myself
so
much
time
looking
back
at
what
I
did
last
year,”
Fulford
said.
“He
said
things
are
now
taking
him
about
one
sixth
of
the
time.
He
said,
‘I’m
going
to
spend
more
time
with
my
wife.
I’m
going
to
coach
basketball.
I’m
going
to
do
things
that
I
want
to
do,
like
work
out
more.
You
know,
we
tend
to
get
more
time
and
use
it
to
do
more
business.
My
son
taught
me
a
lesson.”

Getting
over
any
degree
of
impostor
syndrome,
gaining
confidence
and
knowing
you
belong
in
leadership
is
also
a
huge
part
of
overseeing
growth,
Fulford
added.
“You
are
enough,”
he
said.
“I
think
we
get
punched
in
the
face
a
lot
in
this
business,
a
lot.
We
get
run
over.
We
can
be
unappreciated.
All
of
your
experiences
are
how
you
were
created
and
all
the
horrors
that
you’ve
had
in
your
life
were
for
a
reason,
and
you
were
enough.

“When
you
go
home,
get
30
minutes
by
yourself
and
have
the
courage
to
say,
‘This
is
the
life
I
want
to
live.
Don’t
just
do
it
for
your
agents.
Do
it
for
yourself.”