Categorize Your Recruiting Interactions

by | Dec 5, 2025

Most real estate recruiters and hiring managers view recruiting as a transaction.

This only makes sense–you get a great sense of satisfaction (and usually a compensation bonus too) from bringing someone across the finish line.

Unfortunately, your recruiting prospects are experiencing something different.

They spend 90% of their time contemplating and preparing to make this significant life change.

If you approach everyone with a transaction mentality, most of your interactions are going to feel awkward, forced, and unwelcome.

Here’s a better way.

Start categorizing your interactions into one of three stages:

Building Awareness (Marketing):The recruiting prospect is just learning who you are and whether you can be trusted.

Career Counseling/Problem Solving (Nurturing):The recruiting prospect is willing to take your advice and share openly about his/her problems and concerns.

Closing the Hire (Selling):The recruiting prospect is ready to make a commitment, and he/she is actively considering options from you and other companies.

If you know where a person is in the recruiting process, you’ll be better equipped to customize your message to meet their needs and expectations.

When a person feels understood, friction is reduced and communication flows more freely.

How much of YOUR time should you spend in each of these stages?

It should also reflect the stages where your prospects are residing—for instance, a reasonable distribution should be something like 60% Marketing—30% Nurturing—10% Selling.

It’s never going to be 90% Selling.

 

The Simple Psychology of Real Estate Recruiting [2nd Edition]

Unlock the secrets of effective real estate recruiting. Revised to include actionable frameworks for sharper execution and to help you turn psychological theory into a repeatable recruiting system.

The Attrition Variables

The Attrition Variables

While these attrition constants still have the greatest influence, there are some emerging attrition variables worth noting. People also tend to leave companies when: They feel like they’re not doing as well as others in their peer group outside the company. They feel like they’re not as far along as they should be at a certain point in life.

The Attrition Constants

The Attrition Constants

If you’re not focusing most of your retention effort on these issues, you’ll miss the mark. If you’re not focusing most of your recruiting effort on exploiting these weaknesses among your competitors, you’re missing the best opportunities.

The Persistence Mindset

The Persistence Mindset

A leader equipped with this mindset can have a profound effect on the life and career of each individual they engage. It works because an agent is getting a real-time glimpse of what it would be like to work on your team. But it only becomes believable when it is persistently applied over time.