These AI Tools Help Brokers Target Top-Tier Talent
Use AI-powered recruiting software to identify, hire and retain the best agents for your brokerage.
In 2023, Todd Beyer and his colleagues at LoKation Real Estate set off on an agent appreciation tour to promote their brokerage’s culture.
“Our corporate staff packs up and travels around the state meeting with our agents and hosting networking events,” says Beyer, the company’s Pompano Beach-based recruiting director.
Before their Sarasota stopover, he and his team decided to experiment by inviting local agents who weren’t part of the brokerage, but who fit their criteria—because he’s always on the lookout for successful agents to bring on board.
Using an AI-powered recruiting software platform called Courted Talent Solutions, Beyer searched for qualified agents in Sarasota.
“We narrowed the parameters to those likely to [switch brokerages] and those whose production level fit the typical bill of those we recruit,” he says, adding that Courted delivered a list of suitable candidates within minutes. “We invited a handful, and those who showed up had a great time mingling with our agents and staff.”
The advantage of using Courted for recruiting, Beyer explains, is that it provides data that helps him have much more personalized conversations.
“We’ve been using it for about six months, and what I like is that it doesn’t make us sound robotic, as in ‘Hi agent whomever, I’m Todd with LoKation. Come to our event.’ It shows that we are genuinely interested in learning more about an agent’s business.”
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From that one Sarasota event, he was able to recruit several agents. “Without Courted, we’d be [casting a wide net] instead of targeting a curated list,” he says.
Courted Talent Solutions is like a matchmaker for recruiting.
It uses predictive analytics to find the agents who best fit a company’s standards, making the hiring process smoother and more personal. Subscriptions are available on a monthly basis—billed annually per MLS—and packages are tailored for enterprise, regional and boutique clients. A 30-day free trial is also available.
Here’s how Beyer uses the platform:
1. Daily prospecting
Every day, Courted sends Beyer a list of leads.
“These [agents] are rising stars who are similar to ours in terms of production,” he says. “It also tells us how long they’ve been with their office, time in the industry and a number of other metrics that give us insights into why they could be a great fit for our company. It’s certainly made my role easier given that I come in every morning and have a list already curated for my team. The other cool thing they provide is a forecast on how likely an agent is to do x number of deals in the following year, which gives us a sense of where their business [is] headed.”
Courted is one of the few tabs he keeps open all day on his computer, he says. “It’s convenient because it eliminates the guesswork. All we have to do is send the email, pick up the phone or send the text. I use the tools to recruit from the Panhandle down to the Keys, and it’s saving us quite a few hours every week.”
2. Track performance
Courted also gives Beyer access to data about a potential recruit’s sales performance.
“Let’s say there are 20 agents I’ve had great conversations with over the past three months,” he says. “I can go into safe search and see how their business is going. This has simplified our prospecting piece because these insights make conversations more personable. For example, I can call and say, ‘Hey, Mr. or Ms. Smith, congratulations on recently closing on 123 Main Street. I see you did $5 million in production and have been with your broker for two years.’ If an agent closed a deal on Friday, we see a notification and can jump in there and give them a call the following Monday. I’ll call and say something along the lines of, ‘Congratulations on closing that deal. Now that it’s done, are you ready to have a conversation [about our brokerage] or a follow-up conversation?’ Targeting agents when they close deals—and knowing they have no other contracts in sight—has been invaluable. This timing eases their transition and [helps us know how] to assist them.”
If agents who are closing transactions are hesitant to consider a change, Beyer stresses that it can be a strategic step forward.
3. Engage cooperating agents
Taking advantage of Courted’s cooperating agent search function has been game-changing, Beyer says. “Agents with other brokerages that our agents are closing deals with not only show up in daily notifications but [can] search through the system via what Courted calls ‘mutual connections.’” At the closing table, external agents see that LoKation’s agents keep 100% of their commission, and Beyer says that adds to his value proposition before he reaches out to see if they’re curious to learn more. “Courted helps with the timing of targeting these agents and also gives us the ability to pull those lists and see those agents at 30,000 feet—to know when to approach them in a friendly, non-salesy manner.”
4. Agent retention
“Although we use Courted primarily for recruiting, I’ve found that it adds value on the retention side, too,” Beyer says. For example, the software can identify the factors that satisfy and motivate LoKation’s current agents—and those they struggle with. Beyer says this data helps the brokerage be proactive, especially when it comes to assisting agents unable to meet their production goals. It also reduces the likelihood of being caught off guard by a dissatisfied agent’s sudden departure.
According to Beyer, LoKation’s 2023 recruiting numbers are up about 20% over last year. “I definitely attribute some of our success to Courted because it’s a great recruiting partner,” he says. “It’s been invaluable having one platform in lieu of having to sign into multiple MLSs or Google agents. I wish we’d partnered with Courted from day one because it’s made recruiting a breeze.”
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Recruiting is an essential aspect of Sarasota-based Kristine Newell’s role as senior vice president of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty.
“I call it talent attraction because we want to find the best people to work for our company,” she says. “Other companies might just want body counts, but we only want experienced agents doing a certain level of business.”
One of the key metrics she and her colleagues use is how much the prospective candidates sold in the past year.
“Last year, we recruited over a billion in dollar volume,” she says, adding that she, several managers and a director of talent acquisition all play integral roles in the process. “We also want people who identify with our culture and brand. We are looking for givers, not takers.”
Newell and her colleagues use Relitix recruiting software to help them attract and retain the crème de la crème of candidates. “We call our agents advisors, not agents,” she says. Here’s how they use it.
1. Spot talent
“Relitix has helped us spot talent in a marketplace using AI,” Newell says. “Often, our current advisors will recommend someone they just did a deal with and think they would be a great fit for our office. Our managers always have the pulse of the market.”
The platform has helped them pinpoint individuals who might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
“If someone suddenly has an uptick in average sales price or dollar volume, that’s someone we’d want to have a conversation with,” she says.
2. Analyze year-over-year business
“Relitix also shows us a geographic heat map of every deal [a prospective recruit] has ever done in their career and analyzes them by average price point and types of homes they’ve sold. It also shows the trend line of their business year over year. It’s like a forensic lens [is applied to] the DNA of their business.”
3. Enhance interviews
Newell and her colleagues use the data Relitix provides in one-on-one meetings with potential recruits. “They’ve often been surprised when I pull up all this data, and they’re excited that someone cared enough to have this level of conversation,” she says. “It also helps us identify patterns, based on the data, and come up with solutions or behaviors they could implement to improve things.”
4. Integrate a CRM
Newell and her colleagues recently started using a new product called Brokerkit, which is a CRM for recruiting. “It takes the data from Relitix and pulls it into a CRM as an add-on,” she says. “It assists us with not only recruiting but also retention. So from a wider perspective we can see patterns of performance.”
Leslie C. Stone is a Vero Beach-based freelance writer.