How do you reveal the True Potential of New Agents? The Trial by Fire, 3 month onboarding process.
Have you ever heard of the axiom Hire slow and fire fast?
For sales teams in our industry it’s complete bullshit… and it kills growth momentum in your sales team.
I have a rule of thumb to share with you that has worked really well over the years as I build multi million dollar sales teams… and it came from My dad. He always taught me that the first 3 months is the best interview.
Obviously, we want a team of producers instead of a team of zero heroes BUT how do you know who is going to be great and who is going to flop?
After conducting literally thousands of interviews for new agents who want to join my teams, I came to the conclusion that my old man is one smart dude.
I have seen people that SHOULD be superstars flop out of the business and I have seen folks that have no experience become top earners.
Have you ever hired someone on your team that you just KNEW was going to be successful but flopped hard?
There was this one guy that I interviewed extensively for a real estate team. He was dashingly good looking and all the ladies in the office took notice. He was charming, articulate and decently connected.
It seemed like he took to the training we provided like a duck to water and represented the brand well, at least it seemed like it. He also had past experience, on paper, in sales. We even called his references.
He rocked out a few transactions in the first month, then proceeded to struggle to get any more traction. It turns out that he was not able to overcome objections or obstacles. He took everything personally and was not able to overcome any rejection. The man lacked grit and flopped out of the business and ended up back in construction. No one saw that coming.
Do you think that its wise to judge a book by its cover when you are interviewing new partners?
I had another agent that literally had to go to the second hand store to buy a used suit for the interview. Later he told me that he had to borrow 5 bucks so he could try to get hired. The lad was young, tall and really skinny. He had a long ponytail and bucked teeth, one of which was chipped. Oh, and his voice cracked like he was still in puberty.
He showed up every single day and made no money. He didn’t do any sales for months… then one sale, then nothing for weeks, then another sale. He kept coming back with a great attitude, kept trying over and over until he mastered the skills needed to convert business.
He became the highest paid agent on the team and I turned him into a trainer. Eventually he opened up his own shop and was running an agency of 40 agents… From almost living on the street to an executive level team leader... with income in excess of 200k a year. Not bad for a 20 year old from the hood that had no business being successful, or so most people thought.
Can historic sales performance be repeated?
The ability to sell doesn’t mean they will. You don’t really know until your new agent hits the field on your team, with your product and things change over time.
Do you know what all the variables were when your hire was successful in another environment?
Did they hustle or did they get fed business?
Were they the benefit of nepotism or were they motivated by outside forces?
Are the same things that drove them in the past, still there today?
SO spending a lot of time interviewing for a perfect fit wastes a lot of money. I know some teams who go through a 3 stage interview process. This is understandable if you are offering a massive salary plus commission OR if you are keeping a very tight ninja team. BUT, those types of team structures don’t really allow you to scale easily with low risk.
Most teams in our industry are fueled by Commission Salespeople. The barrier to entry into our industry is low so there are a lot of people to choose from. The training process isn’t usually cost intensive so the risk is low bringing people onto the team.
I’m not saying that you should hire everyone. Do you think everyone will represent your brand well? No, of course not. Filter out anyone that doesn’t really meet your standards in presentation and communication.
Just keep in mind that skills can be learned. Behaviors can be taught. The rough stone can be polished into a gem.
SO… how do you save time and money when interviewing new agents for your team?
You just don’t know who is going to have what it takes to succeed and you may just overlook a future general who drives profit into your business and becomes an amazing business partner. You have to qualify customers and play the law of averages when serving customers right? Same goes for building your team.
Save time and money by putting your people through a trial by fire in the field. Put your new agent through a quick onboarding and training process so you know they can represent your team well. Then focus all your effort on field training in front of live customers.
Field work is where your agents will spend most of their time. So don’t you think the best way to see if they have what it takes is by going into the field with them to job shadow with live customers? Get your agents to start prospecting for new business to bring to you so you can teach them how to close sales and serve customers.
If you do this correctly, you will not only train your new agent, you will jumpstart their cash flow. You also make income from your agents sale which quickly covers the cost of your time and energy doing the field training.
Another way to assess your agents abilities and willingness to engage with the community they are serving is through their marketing & lead generation efforts.
One of the ways we help the teams and agents do this is with a fun launch system called "The Launch 100k Earning Agents Bootcamp" It's a 6 week program that helps your agent launch or relaunch their business, establish a strong personal brand and identify their most profitable niche market. THEN we help them drop a bomb online via social media content AND become a community advocate offline.
How long should your onboarding and probationary period be for your new agent hires?
Whether you have a launch system like "The Launch 100k Earning Agents Bootcamp" implemented on your team or not, you should set a probation period of 3 months to put a little fire under their ass.
Set expectations on how many calls or contacts they need to make daily. Share with them exactly what they should do to be able to convert sales. Make sure they get to see and learn from experienced agents in the field.
Do your very best to stack their deck and ensure they pick up all the right habits so they can be successful on your team.
If you find that they are not a good fit for your team within the first 3 months, let them look for their opportunity elsewhere. Be fair but firm. Give people the chance to succeed but DON’T invest time and money into a black hole of low returns on that investment.
Play the numbers when you hire so you stack your deck and let the field filter them out. This way you give everyone that is a REASONABLE fit for your team the chance to prove they deserve the opportunity…
You will find that some of your top performers and future generals were people you least expected to succeed.
#BEMEGA My Friend
Dustin Pritchard
Executive Mentor
PS. If you are looking for guidance and mentorship while you build your team. You should register for our free course "From the Field to Executive". It shares with you the methods I use when personally Mentoring team leaders in our One-On-One Executive Mentorship program.
