Recruiting season is here, and with it comes a unique opportunity to not only grow your team but to strengthen it from within. In today’s market, success is both about retaining the agents you’ve already invested in and reinforcing your value to those who may be reevaluating their current brokerage.
This is a defining moment for brokerages. With so many agents reassessing their professional paths, it’s critical to communicate your value proposition clearly and consistently, both to your current team and to those considering a move.
Recruiting has always been a cornerstone of brokerage growth. In a market where transaction volume has dipped over the past two years, expanding your agent base certainly helps you capture a greater share of available business. It’s a smart strategy, but only if it’s paired with a strong retention plan.
Recruiting without retention is a short-term win. Consider the ROI of onboarding. The time, money and resources spent to attract and onboard agents are substantial.
If you want to build a resilient, high-performing team, you need to focus on keeping the agents you’ve worked hard to bring in. That’s where coaching, onboarding and long-term support come into play and where real differentiation begins.
5 tips for making the most of recruiting season 2025
Here are my top tips for making the most of recruiting season.
1. Have a recruiting business plan
The first step is to have a clear plan and a specific goal in mind. Recruiting isn’t just about adding numbers — it’s about building a team that helps drive business forward and aligns with your culture.
Start by reverse-engineering your goals: Determine what you want your bottom line to look like, then work backward. Calculate your average split with agents, the average commission earned per deal and how many transactions are needed to hit your company dollar.
From there, identify how many additional agents you’ll need — not just to reach those financial targets, but to find the right people who will thrive in your environment and contribute to long-term growth.
2. Build your target list of recruits
When we prospect, we never say, “Target everyone, everywhere.” It’s too wide of a net. You need to set some parameters and establish priority targets to be most efficient. I like this order:
- Current agent referrals (make sure you incentivize your affiliated agents to refer potential recruits)
- Co-op agents
- Agents who left you
3. Time block to recruit
“Got a minute?” will take up your entire day if you let it. You need to balance your accessibility so you can accomplish your goals. I’ve found that blocking time on your calendar to devote to recruiting is most helpful. But you have to stick to it. Then, time block for open “office hours” so you don’t miss those opportunities to engage with agents who need your advice or assistance.
4. Know your value prop
If you can’t deliver your elevator speech flawlessly on cue, you need to practice it until you can. Recruiting is about matching — matching your value as a broker to your target recruit. But you can only match if you …
5. Know how to ask questions
Knowing your value prop only helps when you can tailor it to that agent’s wants and needs. Listen carefully so you can ask the right questions to help identify those wants and needs. Follow-up questions can further clarify what’s most important to that agent.
Create pull-through with these retention efforts
Keeping new agents is where the rubber meets the road. Think of all the work you have put into recruiting. Be sure you get the return on that investment by retaining those agents. As the saying goes in sales, it costs less to retain a customer than it does to acquire a new one. Here are my top tips.
1. Formalize your onboarding process
Having an established onboarding program for agents new to the firm is critical in making sure they have a solid foundation to achieve their business goals right out of the gate and for the long term. And I probably don’t need to tell you that it’s hard to recruit if you’re losing agents.
2. Show you are invested for the long term
Offering coaching — whether through structured programs or informal mentorship — signals a brokerage’s commitment to agent success. It’s a tangible way to support both recruiting and retention, and it strengthens long-term loyalty. In today’s landscape of varied business models, it can also be a key differentiator.
3. Get out in front of AI
Leverage AI to make your newly affiliated agents more efficient. This isn’t about automation, it’s about empowerment. Look for tools that drive impact.
- Listing concierge: Automates listing descriptions, image captions and property attributes in minutes — streamlining marketing and freeing agents to focus on client relationships.
- Canva: AI-powered design tools enable fast, professional and on-brand marketing materials — democratizing creative excellence.
- Predictive analytics: Already in use for several years, this tool analyzes multiple data points to identify who in an agent’s sphere is most likely to transact soon. It helps agents prioritize outreach and optimize marketing efforts — shifting from reactive to proactive engagement.
4. Tap agents for their insights
In addition to offering courses in AI tools, ask your early adopter agents how they are using AI to save time, reduce costs and grow their business. This creates a feedback loop that supports ongoing engagement and continued professional development.
Recruiting season is a strategic opportunity to shape the future of your brokerage. When you lead with clarity, coach with intention and invest in long-term success, you create an environment where agents feel supported, valued and empowered to thrive.
That’s the kind of brokerage that both weathers market shifts and grows stronger because of them. So, as you plan your next move, keep in mind that retention is the new recruitment, and coaching is your ultimate differentiator.
Alex Vidal is the president of ERA Real Estate.
