Watch to learn how to recruit real estate agents at every production level by demonstrating value through growth in any type of real estate market.
When the market slows down, most brokers and team leaders assume recruiting gets harder. But in reality, slow markets are the easiest time to recruit top-producing agents—if you know how to position your value.
Recruiting during these times isn’t about lowering your splits or offering quick incentives. It’s about helping agents see a path to grow, thrive, and maintain balance when business feels tough. Here’s how to do it right.
VIDEO: How to Recruit Real Estate Agents in a Slow Market
1. Recruit Top Producers First
Many brokerages make the mistake of building a base with new or low-producing agents, thinking volume equals growth. But filling your office with inexperienced agents creates a culture that repels the very people you want most—top producers.
If you start your brokerage or team with top producers, you set a tone of excellence and professionalism. It immediately makes your environment attractive to other high-performing agents. When an agent feels like joining your team is a promotion—not a demotion—you’re building the right foundation.
Top agents are drawn to peers who are producing at high levels. When they see that your brokerage supports productivity and provides leadership that moves them forward, they’ll want in.
2. Position Value Over Price
In every market, but especially in slower ones, many brokerages fall into the trap of competing on price—cutting commission splits or offering revenue share as their main selling point.
But that’s not what attracts or retains top agents. Competing on price is a race to the bottom. There will always be a cheaper brokerage tomorrow.
The real differentiator is value. Ask yourself:
Do you have systems and coaching programs in place to help agents sell more real estate?
Do you offer structured accountability, mentorship, or business-building support?
Are you demonstrating how your brokerage helps agents grow—not just survive?
Top agents don’t move because of a better split; they move because they see a better future.
3. Why Slow Markets Are the Best Time to Recruit
From 2010 to 2021, the real estate industry experienced what I call the “golden era.” Volume and appreciation climbed year after year, and everyone felt successful. During those times, recruiting top agents was hard—they didn’t need help.
But in slower markets, even the best agents feel the pinch. Their production drops, and they start looking for ways to stabilize or grow again. This is when your value-based recruiting strategy becomes powerful.
Top agents aren’t looking for cheaper—they’re looking for support, structure, and solutions. When you can show them how your brokerage helps them perform at a higher level through systems, accountability, and coaching, they’ll make the move.
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Team Coaching Program
The Team Real Estate Coaching Program is for smaller teams looking for internal structure, leverage and leadership.
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Brokerage / Corporate Coaching Program
With the Brokerage / Corporate Real Estate Coaching Program, ICT will help firms set up the most effective and efficient systems for recruiting, agent onboarding, commission & fee structures, agent engagement & retention systems, recruiting, administrative work-flows, transaction management, staff hiring, agent onboarding, productivity training & accountability, financials & budgeting, marketing and much more!
4. Create a Production-Centric Culture
Culture matters—but culture alone won’t pay your agents’ bills. If your brokerage’s main value proposition is “we have great culture,” that will backfire fast.
Instead, build a production-centric culture. This means your leadership and office environment should constantly drive growth:
Regular training and skill development
Ongoing coaching sessions
Performance tracking and KPIs
Opportunities to scale with admin and team support
Agents stay where they’re growing. If your office feels like a stepping stone, they’ll eventually outgrow you. A production-focused culture creates both loyalty and profitability.
5. Avoid the “Brokerage Suppression Line”
Most brokerages unknowingly create a ceiling that prevents agents from growing. I call this the brokerage suppression line—the point where agents feel like they’ve outgrown your systems, your office space, or your leadership.
When that happens, they leave. Maybe they start their own team or open their own brokerage because they don’t see a path to scale where they are.
To avoid this, you must be growth-oriented as a leader:
Support agents who want to build teams.
Provide advanced systems for admin, marketing, and lead management.
Offer business coaching so agents can scale responsibly.
The moment agents believe they can grow further somewhere else, you’ve lost them. Keep expanding your leadership capacity and resources so your best agents always have room to rise.
6. Master the Systems That Add Value
Most team leaders and brokers only know how to teach the systems that worked for them personally. But every agent has a different style and business model.
To truly lead, you must become fluent in multiple systems—sphere of influence, farming, social media, online leads, expireds, and more. That’s what allows you to coach agents at every level and from every background.
At Icenhower Coaching & Training, we coach our clients to become “coaches by extension.” Through access to our proven systems—like team lead management, admin systems, and broker leadership training—leaders can provide professional-level coaching to their own agents.
The more value you can offer through systems and training, the easier it becomes to attract high-performing agents who are hungry to grow.
7. Recruit Through Coaching, Not Selling
Recruiting is not a sales pitch—it’s a coaching session.
When you meet with prospective recruits, skip the pamphlets and commission comparisons. Instead, start with a needs analysis conversation:
Where do you want your career to be in 5 or 10 years?
What’s holding you back from reaching that vision?
What systems or support would make the biggest difference?
Then, position your brokerage as the solution that helps them reach those goals. You’re not recruiting them—you’re rescuing them.
This approach builds trust, establishes value, and attracts top agents who are serious about personal and professional growth.
Recruiting during these times isn’t about lowering your splits or offering quick incentives. It’s about helping agents see a path to grow, thrive, and maintain balance when business feels tough.
Brian Icenhower
8. Retention: The Other Side of Recruiting
If you recruit on value, you’ll also retain on value.
Agents don’t leave brokerages that consistently help them grow. They leave when they stop seeing progress or feel like leadership can no longer provide guidance at their level.
By staying learning-based yourself—continuing to master new systems and strategies—you’ll ensure your agents always have a reason to stay.
9. Never Recruit on Price—Recruit on Purpose
If you’re lowering your splits to attract new agents, you’re advertising a lack of value. Instead, invest in the systems, coaching, and leadership that make your brokerage worth more—not less.
Think about it this way: people don’t buy the cheapest car or the cheapest phone. They buy what delivers the best value. Real estate agents are no different.
When you can show agents that joining your brokerage means growing their production, improving their balance, and building a scalable business, they’ll choose you—regardless of price.
Final Thoughts
Recruiting real estate agents in a slow market isn’t about panic—it’s about opportunity.
The brokers and team leaders who grow during down cycles are the ones who commit to being learning-based leaders. They provide systems, structure, and coaching that help agents level up their business.
When you recruit with purpose and lead with value, you won’t just fill seats—you’ll build a thriving, production-driven culture that top agents never want to leave.
