Real estate company coaching - Is being selective when recruiting agents a viable growth strategy, or is it a catalyst for stifling growth altogether?
If you’ve ever told yourself “we’re just growing selectively,” I need you to stop and read this carefully — because that phrase might be the single most expensive thing coming out of your mouth right now.
Real estate company coaching has one recurring theme I see across every market, every brokerage size, and every price point: broker/owners who decide to grow “selectively” almost always end up not growing at all. And the worst part? They don’t even know it’s happening until it’s too late.
Let’s get into it.
VIDEO: Real Estate Company Coaching – Is Agent Selectivity the Enemy of Growth?
What Is Selective Growth — and Why Does It Feel So Logical?
Here’s how it usually goes. A broker/owner decides they don’t want to be a “big recruiter.” They don’t want to deal with agent drama, low producers, or people who don’t fit the culture. So they craft an entire business model around targeting a specific type of agent.
Sounds smart, right?
It’s not. And I say that with love.
When I hear “we’re growing selectively,” what I actually hear is: “I’ve decided to stop growing and I need a reason that sounds intentional.” Because that’s what it is. It’s a rationalization. It’s a way to make peace with the discomfort of real recruiting.
Go to any association meeting where multiple brokerages are represented. Ask every broker/owner about their agent roster. Every single one of them — every one — will tell you they have the best agents, that they only recruit a certain type, and that they don’t want “those” agents from that other office.
Here’s the truth: your market is not unique. I don’t care if you’re in a luxury coastal market or a small farming town. I’ve coached clients in virtually every market type in North America. The dynamics are the same. The agent mix is the same. The excuses are the same.
The Only Two Types of Agents You Should Actually Avoid
Now, I’m not saying take anyone with a pulse. There are two types of agents worth screening out:
1. Agents with serious ethics and licensing issues. I’m talking repeated state licensing infractions, documented legal problems — not just someone who had a messy transaction or rubbed a few people the wrong way. Be careful here. Your highest producers are also your most visible agents. They step on the most toes, generate the most complaints, and get talked about the most. Don’t confuse “high profile” with “bad ethics.”
2. Toxic personalities. Rumor spreaders. Chronic negativity. People who drain the energy out of a room and poison the culture around them. These are the ones who will cost you ten agents for every one you gain from them. Avoid them.
That’s it. That’s the whole filter. Everything else — production level, transaction count, years in the business — that stuff is not a valid reason to pass on someone.
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Recruit: Recruiting Real Estate Agents (Icenhower Institute)
ICT Online CourseRecruit
Recruiting Real Estate Agents
Master the systems and strategies top brokers and team leaders use to consistently attract, recruit, and retain great agents.
Learn how to build and manage a recruiting pipeline with proven follow-up systems
Discover how to identify top talent and match agents to your team culture and value proposition
Gain access to scripts, dialogues, and presentations that turn interest into commitment
Implement marketing strategies to position your team or brokerage as the place top agents want to work
Understand how to onboard, train, and retain agents for long-term success
Includes recruiting dashboards, tracking sheets, and customizable scripts
Attract Top Talent
Learn how to position your team or brokerage as the clear choice for high-performing agents.
Recruit With Confidence
Use proven scripts and systems to identify, connect with, and convert top prospects.
Retain for Growth
Build a strong culture and onboarding process that keeps agents engaged and productive.
Designed for all learning types
Video Training
In-depth video training walking you through each module of the course, explaining the strategies, tips, and best practices for using Canva for real estate agents.
Written Workbook
Detailed and downloadable written workbook that provides you with a bullet point outline, summarized text, action steps, key takeaways, as well as space for taking notes.
Instructor Materials
Teach this course at your organization with the help of our downloadable presentation notes, presentation files, and Instructor's Manual.
Course curriculum
Enrollment includes access to the following course materials for 6 months
Module 1: Your Unique Value Proposition & Recruiting Targets- Workbook: Your Unique Value Proposition & Recruiting Targets
- Video: Your Unique Value Proposition
- Graphic: DISC Behavioral Assessment
- Graphic: DISC Profiles
- Commission Comparison Chart Template
- Workbook: The Recruiting Scoreboard
- Video: The Recruiting Scoreboard
- Graphic: The Big 3
- Resource: Sample Weekly Calendar
- Resource: Sample Recruiter Dashboard
- Resource: Recruiting Tools
- Workbook: Recruiting with Technology
- Video: Recruiting with Technology
- Graphic: 10-10-5 Daily Plan
- Workbook: Recruiting Sources
- Video: Recruiting Sources
- Script: Congratulations & Production Report
- Script: Congratulations on Production
- Script: Expanding into Your Area
- Script: New Listing
- Script: Thank You for Cooperating on Buyer Side
- Script: Thank You for Cooperating on Listing Side
- Script: Real Estate School and New Licensees
- Workbook: Setting Recruiting Appointments
- Video: Setting Appointments
- Script: Let’s Talk About Your Production
- Script: Provide a Production Report
- Script: After Closed Transactions #1
- Script: After Closed Transactions #2
- Script: When Recruit is Referred by One of Your Own Agents
- Script: When Recruit is Referred to the Recruiter
- Script: For a New Brokerage or New Recruiter
- Script: Looking to Build Relationships
- Script: Referred by Agent After Transaction
- Script: Students from Real Estate Licensing School
- Script: For Rookie Agents in Their First Year
- Script: For Up-and-Coming Agents
- Script: Increased Market Presence
- Script: Invitation to Class or Training Event
- Script: Invitation to Participate on Agent Panel
- Script: Confirming Recruiting Appointments
- Script: Objection Handler – Not interested in moving companies
- Script: Objection Handlers – I’m too busy #1
- Script: Objection Handlers – I’m too busy #2
- Script: Objection Handlers – Happy with current company
- Script: Objection Handlers – I need to wait until my transactions close
- Script: Objection Handlers – Let me think about it
- Recruiting: Scripts E-book
- Workbook: Conducting Recruiting Appointments
- Podcast Episode 196: Real Estate Recruiting Scripts – Conducting the Appointment
- Video: Conducting Appointments
- Script: The Recruiting Process
- Workbook: Setting Follow-Up Appointments
- Video: Setting Follow-Up Appointments
- Natural DISC Profile Business Generation Tendencies
- Script: Attend a Class or Training Event
- Script: Behavioral Assessment
- Script: Set a Coaching Appointment
- Script: Create a Business Plan
- Workbook: Closing recruits
- Video: Closing Recruits
- Agent Intake Pipeline
- Scripts: Closing and Objection-Handling
- Script: When, Not If
- Script: They Can’t Say No to Their Own Goals
- Script: Delay Causes Resentment
- Script: Commission Split
- Script: You Need Our Systems
- Script: Start Transitioning Ahead of Time
- Script: Can Your Broker Help?
- Script: Prepping the Broker Conversation
- Script: Transferring Current Business
- Workbook: Creating a Growth Environment for Recruiting
- Video: Creating a Growth Environment for Recruiting
- Graphic: Characteristics of a Growth Environment
- Graphic: DISC style identification
- Graphic: SWOT
- Real Estate Office Brokerage Training Monthly Calendar
About this course
- $299
- 82 lessons
- 5 hours of video content
Immediate Takeaways
Here is what you can expect to gain from taking this online course.
- SCRIPTS for recruiting. Congratulations & Production Report Script, Expanding into Your Area Script, New Listing Script, Thank You for Cooperating on Buyer Side Script, Thank You for Cooperating on Listing Side Script, Real Estate School and New Licensees Script, Objection Handlers, and many more
- RESOURCES to help you recruit effectively. Sample Weekly Calendar, Sample Recruiter Dashboard, Recruiting Tools, Recruiting Scoreboard, Agent Intake Pipeline
- HELPFUL GRAPHICS to illustrate takeaway points and reinforce learning. DISC Behavioral Assessment, DISC Profiles, The Big 5, 10-10-5 Daily Plan, DISC Style Identification, Characteristics of a Growth Environment, SWOT
- OPTIONS for how you learn best. Each module provides a downloadable PDF chapter as well as a featured video of Brian Icenhower, teaching the topic at hand. At the beginning of the course, you are also provided with a full audiobook to listen to. So however you learn best -- we have an option for you!
Certification & Designation Upon Completion
In this ICT online course, you will receive an official designation of "Certified Recruiting Director" or CRD upon completion, as well as a downloadable (and printable) Certificate of Completion. Add your designation seal, as well as your designation letters, to your email signature to bolster your reputation and show off your expertise to clients and colleagues alike.
Reviews
"I use ICT systems, the Icenhower Institute, and the coaching program to coach and train my team of over 30 agents. I use the ICT dashboard systems to keep my entire team accountable for their activities and set proper expectations."
Jake Rockwell
Over 500 Units Sold Annually
"I have coached with ICT for over five years. ICT has helped me quadruple my luxury business through marketing strategies so that I receive listings and sales through lead generation and multiple pillars of income."
Dennis Adelpour
Luxury Agent - West Los Angeles
"When we started coaching with ICT we worked all the time with some degree of success. Now, seven years later, we have grown to have the #1 market share in our area, we more than tripled our income and production, while also improving our work-life balance to enjoy our personal life with family and friends."
Tammi Humphrey
#1 Market Share & 100 Million in Annual Sales Volume
InstructorBrian Icenhower.
If your business isn't growing then it's dying.
To attract agents to your real estate team or brokerage, you must evidence your ability to increase their productivity and help them sell more real estate.
In his most important work to date, veteran coach and real estate consultant, Brian Icenhower, shares the systems and strategies he used to build some of the fastest growing real estate companies in the United States.
Recruiting is the single most valuable skillset in real estate and the linchpin of all successful real estate businesses. To exponentially and sustainably increase the net profit of your real estate business, it is essential that you operate a committed and systematic recruitment practice.
From sourcing recruits and recruiting with technology to setting, conducting, and closing recruiting appointments, this exhaustive course provides invaluable insights and practical instruction for creating a production-centric growth environment that attracts agents to your real estate team or brokerage.
With our consultative approach, recruits guide agents to a place where they self-discover that the best way to sell more real estate, become more successful, and increase their net income is by joining your team or company.
We know not everyone learns the same way. For that reason, this course has videos, text modules, and a full audiobook. In addition, the text and audiobook are downloadable so you can keep this information for life, and take it with you wherever you go.
Build a recruiting system that drives long-term growth for your team or brokerage.
Enroll in Recruit: Recruiting Real Estate Agents (ICT) to master the models, dialogues, and systems top leaders use to attract and retain exceptional talent. Learn how to fill your pipeline with qualified prospects and grow your organization strategically.
Start building your recruiting pipeline today. Add to CartRecruiting for Real Estate Agents
More about this real estate training course
Talk to a coach
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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!
Why You Need Every Type of Agent (Yes, Including New and Low Producers)
This is where most broker/owners completely lose the plot. They want a boutique office of 20 high producers and think that’s the dream. Here’s what actually happens when you build that:
The Pareto principle doesn’t care about your vision board. Over time, 20% of your office will generate 80% of the production. That’s not a strategy — that’s math. And when it starts working itself out, your top producers will start leaving, opening their own shops, or joining teams elsewhere. The “elite squad” model has a shelf life, and it’s shorter than you think.
Here’s what a growth-minded brokerage actually looks like:
- Big producers anchor your brand and credibility
- Mid-level producers form the stable core
- New and low producers bring energy, fill seats, attend events, and — critically — they feed your teams
That last point is one most brokers completely miss. If you want to attract and keep real estate teams in your office, you need to be able to offer them something: agents. Bodies. Growth. You tell a team leader, “Come to my office. Give me 12 months. I’ll get you 10 more agents.” That’s a recruiting pitch that actually works.
A brokerage that can make that promise grows teams. A brokerage that can’t make that promise loses them.
Want to see how this plays out in real scenarios? Watch the full video here where I break this down in detail.
Agents Don’t Come One at a Time — They Come in Packs
This is something you only learn from actually being in the trenches of recruiting. When you recruit one agent, you rarely just get one agent. Agents are connected. Small producers are friends with big producers. New agents know team members. Teams know teams.
Every agent is a thread. When you start pulling, others come with them.
The old rule of thumb I used to follow: for every 10 agents who join, you might get:
- 1 agent doing 30+ transactions a year
- 2–3 doing around 8–9 transactions
- 3–4 who belong on a real estate team
- 3–4 who may step out of the business within a year
That mix will show up whether you target it or not. The only variable is how fast it shows up. When you get selective, you don’t change the mix — you just slow down the pipeline.
Scarcity vs. Abundance: The Mindset That Separates Growing Brokerages from Dying Ones
Most broker/owners are operating from scarcity. They hoard their agents. They get upset when a team forms inside their office because it feels like cannibalization. They’d rather keep a mediocre roster than risk bringing in someone who might leave.
That’s how you stay stuck.
Growth-minded brokerages operate differently. They have licensing schools. They contact new licensee lists every year. They have recruiters in the field. They’re not worried about losing an agent here or there because they know how to replace them and then some.
And here’s the counterintuitive truth that real estate company coaching keeps proving out: the best retention strategy is growth. When agents see a busy, growing office full of people — social proof kicks in. They think, “This must be the place to be.” You can recruit through almost any retention problem.
The Bottom Line: Stop Swimming Upstream
If your current brokerage model requires you to personally filter every potential recruit, carefully curate a small elite group, and protect that group from outside influence — you’re swimming upstream. And the universe will force a correction whether you’re ready for it or not.
Either you’re growing or you’re dying. There’s no third option.
Open up your recruiting. Stop calling it “selective.” Call it what it is: fear. And then get to work.
Watch the full video at the top of this blog post and subscribe to the ICT YouTube channel for more no-nonsense real estate company coaching every week.
Want real estate company coaching that actually moves the needle? Visit IcenhowerCoaching.com or reach out to our team directly. We work with agents, team leaders, and broker/owners across North America — and we’ll tell you exactly what’s holding your brokerage back.
Video Transcript
Prefer to read along? Here’s the full transcript from this training video.
With real estate brokerages, the biggest enemy of growth is called selective growth. And I hear this one all the time — I’ve heard it forever. It’s what the guys who lose the race say: “We’re just growing selectively.” It’s almost like they’ve realized they don’t want to be a big recruiter, they don’t want a bunch of recruiters, so they craft their entire business model around that idea.
They’ll say, “We have a certain type of agent that fits our model, and that’s who we’re targeting.” Every time I hear this — and I’ve heard it thousands of times — it honestly just makes me want to shake someone, because you don’t get it. You don’t want to be big. You think you do, but you don’t.
Go to any association where multiple brokerages are represented. Every broker/owner will say this. They all think they have the best agents. “We don’t want those types of agents. We want our types of agents.” And they don’t realize every town is just like them. There’s nothing unique about your market. I don’t care if you’re in a luxury market or a small market — it’s all the same. I’ve operated in just about all of them, and we coach clients in all of them. Your market’s not unique.
There is a certain agent mix that comes in regardless of your targeting. It’s just a matter of how fast. I will agree — there are two types of agents you want to avoid. Bad ethics and bad morals. But be very careful how you diagnose that. It’s got to be pretty extreme, because there’s a lot of bad judgment that flows around from brokerage to brokerage. Things like repeated state licensing infractions — that’s a real signal. But be careful, because you’ll start to weed out your highest producers if you’re not cautious. Everybody hates number one. They do the most transactions, so they’re going to step on the most toes.
The other one is toxicity. You don’t want toxic people. Rumor spreaders, chronic complainers — they’re poison pills in your brokerage. I’ve spotted them throughout my career and learned to shrug them off regardless of how influential they seem.
Those two — that’s it. Production level alone is not a reason to pass on someone. I’ll take all types, because I have a need for all types.
You definitely need your biggest producers. You definitely need real estate teams. But if you’re going to have teams, you also need low producers and new agents — because the best way to get teams and keep teams is to feed them. Not listings, though that’s nice. Give them bodies. Do you know how easy it is to recruit or retain a team by telling them, “You’ve got five agents now. Come to my office and I’ll get you ten more in twelve months.” That’s a real promise a growing brokerage can make.
A brokerage built for growth has a real estate licensing school. They have recruiters in the field. They’re contacting the new licensee list every year. They’re not in scarcity mode like the majority of broker/owners who are just trying to hang on to what they have.
Most teams won’t even survive in offices run by scarcity-minded broker/owners, because if an agent joined that team, the broker/owner would get upset — “You’re cannibalizing my office.” That’s a scarcity mindset from someone who can’t grow. Someone who can grow says, “No problem. I’ll get more.” That’s the difference.
I’ve competed against scarcity-based mindsets throughout my career, and I can tell you: scarcity always loses when put up against abundance. That’s why growth will always beat retention as a strategy. Nothing is better for retention than growth. When agents see new faces coming in constantly, social proof kicks in — “I must be in the right place.” You can recruit through almost any retention problem.
Big teams need low producers too. And your brokerage does as well. Low producers bring energy, excitement, and they show up. They fill seats at your meetings. They give your top producers someone to mentor and train. Those are motivated bodies, and they matter.
When you go selective, you’re shrinking your target market down to a niche where you’ve essentially declared yourself unable to grow. That’s why selective growth doesn’t work. An office of twenty elite producers sounds good until the Pareto principle kicks in. That 80/20 split is going to happen — 20% of the office producing 80% of the volume — no matter how carefully you curated it. Some of your elite agents are going to leave, open their own shops, or join teams elsewhere. It will work itself out.
You have an agent mix that is largely defined by the universe. Stop trying to change it. Either you’re growing or you’re dying. The universe will force a correction either way. Growth is the only sustainable path.
If you’ve got a small elite squad and you’re still running the office and still in production — that’s not the dream you started with. Open it up. Stop being selective. Get out there and recruit. And if some of the people you bring in don’t work out, that’s okay. That’s the only way you’ll really find out who fits. Bring them in first, and don’t get so upset when a few of them leave. That’s just growth.
