Discover how a real estate recruiting coach trains recruiters to attract top producers, avoid “poisoning the well,” and build production-centric brokerages that thrive.
As a real estate recruiting coach, one of the most important lessons I teach is how to train a recruiter the right way. Too often, broker owners and team leaders assume that recruiting is simply a numbers game: compare commission splits, push for the close, and hope the agent joins. That outdated approach might work for new licensees, but it fails miserably with top producers.
If you want to recruit at a high level — and keep those agents long-term — you need a different mindset and a completely different system.
VIDEO: Real Estate Recruiting Coach – How to Train a Recruiter
Why Top Recruiters Are Rare
The truth is, very few people can consistently recruit high-level real estate agents. Most recruiters end up attracting low producers or brand-new agents who are simply choosing a place to hang their license. But the few recruiters who can consistently bring in top producers? They’re worth more than most broker owners.
Top recruiters understand that their job is not about hard-closing. It’s about building long-term relationships, adding value, and earning trust. That’s why I often avoid even using the title “recruiter.” Instead, I’ve seen titles like business development manager, general manager, or CEO of growth.
Because let’s be clear: this role is the one person in your organization who can truly change your bottom line.
Why the Old Recruiting Playbook Fails
Traditional recruiting approaches focus on commission splits and hard closes. This works for new agents, but it completely poisons the well with top producers. If your local market sees you as a shark — someone who pressures and hard-closes — your phone calls will start going unanswered.
Worse, even if you do manage to bring in a few producers, your retention will plummet. Agents don’t want to stay in a culture of pressure, drama, and high turnover.
A Real Estate Recruiting Coach’s First Rule: Be Patient
If you want to recruit at the highest level, patience is non-negotiable. Real recruiting is about listening more than talking. It’s about treating prospective agents like your sphere of influence: you stay top-of-mind, you add value, and you help them grow their business — even while they’re still at another brokerage.
Recruiting top agents is not a one-meeting close. It can take 10 to 20 conversations before a producer makes a move. That’s why top recruiters act more like top coaches. They diagnose, they ask deep questions, and they deliver real solutions that help agents advance their business.
The Recruit Pipeline: A Tool Every Recruiter Needs
One of my favorite tools to coach recruiters is the recruit pipeline. This simple dashboard (often just a Google Doc or spreadsheet) tracks every recruiting appointment, the agent’s production, notes about their needs, and most importantly, their ranking on a scale from 1–10:
10: Joined your company
9: Ready to join, just waiting on logistics
8: Sees the value but still hesitant
1: Never meeting again
The goal is to move agents up the scale through consistent appointments and by delivering real value. Every appointment should end with a clear “next step” that demonstrates you can help them grow — not just talk about splits.
Coaching Recruiters to Be Coaches
Here’s the secret: the best recruiters are also the best coaches. Every time your recruiter works with an agent in the pipeline, they’re practicing coaching conversations. They’re learning how to help with common business challenges:
When to hire an administrative assistant
How to transition from buyers to listings
How to farm a new neighborhood
How to scale a team without burning out
By guiding recruiters through these conversations, you’re not just training them to recruit — you’re developing them into business coaches. And that makes them invaluable to your brokerage.
Here’s the secret: the best recruiters are also the best coaches.
Brian Icenhower
Production-Centric Cultures Win
Finally, remember this: top producers don’t care about being part of a “family” brokerage. Every company claims to have a family culture, but to high performers, that often just means drama.
What they want is a production-centric culture — an environment where they can earn the most, collaborate with other driven agents, and access the tools and training to grow their business.
As a real estate recruiting coach, I can tell you that if you build this kind of environment, your recruiters will have a much easier time attracting — and keeping — top talent.
Key Takeaways
Recruiting top producers requires patience and long-term relationship building.
Avoid the outdated commission-split pitch that poisons the well.
Use a recruit pipeline to track appointments, progress, and needs.
Train recruiters to coach — the best recruiters are the best coaches.
Build a production-centric culture that attracts high performers.
Call to Action: Real Estate Recruiting Coach – How to Train a Recruiter
Are you ready to transform your brokerage’s recruiting system? At Icenhower Coaching & Training (ICT), we provide the tools, coaching, and systems to develop real estate recruiting coaches who can consistently attract top talent.
