In the late ‘80s, IBM had 50% of the computer market’s revenue and 90% of its profit.

At the time, Apple was a relatively small company (along with a bunch of others) trying to take down the giant.

Fast forward 30 years, and the Wall Street Journal makes a compelling case that Apple now looks a lot like IBM did in times past.

Almost as big, and just as vulnerable.

The verdict is still out on whether history will repeat itself, but the risks associated with being a dominant player in a market are well-established.

And from a recruiting perspective, there are lessons to learn no matter which market position you happen to hold.

If you’re a small company or team competing against a dominant player, there are always cracks that can be exploited.

Find the cracks and demonstrate how you can be more effective in a small niche.

If you’re the prominent player, recognize that leaning on your size and dominance as your primary recruiting advantage is a mistake.

Viewing yourself as a single office or team will help you compete more effectively. Having a large, successful company backing you up is a secondary benefit.

In the end, the most talented recruiting prospects will affiliate with the unique hiring managers who can meet their needs and increase their chances of personal success.

This is a question I commonly hear from the most successful executives, hiring managers, and recruiters.

Those who perform at a high level seem to have a natural curiosity.

They also have a sense that the best insights come from other practitioners who are focused on the difficult work of recruiting.

Do you find yourself asking this question?

If not, give it a try. You might be surprised by what you learn.

Who should you be asking?  

Start with those in close proximity. Your agents, your peers who also work on recruiting, and those who work in ancillary businesses that serve the same customers (ex. your title rep.).

Next, spread out and develop a small virtual network of three to five individuals who do your job in non-competitive companies.

You don’t need complicated software or a networking system to do this–just use a group email or group text to ask questions and participate in a conversation.

“Would you mind if I occasionally ask you a question about recruiting?”

See, that was easy.

Collecting information and challenging assumptions are necessary ingredients for improvement.

Converting data into visual formats has been a major marketing trend over the last decade.

While it’s well known that visual information is easier for the mind to digest, it can feel hollow without the support of substantial facts and metrics.

According to Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, creating a “data story” is a way of merging these diverse perspectives.

At Google, I teach everyone from marketers to engineers some basic principles of data visualization that help them turn numbers into compelling visual stories.

Presenting data creatively can make numbers seem more human and turn statistics into stories.

By ‘humanizing’ data we can make those numbers – and hence the people and companies behind them – more transparent.

Nussbaumer shares some of her tactics in this article, but the substance of her strategy boils down to simplicity.

Just like writing or speaking, in data design you want to keep things succinct and to the point. 

This allows the important message to shine through. 

Here is an example of a recruiting piece we created for a client that implements the data story concepts:

The Path to Becoming a Successful Real Estate Professional

I know many of you took my advice and diligently built recruiting pipelines during the Covid crisis.

Here is a note I recently received from Andrea Lawrence at BHHS Alliance in St. Louis.

Cindy has 40 prospects in her pipeline she recruited during Covid-19 who are now getting licensed. Many of these individuals came from good careers they are not going back to.  

Here’s to the next great 7 months of recruiting in 2020!

Andrea and her team will likely reap the rewards of their hard work, but their work is not done yet. It will take good follow-up execution to turn these prospects into hires.

Here are three things high-performing hiring managers do to get their prospects over the finish line:

1. Break the hiring process into small steps. The real estate hiring process takes several months. Reduce the process into small steps. Then help prospects accomplish each step and cross it off their list.

2. Treat prospects like they’re already hired. Invite them to sales meetings, training classes, and other activities your agents regularly do. Have them start building their database. Even before they’re licensed, make them feel like they’re already an agent.

3. Connect prospects with others in the company. Relationships are the glue that will keep your prospects from defecting to competitors during the pre-hire stage. Make connections virtually if you can’t do it in-person.

There are many individuals who are excited about making the transition to real estate right now.

By doing great follow-up, you can help turn their initial hopes into a reality.

Because so many employment statistics are reported without context, trying to make sense of employment news in recent weeks can be confusing.

To gain some clarity, here’s a quick summary of the most relevant data collected and published by Raghav Singh, the director of analytics at Korn Ferry.

-The unemployment rate is currently 14.7%. It will likely hit 16% in the third quarter before starting to drop.

-Productivity growth in the U.S. has been stagnant in recent years (ex. productivity only increased 0.3% in 2019). The pandemic may shake things up enough to reignite productivity growth.

Bright spots: New business formations are still happening, many companies are moving manufacturing out of China (re-shoring), and technology hiring has remained strong.

What’s this mean for real estate?

There will be much turmoil in the labor market for the next year or more, and this turmoil can mean opportunity.

It will be a massive game of musical chairs—lots of talented individuals scurrying to find the limited number of employment opportunities available.

It’s a good time to set out a chair.

As darkness falls each evening, there are a few bright-shining stars that emerge before the rest become visible.

Financial news is suggesting the real estate industry may be one of the brightest stars in pending recovery. For example, here are some recent headlines:

Google reports searches for “homes for sale” are up an average of 54% from 2020 lows in 50 metros.

Applications for mortgages to purchase homes went up 6% for the week and are only 1.5% below a year ago.

To an employment marketplace that has been decimated in the last three months, this is much-needed good news.

And to individuals who have lost their jobs and must pivot to something new, this is just the kind of light they’re hoping to see.

The industries that recover most quickly have the advantage in attracting the most talented individuals who have been displaced.

But, it’s important to recognize what’s happening and use the early recovery status to your advantage.

As you head into Memorial Day weekend, I know many of you will pause to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to secure our freedoms.

Since the Revolutionary War, just under 1.3 million Americans have died in combat, and another 2.6 million were wounded and/or disabled.

While each of these lives was precious, it’s amazing to realize the freedom of 550 million people* was secured by the sacrifices of a relatively small number of military heros.

Here’s an important lesson about sacrifice: A tiny number of individuals who are highly focused and dedicated to a noble cause can have a positive effect on a significant number of people.

Since the coronavirus crisis took root, most of you have made substantial sacrifices for your agents, employees, and clients to secure the future of your business.

You must know and remember that these sacrifices will reach beyond those who you have directly served and affect the lives of more individuals than you imagine.

Why? Because the giving of one’s self to a greater cause multiplies itself in many untold ways.

Take the time this weekend to celebrate and show gratitude for those who have died to win our freedoms.

And then recommit yourself to living your own life of service.

The world always needs more leaders who will sacrifice for the wellbeing of others.

*Note: 550 million people is the current population of the United States plus those who have lived, enjoyed freedom, and died over the last 240 years.

As many of you know, our company sources thousands of recruiting prospects each month for real estate companies across the country.

We recently added a new question to the landing page of the application.

Why are you considering a career in real estate at this time?

The question is optional, but more than 70% of applicants provide feedback.

As suspected, the health crisis has driven many high-quality prospects to engage. Here’s a quick sampling of some of the recent responses:

I have over 10 years of experience in food service sales. Covid-19 has destroyed the restaurant business and I am looking for a change. Shannon (Albany, NY)

I had a real estate license years ago in south Florida and am looking to get back into it after a change in my long-time job due to Covid-19.  Amanda (Tampa, FL)

I am a retired academic scientist (PhD). I closed my food-truck passion-project due to the coronavirus. I enjoy working with people and love new experiences. I have always enjoyed the home-buying process and will excel in home sales given the opportunity. Randen (Central, PA)

I was laid off of my job due to COVID-19, and I have been using this time to look into a different career. I have been thinking about real estate for a while now and wasn’t sure exactly where to start. Marlene (Fresno, CA)

Due to the coronavirus, I have lost a large part of my income. I am looking for an opportunity to work with a great team to help people find homes. I am ready to start right away. Martin (Davenport, IA)

From an employment perspective, the marketplace quickly flipped from many jobs available/few applicants to few jobs available/many applicants.

As a hiring manager, this puts you in a position to engage many talented individuals and select only the best to be part of your team.

You’ve heard much about businesses emerging from lockdown and making plans to compete in the post-Covid world.

No doubt much of your attention has been focused on helping your agents do the same.

While getting your business up and running again is the top priority, don’t forget to dedicate some time to recruiting.

Recruiting is the classic important, but not urgent, activity and recruiting tasks will lie dormant week after week without some proactive attention.

Part of the resistance you’re feeling is an oversized sense of start-up inertia.

Somehow your brain knows it could be several months until you experience the payoff of today’s efforts, so the rationalization to delay starts making sense.

How do you overcome this inertia?

Set a start date to reopen recruiting.

Let your accountability partners know about your commitment, and then publicize the start date with your agents and others in your office.

Prep for your opening, and when the day comes—get busy.

What’s better than receiving? That’s right. Giving.

A few weeks ago, I highlighted the work of Player Murray and Lizzie Gonzales who manage a high-performing real estate office in Raleigh, North Carolina.

During the lock-down, they secretly left each of their agents a thoughtful gift on their porch with the message:

We are thinking about you and we miss you.

After everyone received a gift, they had the idea of turning the tables and giving the agents an opportunity to make a contribution.

They nominated 10 agents to be the new “porch fairies” during the following week.

These agents reached out to their clients, friends, and sphere of influence with the following message:

I’ve been nominated to be a BHHS North Hills Porch Fairy. My mission is to collect as much nonperishable food as possible for local families in need.

If you’d like to help me in this mission, put some nonperishable food items on your porch, send me a text, and your porch fairy will pick up the food and deliver it to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

This is a great opportunity to help those families who are struggling during these difficult times!

By the end of the week, more than 1000 pounds of food plus cash donations were dropped off at the food shuttle by the porch fairies.

But, here’s the best part.

After the first week, each of the porch fairies nominated another agent in the office to take their place for the following week.

By design, the “Porch Fairies Fly Again” program will be self-perpetuating for the next 10 weeks.

One porch fairy commented,

What really surprised me was how much people want to give back right now. We’ve been stuck in our own little worlds for several weeks now, and it feels good to reach out and help someone who is struggling.

Maybe it’s time to start a porch fairy program in your office.

In a recent podcast, technology pioneer Michael Dell outlined the basic strategy for handling a crisis.

When you’re in a crisis, you’ve really got to do three things:

1. Make your team feel safe and protected, and ensure they have the resources to be productive.

2. Over-communicate with customers by frequently reaching out to them (they’ll remember how you treated them during the crisis).

3. Make sure your business stays financially strong so you’re able to navigate what’s ahead—this allows you to stay focused on the future.

As I’ve spoken to leaders over the last two months, many of you were intuitively following Dell’s advice and you’re much stronger than your competitors at this point in the process.

But don’t stop now. According to Michael Dell, there is one more step you need to take.

If you look back at previous crises, it’s always a time of incredible innovation.

The focus of the world has moved to–how do we recover?

If you were leading through the crisis, you earned the right to participate in the recovery.

If you lead and innovate through the recovery, you’ll earn the right to dominate the future.

Over the previous four weeks, I published two Insights (1,2) concerning the sourcing trends for new-to-real-estate recruiting prospects. Here’s another quick update.

Volume. Sourcing volume goals are based on long-term historical trends. In April, we sourced 88% of the volume goal. This is 3 percentage points higher than March results (85%).

Costs. Sourcing costs (measured in advertising cost per applicant) increased from $4.95/prospect to $5.79/prospect. The historical trend line is $5.42/prospect during this time of year.

Conversion. The number of unique views to job postings increased 19.9% in April, but the conversion rate from view to application fell from 32% to 25%.

The increase in views balances out the reduction in conversions for overall prospect volume. Since most advertisers charge on a pay-per-click basis (views), costs have increased.

Quality. Recruiters and hiring managers continue to report the quality of the recruiting prospect is the best they’ve seen in several years.

After being forced out of their traditional jobs in recent weeks, many high-quality individuals are reconsidering their career options and making choices to be more independent.

For those committed to planting recruiting seeds for the future, it’s springtime.

Shortly after the last downturn, a new crop of high-performers took root and started to prosper.

I suspect the same thing will happen again.

In one of my favorite podcasts from the archive, Dave Mashburn explains why some leaders create more influence than others.

In my experience, there are two types of managers.   

One type sees their jobs in only business terms.

They believe it’s their responsibility to be available for business questions, organize their team in the most productive way, and check all the boxes on a daily basis.

The other type of manager is a soulful leader.

They do all the things the first managers does, and they recognize the importance of the business details.

But there’s something more profound that motivates their interactions.

These men and woman understand the importance of being useful beyond the surface.

They’re constantly curious about how they can discover the important underlying issues leading to success and help more deeply.

For them, it’s about becoming a better team because each member feels valued, understood, cared for, and yes, even loved.

Soulful leaders have significantly greater influence and long-lasting effect on those around them.

Granted, it’s a lot of work and consumes a great amount of emotional energy.

But it also produces the high return—both for them and those they’re serving.

About 4 blocks from my office, sits the high-end Oasis Spa.

This spa made national news last week when its owner, Jamie Black-Lewis, attempted to re-hire the employees she recently furloughed.

Many of the employees were disappointed to hear this news because they are making more money collecting unemployment benefits than working their jobs.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this advantageous unemployment scenario will remain in place for most unemployment beneficiaries until early August.

While it’s frustrating to see this scenario play out, it does beg the question:

What will workers do while receiving generous unemployment benefits over the next three months?

Most will probably pursue hobbies, take a stay-vacation, or stay at home and do nothing.

But some of the most talented individuals will use this opportunity to invest in the future, upgrade their careers, and reach for something they previously didn’t have the time and money to pursue.

Granted, it will be a small percentage. But a small percentage of the 26 million workers who have applied for unemployment benefits in the last few weeks is a lot of great prospects.

Remember, opportunities are carefully disguised as problems.

One of the key components of a recruiting strategy is defining a niche.

A niche is a tightly defined portion of the overall recruiting marketplace.

This marketplace can be quickly divided into the broad categories of new agents and experienced agents.

But to be effective, you need to drill down further.

For example, your new agent niche could be referrals from the sphere of influence of your existing agents.

It’s better to put intense focus on dominating a narrow niche than going shallow across a broader number of opportunities.

As you develop your after-covid recruiting plan, some of the common niches may be less fruitful for a while or completely gone.

For example, if your niche was capturing new agents from physical real estate schools, it’s time to pivot.

As old opportunities go dormant (or disappear completely), new opportunities emerge.

Those who find and dominate the new niches in the after-covid recruiting marketplace will win the next generation of agents.