Improving Real Estate Recruitment Through Technology
The process of recruitment has largely remained the same throughout the years. However, it has certainly been improved with and by technology. Real estate recruitment has certainly benefited from technological advancements, what with automation tools and CRM being more widely available.
Indeed, there are various ways that technology has changed real estate recruitment for the better and helped brokerages find the best people. Here are just a few examples:
Easier Communications Management
Automation is one of the best tools for recruitment and customer support. In particular, AI such as chatbots can help answer basic questions that are easy to answer but can quickly get tedious (due to repetitiveness). Automated tools can also help with scheduling appointments online and even administering appraisals.
Real estate recruiting CRM like Brokerkit can also help with communications management. For example, you can use it to automate sending emails and scheduling appointments. You can also use it to send SMS. Brokerkit also comes with recruitment campaign templates, which you can then use for automated outreach through Smart Campaigns. You can even import leads from various data sources and automate social media lookups. With this array of helpful features, it’s easier for you to scale up your operations.
Wider Reach
With the advent of social media, “social recruiting” has had a significant impact on the recruitment industry. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter in particular have become useful tools both for head-hunting and organically attracting the right candidates. What’s even better is that these platforms are free to use (although you obviously have to pay for advertising). The messaging features of these apps also make it easier to get in touch with potential recruits.
Aside from direct recruitment, real estate recruiters can also use social media to engage passive candidates. This way, once they are ready to make a career move, your brokerage will be among the first they will contact for opportunities.
Data-Driven Strategy
Recruitment is an industry anchored in people-to-people interactions. However, it is also a numbers game. Indeed, there are several metrics that you can use to measure the success of your real estate recruitment. These numbers are readily accessible and quickly processed through the use of technology. You can then use these figures to develop a more streamlined strategy.
Technology can also provide real estate recruiters with qualitative data, which can then be used to fine-tune aspects such as locational targeting of ads. Simply put, with the help of technology, you can make better and well-informed recruitment strategies and decisions.
Better Branding
One of the biggest factors that influence a real estate agent’s decision to join a brokerage is reputation. If you don’t have impressive branding, you can expect many potential recruits to pass you by. Luckily, technology expands not only your reach but also your capability to develop fresh and engaging content.
You can use social media and various apps to help establish your brokerage’s brand. Explore the use of various content formats, particularly videos, to keep your target market interested. You should also ensure that your website is optimized for mobile and contains helpful and relevant content.
Recruitment Mobility
As a recruiter, you always have to be in a recruiting mindset. You can’t simply remove your recruitment hat; it’s an ongoing process that you have to maintain if you want to retain good people. At the same time, if you “stop” recruiting, you’ll end up scrambling for viable candidates should your most skilled or tenured people suddenly quit.
Thankfully, mobile technology has made it easier for you to always be recruiting. As earlier mentioned, it’s now easier to communicate with potential candidates in the digital age. Whether you’re using a smartphone or a tablet, you can always keep in touch wherever you are. Mobile applications such as chat apps and even good old email can simplify communications.
Video services such as Skype or Zoom, meanwhile, can make the interview process so much easier for both the employer and the applicant. For the side of the applicant, in particular, they don’t have to turn down interview invitations if they can’t make it to the real estate brokerage’s office. They can simply request for a video interview, which many recruiters and brokerages now prefer due to sheer convenience.
For the recruiter and brokerage, the onus is to provide a sleek mobile experience. Make sure that your websites are optimized for the small screen. If you want, you can use an app (or develop your own). The key is to make the search process quick and easy. A hassle-free, mobile-friendly job-seeking experience can help you find and attract the right candidates much easier.
Technology has its own drawbacks, particularly the lack of face-to-face interaction. Still, the point of using technology for recruitment isn’t eliminating the humans from the process. Rather, it’s about making your job as a recruiter as effortless as possible. When you aren’t burdened by every single detail, you can produce better, faster results.