Recruiting is hard work. “You can occasionally pluck the seasoned, successful sales associate from a different company but there has to be a reason for that person to leave,” says John Downey, executive vice president of Coco Early Associates in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In addition, the ever-changing market is requiring sales associates to be more and more tech savvy in order to meet the needs of the next buying generation.

That’s why Downey’s brokerage decided to make a shift to recruiting younger professionals, in addition to seasoned agents. The company currently has six 20-something sales associates. “This is the best possible time to become a real estate professional as you’re forced to work hard and truly build a network that will keep you going,” says Downey.

That said, “We know the data—the average age of a sales associate is 54—and we don’t look down on that. We’re not bringing in new 45 year olds to take the place of 55 year olds,” says Downey. “We’re bringing in younger agents for a mutually beneficial relationship with veteran agents.” Younger agents can help train the older agents in social networking and technology while the older agents can serve as mentors to teach the business.

Another interesting thought: When a person in their mid to late 30’s, 40s and 50s go on Facebook, they reconnect with old friends. A 25-year old never has to reconnect, he or she has been in contact with friends since college. “It’s a whole different world,” says Downey.
Here’s what he does to reach the younger generation.

1.    Post to Job Boards. Coco Early Associates post job listings on local online college boards. “We post to all the surrounding schools and some that are a bit of a distance since many potential agents may live here but go to school a little ways away.” Downey also posts to Craigslist.org and Indeed.com, which feeds sites such as Monster.com and LinkedIn.com.
 
2.    Consider family. “I’m 54 and my own kids are in their mid-20s. If the average age of a Realtor today is 54, then we want to get the message out to our agents to talk to their kids about a career in real estate,” says Downey. “What are your kids doing and what are their friends doing? Let’s take advantage of the bad job market and recruit those right out of college.”

3.    Use the viral effect. “One of our top agents is Vincent. He’s 26, and he helped to recruit one or two people,” says Downey. Offer incentive to younger agents to recruit others who have the same ambitious attitude as your top young sales associate. And, understand that they do business differently than you do. If it works, then don’t mess with it. “I sit about 15 feet from Vinny, and I didn’t realize so many people were named “Dude,” says Downey with a laugh. “But these are his customers, and they’re buying $250,000 plus homes.”

4.    Offer a unique, tech-oriented service. Coco Early Associates offers an online auction service for all of its listings. At www.cocoearlyassociates.com/bid-a-home/index.php, interested buyers can place a non-binding bid on a Coco Early listing. “We have close to 500 listings and as a rider to every sign, we let prospective buyers know they can make a bid online.” He says that many people, especially first-time homebuyers, are afraid to make an offer because it’s so official. This gives buyers a non-threatening way to get conversation going, which is Downey’s goal. “We just want to get two sides talking. Younger agents love this tech-savvy service.”

Coco Early Associates also has an online yard sale function. “When we list a home, we’ll sell homeowners unwanted items online. We have 300-400 items for sale on our website.”

Overall, Downey says he’s pleased with the recruiting campaign. “We’re a mentoring company. We assign these new folks to an experienced agent, who helps train the sales associate on the basics of relationship building. Then, the experienced person learns from them about the online aspect of the business,” he says.

One side benefit-- “If we hire a 26-year-old, how old are his or her parents? They’re generally mid 50s and beginning the process of downsizing. So, we’re tapping into two markets— first-time homebuyers and almost retirees,” he says. “We’ve hit a homerun.”