Last week, we started a discussion on how companies can more successfully attract talented individuals to the real estate industry.  When there is a limited number of people who are seeking out real estate careers on their own, the competition for new agents naturally has to grow beyond that small pool of candidates.  When this happens, a real estate company has to compete with traditional companies (i.e. companies that offer traditional jobs with salaries and benefits) for the attention of talented individuals.

Last week, I challenged you to find out what other companies are offering in the geographic region close to your office.  Did you do your homework?  Just in case you didn’t, I put together a couple of examples for you.

Our company (Tidemark) is located in Woodinville, WA.  This is a community just outside of Seattle.  As I search in my geographic area, here are a couple examples of what candidates are being offered:

1.  Email Marketing Manager, Classmates.com.  Classmates.com is one of the few “dot com” companies that survived over the last decade.  It appears to be a healthy company and has a good brand.  Here are the responsibilities for this position:

Manage the concept, development and execution of email marketing campaigns, including new feature notifications, segmented lifecycle campaigns, newsletter & triggered emails.

Partner with other members of the marketing team to develop new customer segmentation and contact strategies and act as the team’s resident expert of email.

Write effective, creative briefs that include campaign objectives and strategic messaging and work with our internal creative services to formulate compelling copy and design that ensures successful results.

Develop new messaging strategies that leverage the data we have on our members and provide business requirements to technical teams to construct more compelling, dynamic email.

What are the motivations of someone who would apply for this job?  The most obvious factor is the opportunity this position affords to someone who wants to make use of their marketing training and skills.  Someone who is attracted to this position would enjoy working in a team environment and interfacing with vendors (internal creative and technical service providers).  Additionally, a person who would be successful at this job would probably have a knack for understanding the needs and interests of customers.

Estimated pay for this position:  $50,000/year with full health benefits.

2. Customer Service Representative, Precor.  Have you ever went to the gym and used one of those elliptical trainers?  Most likely, it was made by Precor.  This company is also a healthy company that has a good brand and reputation.  Here are the responsibilities for this position:

Provides technical assistance to internal and external customers using both oral and written communication skills.  This includes diagnosing the problem and walking the customer through the solution.

Maintains contact with customer accounts and end-users through phone contact, email, faxes and correspondence.

Explains and administers company policies and procedures pertaining to customer service (e.g., warranty policy, parts credit, return policy, etc.)

Communicates effectively with customers (within Customer Support and other appropriate departments) on the status of current field failures, and assists in determining corrective action to ensure Precor customer satisfaction.

Assists customers with part orders through an on-line computer system, this includes data-entry of customer numbers, part numbers, quantity, etc.

A person who is attracted to this job will be someone who enjoys working with people to get problems solved.  The individual who is successful at this position would have to be a good listener and be willing to push through obstacles (both internal and external) in order to get good results.

Estimated pay:  $30,000/year with limited benefits.

Note:  Pay and benefit research was conducted through www.glassdoor.com.  Neither of the positions advertised contained detailed pay and benefit information in their job posting.

Speaking the Candidate’s Language

Hopefully, you’re starting to get the idea of what “normal” candidates experience as they look for a job.  As you consider this information, don’t get too caught up in the details.  Rather, spend your time trying to understand “the language” that the candidate is expecting to hear when they consider new employment.

More specifically, you need to be able to see things and answer questions from the customer’s perspective.  Candidates want to know…

• How do my skills and training specifically apply to what an agent does?
• Who am I going to be working with as an agent?  Am I going to like my manager and coworkers?
• Who, outside of the organization, am I going to be working with?
• Does your company have a great brand? (i.e. Will I want to tell my friends I work at your company?)
• As an agent, am I going to enjoy working with your company’s customers?

If you’re not crafting your message in terms that the candidate finds familiar, there is often a decisive breakdown in communication that develops.  The red flags quickly go up in a person’s mind and the talented people disengage.

It’s similar to the feeling you probably get when you attend a timeshare sales presentation.  You know that there are all kinds of normal people in the world taking normal vacations, but the salesperson is hell-bent on convincing you that all those other people are idiots and his unique model of vacationing is the only way to go.  At this point, you’re looking the for the door and wondering whether the two free nights in the hotel was really worth it!

While this kind of pressure and focus may work for timeshare sales, but it doesn’t work for employment.  Helping someone consider a range of fair options in terms a candidate is familiar with hearing is the formula for building trust and getting the most talented candidates to engage.

Next time, we’ll discuss how you can better compete with traditional companies on the issue of pay and benefits. 

Editor’s Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you’re an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the “comments” link below.