If you’ve been telling clients, or yourself, to “wait until rates come down,” the latest numbers deserve your attention. This month, The Wall Street Journal surveyed 71 economists (read the full survey here). Their message was clear: higher bond yields aren’t going away anytime soon. The 10-year Treasury yield, which mortgage rates tend to follow, has climbed […]
Author: Mark D. Johnson
Mark D. Johnson, MBA, is Managing Partner of Recruiting Insight and the former CEO of the nation's 35th largest brokerage firm, which he grew roughly fivefold to $8 billion in annual sales. A real estate broker since 2000 and a California licensed broker, he is adjunct faculty at Chapman University and South Orange County Community College District, and author or co-author of six California real estate textbooks and the book Up In Your Business. He coaches broker-owners, managers and recruiters on recruiting, retention and leadership.
Agents Don’t Leave Because Sales Drop. They Leave Because No One Asked.
Here is the finding every broker-owner needs to hear: agents don’t leave because their sales drop. They leave because of leadership, culture and the support they get, or don’t get. If you’re watching production reports to predict who’s about to walk, you’re watching the wrong numbers. That’s the central conclusion of our Agent Migration and […]
Effort Isn’t a Motivation Problem
Every month at least one broker-owner tells me, “I have people who just won’t do the work.” Sometimes it’s an agent. Sometimes it’s someone on staff. Either way, the diagnosis is the same: they aren’t motivated. Angela Duckworth, the Penn professor who wrote Grit, offered a better diagnosis. Full effort depends on four thoughts: Miss even […]
Small Inputs, Big Days
Maybe you’re a broker-owner who just watched a good agent walk out the door. Maybe you’re a recruiter who has heard “not right now” six times this week. Maybe you’re an agent staring at an empty calendar, an affiliate watching referrals slow down, or a student wondering if you picked the right career at the […]
From 42 to 75 Agents in One Year: A Recruiting Case Study
Broker-owners ask me all the time whether a recruiting system really changes the numbers. Here’s one answer, in the client’s own words. Jeremy and Lindsay Sinnes own John L. Scott Yakima in Yakima, Washington. They started 90 Days to Recruiting Success, Recruiting Insight’s 12-week coaching program, at 42 agents. A year later they sent me […]
Your 2027 Plan Is Already Written
You Just Have to Read Your 2026 Numbers It’s Q4, which means planning season. And most brokerage plans start the same way: “We’re going to grow 20% next year.” That’s not a plan. That’s a result, and an opinion with a number attached. Earlier this week I wrote that action produces data and theory produces opinions. So […]
How Brokerage Leaders Coach Agents to Consistent Production
Consistent production isn’t a personality trait. It’s a set of daily habits that leaders can coach. Here is how brokerage leaders build them in agents.
Action Produces Data. Theory Produces Opinions.
Ten days ago I wrote that one step beats a dozen programs. Last week Joe De Sena reminded me why: complacency kills. The cure isn’t another program. It’s one step. Let’s be real. Every broker-owner I know has a shelf full of programs. Recruiting scripts. Retention playbooks. Onboarding binders. A webinar series bookmarked for “when […]
Complacency Kills
Which Generation Is Your Brokerage? Joe De Sena, the founder of Spartan Race, has a two-word warning I can’t shake: complacency kills. He starts with a line made famous by novelist G. Michael Hopf: “Hard times make strong people.” The rest of the cycle goes like this. Strong people create good times. Good times create soft […]
How to Recruit Experienced Real Estate Agents: A Daily System That Works
Recruiting experienced agents is a daily discipline, not a campaign. Here is the activity system, the follow-up model and the numbers that make it work.