Recruiting is a discipline, Century 21 CEO Mike Miedler writes, in which consistency matters more than perfection and conversations create opportunity.
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Every year, as agents pause to evaluate whether their brokerage is truly helping them grow, the real competition begins. Not for listings — for talent. Yet many brokerage leaders still treat recruiting as an optional task instead of the engine that drives business, culture and long-term stability.
After speaking to hundreds of brokers, one pattern is unmistakable: The broker with the strongest recruiting mindset wins — regardless of market, size or cycle.
And the biggest barriers aren’t structural. They’re internal.
3 recruiting objections and how to move past them
Here are the three objections that hold most brokers back and how some of our top performers move past them.
Objection 1: ‘I’m in a small market. There aren’t enough agents, and we don’t recruit from each other.’
The most successful small market brokers aren’t “poaching.” They’re creating visibility and relationships long before an agent ever considers making a move.
Naomi Vogt
As Naomi Vogt, broker-owner of Century 21 Custom Home Realty in Mendon, Massachusetts, put it:
“Outreach has to be personal. That means no mass texts messages because everyone talks to one another. We’ve thrived by inviting agents to our local events, continuing ed classes, happy hours, town festivals, basically any chance to get them in a room to meet our team and see/experience our culture. Small town recruiting works when you focus on relationships, not mass messaging.”
In other words: Small market doesn’t mean small opportunity. It means relationship-driven opportunity.
Objection 2: ‘I’m already dominating my market. Why do I need to grow?’
This is the objection that feels like confidence but can often function like complacency. Market leaders have the biggest recruiting advantage. Agents want to align with those leaders. But dominance today doesn’t protect you from attrition, competition or shifting market conditions tomorrow.
Grant Myatt
Grant Myatt, director of recruiting for Century 21 Masters in California, said it best:
“As a dominant player in your market, you should never stop recruiting. First, all your agents who helped you dominate the market may leave you one day. If you are always recruiting, you can sustain those losses financially if that production leaves. Second, more money creates more opportunities for you as a broker. Opportunities to invest in new technology or buy that beautiful office you have always wanted. Third, if you are dominating the market, this is the best time to recruit because who doesn’t want to be part of a winning team?”
The brokers who’ve scaled the fastest aren’t recruiting because they’re behind. They’re recruiting because they want to protect and expand their lead.
Objection 3: ‘I’m too busy to recruit.’
Every broker is busy. The distinction is what they consider non-negotiable. When leaders shift from “when I have time” to “every week, without fail,” growth becomes predictable.
Tracy Hutton
Tracy Hutton, broker-owner of Century 21 Scheetz in Indiana, recently revamped her approach, saying the biggest shift wasn’t tactical — it was mental:
“The No. 1 lie we tell ourselves is that we’re too busy to recruit. That’s simply not the truth. The truth is that we are determined to fill our schedules with things that aren’t revenue-producing. And for brokers, recruiting is a revenue-producing activity, just like prospecting is a revenue-producing activity for agents. As leaders, we can’t outsource the accountability for bringing in talent. We have to own it every single day. We have to talk about it, emulate the behaviors and take action.”
Once leaders make that shift, activity follows. And activity delivers business.
What we learned from coaching nearly 500 companies
When the Century 21 brand launched Goal Getters E3, our 12-week recruiting initiative, the intention wasn’t to create a branded program to talk about. It was to create a large-scale test kitchen for what actually helps drive recruiting results across diverse markets, models and leadership styles.
The challenge was intended to bring focus, consistency, camaraderie and confidence every week.
Across its inaugural season, participating brokers logged more than 3,400 prospecting hours, held roughly 8,500 recruiting conversations, booked 1,700 appointments, completed 1,100 of those and secured 400 new agent affiliations.*
More importantly, the activity revealed consistent patterns:
- About 1 in 5 conversations becomes an appointment.
- Nearly two-thirds of those appointments will actually happen.
- More than 1 in 3 completed appointments convert to a new affiliation.
- It takes about five conversations to generate an appointment and four appointments to bring on a new agent.
These aren’t just Century 21 numbers. These are critical industry insights. They tell us that recruiting isn’t a mystery — it’s a math equation. And once brokers understand that equation, they can build a plan around it.
What participating brokers told us echoed this over and over:
- “It took me back to the basics.”
- “It forced me to stay focused every week.”
- “It kept me energized and accountable.”
And most importantly:
- “It reminded me I’m not doing this alone.”
The bottom line for brokers everywhere
You don’t need a specific market, size or brand to attract the best agents. What you need is a mindset that says: Recruiting is a discipline; consistency matters more than perfection, and conversations create opportunity.
You can let the objections get in your way, or you can accept that in today’s real estate landscape, you’re not really competing on inventory, technology or marketing. You’re competing on people — the quality of the agents you attract, develop and retain.
Now you may say, why is he sharing the nuts and bolts of this recruiting strategy? Because, like any good plan, you only see results with action. I can share the recipe, but you have to get into the kitchen and cook!
The next move is yours.
*Results based on Century 21 Goal Getters E3 program participant self-reporting, Aug. 18, 2025 – Nov. 7, 2025.
Mike Miedler is President and CEO at Century 21.
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