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This is the third installment of Inman’s Talking Talent series on recruiting. Click here for Part 1 by Rory Golod of Compass. Click here for part 2.
Perhaps no company is better known for recruiting than eXp Realty.
Since its founding a decade and a half ago, the company has grown from nothing to one of the largest players in the industry. Generous incentives designed to turn agents into recruiters have swelled the workforce, leading to predictions that hundreds of thousands of people will eventually join its ranks.
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Growth has slowed since then, but the company still had 85,249 agents as of its last earnings report, a huge number no matter how you look at it.
Wendy Forsythe
Inman recently met with Wendy Forsyth, eXp’s chief marketing officer, to discuss how the company is thinking about recruiting and talent at this time. This conversation is part of Inman’s ongoing Talking Talent series, and the high-level takeaway is that eXp wants something very specific: a team and a top producer. Forsythe also explained why the company wants to weed out non-producers and expressed some optimism about next year.
Below is a version of that conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Inman: Talk about what’s going on at a high level with recruiting. What are you currently thinking about in terms of finding talent?
Wendy Forsyth: We’re very focused on attracting production agents and teams. In other words, it is at the top level of the industry. This year, our campaign and slogan is “eXp is where professionals grow.” This is the backbone of our recruitment efforts, especially considering the market.
Agents are looking for stability and legacy, all important fundamentals that a proven model and brokerage service like eXp can provide. Therefore, that was the most important focus of our recruiting efforts this year.
Inman: If eXp is “a place where professionals grow,” what do you think about new agents? Bob Smith licenses and loves the EXP brand. Is EXP the right place for that person?
As you can imagine, we receive a lot of such inquiries. The ideal outcome for most of these new agents is to join the team. They are more successful when they are part of a team. So we tried to do matchmaking like that.
So we’re actually tracking this. I prepared this statistic because I thought you might ask. That means 41 percent of new agents who join us are on a team, and agents who are on a team are 75 percent more productive.
I said I might have a blind date. If I go to get my license and I don’t know anyone, can I actually connect people to the right team?
It happens in different ways. In many cases, when new agents visit our website, they are connected directly to our customer care department. In many cases, they already know eXp agents. If you’re already connected to someone, repair that connection.
If they don’t know anyone, we answer all their questions and find out where they are in the local market to see if we can introduce them to a few. In that case, give 3-5 names. Therefore, encourage referrals.
I’m curious if you’ve seen a lot of natural growth lately or if you’ve gone out and found people.
It’s both. Our growth team is actively going out and having conversations. [CEO Leo Pareja]myself, [eXp World Holdings CEO Glenn Sanford]all of our senior leaders are active in the industry.
However, our agents remain attractive. Part of our business model includes revenue sharing opportunities. This means there is a clear financial benefit and focus for them to do the same.
Do you think there is an eXp culture or is it more clearly defined at the team level?
We do have an eXp culture. And I think our team and even individual agents have their own culture. But that element of collaboration permeates throughout our culture. We have an open calendar of events open to all eXp agents nationwide. You can filter by topic, in-person or online, recorded or live, and by geography. That’s why our collaborative culture is part of our DNA.
One of the things that people who look at our company from the outside don’t realize is that at most brokerage firms, an agent joins and goes from 10 deals to 20 deals, or goes from making $100,000 a year to $200,000. It means that everyone gets high. Five, that’s a win, right? Here at eXp, it’s on another level. People’s lives have changed. That’s because of the income generated through revenue sharing, and because of the shares, you can become an owner of the company. The agent will say, “I can pay for my kids’ college tuition.” I was able to pay off my mortgage. There was a medical crisis, but we were able to cover it. I was able to let my spouse retire.
These are the types of stories I hear every day. Its culture is very difficult to explain in words. But when I see someone’s eyes tear up when they talk about the difference this company has made in their life, it’s such a great feeling to be a part of.
Is there an average amount that people are making on RevShare? Is there a way to quantify that?
We don’t know the details, but since we are a publicly traded company, we report the amount of revenue distribution paid each year.
There’s a story about that. But I guess I was curious to see how it all fell apart. Many of our readers are agents, and they might say, “Hey, if I go to eXp, how much can I expect to make from other things like revenue sharing?”
It all depends on how many agents they attract and how it turns out. So it’s different. There are some agents that no agent can attract. They’re like, “Look, I’m not interested in that.” That’s fine.
With companies that want to build revenue sharing, we turn it into a business conversation. “So, how much do you want to make? What are your goals? For many agents, the initial goal is to cover all the bills with revenue sharing and then get to the point where production is profitable. So we do the math with them and figure out what their business plan is.
We’re talking about people wanting to attract other people to their companies, and I’m wondering how you guys are thinking about employee numbers right now. EXp has clearly seen stratospheric growth for a long time. It’s obviously slowing down, as is the industry as a whole, but I’m curious what you think about it now.
I can definitely say there was a pivot. When you get to our size and scale, we especially look closely at non-production distributors in a depressed market. In other words, the majority of agents who leave us are agents who are not producing at all.
We focus on producing agents and retaining and attracting producer agents rather than maintaining a constant number of non-producer agents.
How much does it cost to use a non-productive agent? Why would you ask them to leave in the first place?
The technology we provide does come at a significant cost.
And the real thing to consider is, if you’ve never done a trade before, are you prepared for when a trade might come your way? If you need surgery, would you want it to be done by a doctor who hasn’t operated on you in a year or two? I don’t think so.
Especially with the way the industry has evolved this year, unless you are an active, professional, invested, and seasoned real estate agent, you will not be able to adequately serve potential buyers and sellers.
Let me change direction a little. It’s almost the end of the year, so let’s talk about 2025. What would that look like?
From an economic perspective, we are cautiously optimistic. We’re hearing early predictions are coming out that volumes may improve next year. I think anything that indicates the market has bottomed out and is starting to recover or rise is a positive thing.
I think agents are tired in many ways, right? Over the past 48 months, we have experienced various market cycles. But good agents are prepared, have seriously invested in their business, and will continue to do so.
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