Robb Campbell: Use Personal Relationships To Find Good Real Estate Agents In A Downturn

We recently hosted a seminar for our customers about the difficult times the U.S. real estate industry is facing. 

Our founder, Dane Maxwell, was joined by Paperless Pipeline users. Everyone shared their ideas for ensuring their business could survive the real estate downturn. 

The aim was to provide each other with help and support to get through these tough times and prosper during the recovery. 

One of the speakers was Robb Campbell. He told us about his process for recruiting top agents using personal relationships. 

About Robb

Robb used to have a RE/MAX brokerage. His was the first franchise to make $1bn in sales in one year. Today, he helps brokers and real estate business owners to grow their businesses and make them more efficient using disruptive technologies. 

During his time at RE/MAX Robb was one of the country’s top agent recruiters. He’s also the person who came up with the idea for Paperless Pipeline and was our very first customer. 

Robb’s System

Robb’s advice is for brokers to recruit hard now. When agent production starts to drop (as it has now), they will blame the broker. They will start looking for a new brokerage that provides better, more innovative tools. 

He says that providing tools to make your brokerage more efficient and effective is also a good way to retain your best agents. 

Here’s the system Robb uses:

  1. Buy or create a database of agents who have the level of experience that you need in your area.
  2. Hire someone to perform outreach calls for you. This person’s job is to get the person to commit to a 15-minute conversation with you. They are not trying to sell anything.
  3. During your 15-minute call, ask the person questions like: 
  • How’s business?
  • What’s going well?
  • What’s not going so well?
  • What do you want to achieve?
  • What’s next?
  1. Next Robb aims to get an in-person meeting with the agent. He says:

    “I know you’re happy where you are and you are probably never going to leave. But I’ve got a system that can help you achieve your goals and it would be good to build a relationship because you never know if we might want to partner in the future.”

This reduces pressure on the agent but also encourages them to think about what their future might look like.

  1. Robb then tells them more about how he works over a coffee or shared meal.
  1. Hire someone else whose job it is to follow up with the agent after the meeting to see if they need more information. They will also try to ascertain which of the following categories the agent falls into:
  • They are not interested but are happy to stay in touch. This person could take years to recruit.
  • They are interested but need to check your style and understand how you will benefit them. This type of person usually takes around 6 months to recruit. 
  • They are ready to come and work for you straight away. This type of agent is incredibly rare.
  1. If the agent isn’t quite ready to move yet, Robb will drip-feed communications to them so that he stays in touch with them. He says that eventually every agent reaches the stage where they are ready to consider a move. Because of his system, they will think of him when looking for another brokerage.

Rob explained that as a rule of thumb, the more established an agent is and the more they produce, the longer it will take them to make the decision to move. That’s because high-earning agents have more to lose.

Survive the Real Estate Downturn with Paperless Pipeline

One way to survive the real estate downturn is to make your closing process faster and more reliable with Paperless Pipeline. 


We know that switching to new software during this time feels risky. That’s why we offer a free trial—no credit card details are required.