Every competitive industry eventually falls in love with the wrong number.
It is usually the number that is easiest to see, easiest to celebrate, and easiest to compare. But visibility does not make it valuable. In real estate recruiting, brokerages have spent years competing over agent sales volume without asking a more important question:
Which agents create the most profitable and sustainable growth for the brokerage?
The answer may not be the top producers everyone is chasing.
Why Brokerages Compete for the Same Top Producers
Ask a brokerage leader to describe a great recruit and the answer usually comes quickly: a recognizable top producer with enough sales volume to move market share and generate an announcement.
These agents attract the largest recruiting packages, the most aggressive commission splits, and the most attention from competing brokerages. Signing one feels like an immediate win.
But sales volume alone does not tell you what that recruit is worth to the brokerage.
A high-volume agent may bring significant production while keeping nearly all the resulting commission. Once a brokerage includes signing incentives, marketing support, technology, staff time, office resources, and other concessions, the economics can become much less attractive than the headline production suggests.
The brokerage wins the announcement. It does not always win the margin.
Are Top-Producing Agents Profitable for Brokerages?
Top-producing agents can absolutely create value. They can strengthen a brand, attract other agents, improve market share, and open doors in a new market.
However, they are not automatically the most profitable agents to recruit.
Because top producers have greater negotiating leverage, they often command commission structures that leave the brokerage with a thinner contribution margin. In some cases, the brokerage is effectively treating the relationship as a marketing investment.
That can still be a rational decision, but it should be made intentionally.
The mistake is assuming that the agent with the most production is always the recruit with the greatest economic value.
The Strongest Recruiting Opportunity May Be in the Middle
Courted’s analysis of agent production and movement data shows that agents producing between $1 million and $25 million annually account for roughly three-quarters of recruitable sales volume. The largest concentration sits with agents producing between $1 million and $5 million.
That is a much larger pool than the small group of marquee producers receiving most of the industry’s attention.
These productive mid-level agents may also offer stronger unit economics. They generate meaningful and consistent sales volume without always requiring the aggressive splits, signing bonuses, and custom concessions demanded by top producers.
They may not produce the biggest press release, but they can create healthier and more repeatable brokerage growth.
For many brokerages, recruiting ten well-matched productive agents may be more valuable than winning one expensive bidding war for a headline name.
Why Brokerages Overlook Productive Mid-Level Agents
The opportunity is hiding in plain sight because identifying the right agents within this segment is difficult.
Brokerages need to know:
- Which agents are consistently increasing production
- Which agents are outperforming their current office or market
- Which agents have relationships with people already inside the brokerage
- Which agents are expanding into strategic markets or price points
- Which agents are showing signals that they may be open to moving
- Which agents fit the brokerage’s specific growth goals
A static production report cannot answer those questions.
Most recruiting teams are forced to search manually through MLS data, spreadsheets, personal networks, and disconnected systems. That makes it easier to default to the agents everyone already knows.
The result is predictable: brokerages compete for the same small group while a much larger pool of productive, recruitable agents receives less attention.
How Data Changes Real Estate Recruiting
A better real estate recruiting strategy starts by defining the agents who create the most value for your brokerage, then using data to identify them before your competitors do.
Courted turns MLS data and more than 190 additional data sources into actionable recruiting intelligence. Brokerage leaders can use Courted to:
- Identify productive agents in specific markets and price points
- Track changes in agent production and momentum
- Predict which agents are most likely to change brokerages
- Surface warm relationships and potential introductions
- Create personalized outreach based on real agent activity
- Track recruiting progress from initial contact through conversion
This allows recruiting teams to spend less time searching for agents and more time building the right relationships.
It also replaces the question, “Who are the biggest agents in our market?” with a better one:
Which agents are most likely to move, most aligned with our goals, and most valuable to our brokerage?
What Is the Best Agent Segment for a Brokerage to Recruit?
There is no single production range that works for every brokerage.
The best recruiting target depends on the brokerage’s commission model, fixed costs, geographic priorities, support structure, culture, and growth strategy.
However, brokerage leaders should evaluate prospective recruits across more than sales volume. Important factors include:
- Expected company dollar
- Production consistency
- Growth trajectory
- Market and geographic fit
- Likelihood of moving
- Recruiting costs and concessions
- Retention potential
- Relationships with current agents
The goal is not to stop recruiting top producers. It is to stop treating production as the only number that matters.
The Real Competitive Advantage in Agent Recruiting
The brokerages that win the next decade of recruiting will not simply be the ones willing to spend the most for the same contested pool of top producers.
They will be the ones that understand where profitable growth actually comes from.
That means identifying productive agents before they become obvious, prioritizing the right opportunities, and building a repeatable recruiting system grounded in real market data.
The opportunity is already there. The competitive advantage comes from seeing it first.
Courted helps brokerages identify the productive, recruitable agents their competitors are overlooking. Book a demo to see the opportunities hiding in your market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can top producers be less profitable for a brokerage?
Top producers often negotiate higher commission splits, signing incentives, marketing support, and other concessions. These costs can leave the brokerage with a thinner contribution margin despite the agent’s high sales volume.
Why should brokerages recruit mid-level producers?
Productive mid-level agents represent a large share of recruitable sales volume and may provide healthier unit economics. They can bring consistent production without requiring the same financial concessions as marquee agents.
How does Courted help brokerages recruit agents?
Courted combines MLS data, predictive analytics, relationship intelligence, personalized outreach, and pipeline management to help brokerages identify, engage, and recruit the right agents.
Can Courted predict which agents are likely to move?
Yes. Courted analyzes agent performance, market activity, relationships, and other predictive signals to identify agents who may be more likely to change brokerages.
What data should brokerages use when evaluating recruits?
Brokerages should evaluate production, company dollar, growth trajectory, geographic fit, likelihood of moving, recruiting costs, retention potential, and relationships with current agents.
