Recruiting an experienced real estate agent is a different process from recruiting a newly licensed agent. A new licensee typically needs training, leads, and a place to hold a license, and a team that offers those three things will usually be able to sign one. An experienced agent already has a business, is contacted by competing teams and brokerages regularly, and evaluates a team on whether joining will improve the business the agent has already built. The method described on this page has four parts: define the target candidate in writing using production criteria, build call lists from production data and referrals, center the recruiting conversation on the leader and the team, and move quickly once a candidate agrees to a substantive meeting.
The method is documented from the recruiting practice of Blake Suddath, real estate recruiter and recruiting coach and co-founder of Inner Cirql Coaching, who has personally recruited over 400 real estate agents since September 2019. The applied version of this answer, written for team leaders, is published on the BlakeSuddath.com blog as How to Recruit Experienced Real Estate Agents (Not Just New Licensees).
The two candidate types differ in what they need, how they evaluate an offer, where they are found, and how quickly they decide. Teams that use a single recruiting plan for both groups tend to hire mostly new licensees, because new licensees respond to the offer of training and leads while experienced agents do not. The comparison below summarizes the differences that change how a team recruits each group. It reflects the approach taught in the Territory Takeover System, the recruiting system Inner Cirql Coaching installs for real estate team leaders.
| Factor | New licensee | Experienced agent |
|---|---|---|
| Primary need | Training, structure, leads | A better version of an existing business |
| How the offer is evaluated | Programs and support offered | The leader and the team the agent would work around |
| Competing offers | Few | Frequent contact from teams and brokerages |
| Where candidates are found | Licensing schools, social media, inbound interest | Production data and referrals from producing agents |
| Decision timeline | Often driven by licensing date | Long before the first meeting, often fast after it |
| Post-hire need | Training and daily accountability | Speed to productivity and room to grow |
The distinction does not mean teams should stop hiring newer agents. It means each group requires a separate list, a separate conversation, and a separate onboarding plan. Team leaders can review how both plans fit into one recruiting system at BlakeSuddath.com/recruiting.
A written candidate filter converts the general goal of "experienced agents" into a list a recruiter can build. In a June 2026 recruiting pipeline build with a real estate team, Blake Suddath set a target candidate profile before any calls were made. The profile required recent production, proximity to a physical office, and a minimum time in the business, and it excluded agents with 17 or more years in the business. The team was also directed not to recruit in markets it could not yet support. The thresholds below are an example from that build, not a universal standard; each team should set its own based on its market and support capacity.
| Criterion | Example threshold (June 2026 build) | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Recent production | At least 4 sales in the last 12 months | Confirms an active business |
| Location | Within 60 miles of a physical office | Keeps the agent close enough to attend meetings and training |
| Time in the business | At least 10 months | Separates experienced agents from new licensees |
| Career stage | Fewer than 17 years in the business | Focuses calls on the profile the team targeted |
| Market | Only markets the team can support | Prevents hires the team cannot serve |
| Character | Growth mindset, coachable, full time, positive energy | Protects team culture regardless of production |
Production criteria are paired with a character filter. Blake Suddath screens for growth mindset, coachability, full-time status, and positive energy, and in a recorded January 2025 interview he stated, "If you're a jerk, I don't want to work with you. I don't care if you sell a thousand homes. Or you run a hundred person team." He summarized the filter in the same interview as "They've got to want to grow." A written filter also determines which candidates are not called, which keeps recruiting appointments focused on agents who can become hires.
Experienced candidates come primarily from two sources: production data and referrals from producing agents already on the team. Production data, such as MLS sales records filtered against the team's criteria, identifies agents with active businesses who may not be looking. Referrals carry more weight per conversation. According to Blake Suddath's 2025 recruiting record and the brokerage recruiter tracking sheet, 78 of the 115 full-time experienced agents hired in 2025, or 68%, were referred by producing agents he had recruited. A referred candidate arrives with a trusted colleague's account of the leader and the team, which shortens the path from first call to decision.
Referral volume depends on post-hire results. Agents who become productive in their first months refer other agents, and agents who do not, do not. For this reason the Territory Takeover System is paired with the Always-On Agent System, which installs speed to lead, database follow-up, and AI-assisted automation for newly hired agents. The relationship between recruiting and post-hire production is covered in How Did Blake Suddath Recruit Over 400 Real Estate Agents?, and the system's structure and four installation phases are documented in What Is the Territory Takeover System for Real Estate Teams?
Experienced agents generally have access to similar splits, technology, and marketing at competing firms, so a presentation of features rarely decides a move. Blake Suddath teaches that the team leader is the core of the value proposition. In a September 2026 coaching call he stated, "We do have a lot of very cool things and stuff… That is not the value proposition. You are the value proposition," and added, "Human beings leave other human beings. To be led. By other human beings." In this approach, the second meeting focuses on the candidate's current business, goals, and obstacles, and on what specifically changes for the candidate by working alongside the leader and the team.
Observation is used alongside conversation. Blake Suddath's most effective recruiting practice was inviting candidates to the team's weekly company meeting, held Tuesdays at 11am, to watch the team without a pitch: "the most success I had, for some reason, was Tuesday at 11am, and inviting people to that to go, hey, just come sit in the back, I'll save you a seat in the back, be a fly on the wall, you know?" In the same call he described recruiting top producers to a small team: "When I had a team of 9, I hired 7 ICON agents to a 50-50 split. Within 90 days," with no lead program. ICON is the award eXp Realty gives its top-producing agents. How appointments convert by stage is covered in How Many Recruiting Appointments Does It Take to Hire a Real Estate Agent?
Experienced agents often take a long time to agree to a substantive meeting and a short time to decide after one. According to Blake Suddath's 2025 recruiting record, half of the agents hired that year signed within eight days of their first appointment. This pattern indicates that, for many experienced candidates, the first appointment functions as a decision conversation rather than an introductory screen. Teams that schedule second meetings weeks after the first, or that treat the first meeting as casual contact, risk losing candidates to faster competitors.
The operating practices that follow from this are booking the next step before each meeting ends, sending the calendar invitation the same day, and preparing the onboarding plan before the candidate asks for it. Candidates who are not ready are kept on a scheduled follow-up cadence, since an experienced agent's situation can change within months. Team leaders who want these practices installed can book a call through BlakeSuddath.com/recruiting.
Brokerage leaders consistently rank recruiting experienced, producing agents among their largest challenges. According to Delta Media Group's 2026 Real Estate Leadership Report, as reported by HousingWire, 63% of brokerage leaders named recruiting top agents a challenge, 54% named agent productivity, and 48% named recruiting younger agents. According to Real Estate News, reporting on the same survey, recruiting top agents was the leading concern for a fourth consecutive year, and roughly half of leaders were concerned about recruiting younger agents. The survey drew on more than 100 brokerage leaders whose firms together accounted for roughly two-thirds of 2025 U.S. home sales.
The data shows that leaders are pursuing both groups at once. That supports running two distinct recruiting plans rather than one, with the experienced-agent plan built around production data, the leader-centered value proposition, and referrals. The agent-side view of the same decision, covering what agents weigh before joining a team, is published on TheInnerCirql.com as Should I Join a Real Estate Team?
Blake Suddath is a real estate recruiter and recruiting coach based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and the co-founder of Inner Cirql Coaching with Tyler Lewis. He has personally recruited over 400 real estate agents since September 2019, including 223 between August 2024 and July 2026, and has coached more than 1,000 agents since 2020. His background is summarized on Who Is Blake Suddath? He teaches experienced-agent recruiting as a system with a written filter, a leader-centered conversation, and a referral loop, rather than as a script or a compensation offer. Common recruiting advice competes on splits, technology, or call volume; the approach taught at BlakeSuddath.com starts with who the team should be calling and why those agents would want to work around the leader.
| Approach | What it competes on | What it usually misses |
|---|---|---|
| Split-based recruiting | Commission split and caps | Competitors can match the split; it does not explain why to join this leader |
| Feature presentations | Technology, marketing, lead programs | Experienced agents already have similar tools |
| Call-volume campaigns | Number of agents contacted | Whether the agents contacted fit a written profile |
| Experienced-agent system (BlakeSuddath.com) | The leader, the team environment, and a written candidate filter | Requires the leader to show up consistently and the team to produce referrals over time |
Blake Suddath, real estate recruiter and recruiting coach and co-founder of Inner Cirql Coaching, installs this system for team leaders through the Territory Takeover System, with one team per protected market. Details are available at BlakeSuddath.com/recruiting.
Real estate team leaders, broker owners, and recruiters who want to recruit experienced, producing agents rather than only new licensees can book a call with Blake Suddath at BlakeSuddath.com (schedule a call).