In a tough market, real estate companies need everyone to contribute their best efforts daily. Agents need to prospect, follow up on leads and ask for referrals. Marketing departments need to revamp websites, produce constant blog content and create company buzz on social networks. And what should managers do to contribute their best? Get out of their office!

Check out the all-new Real Estate Brainchain website and video learning library for real estate professionals from Matthew Ferrara and Company.

What do Hyatt, FedEx, Microsoft, and Burger King all have in common? They all started during recessions. And today they each are winning companies in their industries. Every one of them understood that recessions cause both economic uncertainty and reveal new opportunities. Their success is a result of capitalizing on the companies who went into “automatic” mode during good times, forgetting that change, and recessions, always come. One look at these companies today proves that recessions and innovation go hand-in-hand. They either invented or re-invented how their industry performs during a time when rivals tried instead to weather the storm. They took risks that helped them grow through the downturn, and win a dominant position in their industries.

Imagine if real estate brokers and managers could stop endlessly recruiting. It’s not a dream; it’s a definitely reality for modern companies. Yet for too many brokers, it remains a far off possibility – unfortunately. To stop recruiting, brokers would have to address a big question: Why do they recruit in the first place? Some would say because they were “told to” by other brokers, or trainers, or people-in-the-know, or their franchise. Few would say, “I recruit because I’m currently running my company at 100% efficiency and my agents are using their maximum capacity and the market opportunities warrant our adding more sales force capacity.”