Distributor Growth
Strategy Case Study
Strategy Case Study
From 8 to 22 agents/month: Building a scalable recruitment engine
Client: Agent Network Company | Property Services
2025 | www.congs.co.uk
A property services business was expanding its network of self-employed agents. Monthly recruitment sat at around 8 new agents but the target was 22. The website converted poorly, the value proposition was unclear, and there was no visibility into which recruitment sources delivered quality versus just volume.
Leadership needed a credible plan to reach 300 agents within 12 months. They had no clear funnel metrics, inconsistent messaging, and were unable to distinguish between lead sources that produced active agents versus those that just generated sign-ups.
3-year pathway: 2M to 10M. We mapped the entire recruitment funnel, identified a 4x growth opportunity in mentor conversion (10% vs 40% benchmark), calculated the required 440 monthly leads by source, and built a financial model showing the pathway from 300 to 800 agents generating 10M in revenue by Year 3.
We audited the recruitment website and identified 7 priority areas blocking conversion. Each gap had a specific change recommendation with clear business rationale.
Each website gap was mapped to a specific conversion blocker. The changes weren't about making the site "look better" - they were about answering the questions that stop prospects from taking the next step.
We mapped the entire recruitment funnel from lead to active agent, identifying where the biggest drop-offs occurred and what conversion rates were achievable.
5% Lead to Agent conversion means you need approximately 20 leads to acquire 1 active agent.
| Stage | Rate | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified Leads | Entry | 440 |
| Presentation Registered | 30% | 132 |
| Presentation Attended | 60% | 79 |
| Agreement Signed | 40% | 32 |
| Active Agent | 70% | 22 |
To land 22 agents/month at 5% conversion, you need ~440 qualified leads/month into the funnel.
~10%
From 22 agents: ~2 mentors/month
Annual mentors: ~24-26
~40%
From 22 agents: ~9 mentors/month
Opportunity gap: 4x potential
Working backwards from the 22-agent monthly target, we calculated the required lead volume by source, aligning budget allocation to the channel mix.
| Source | Share of Joins | Monthly Target (Joins) | Leads Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mentor referrals & team-builders | 25% | 5-6 | 110 |
| Local digital (postcode pages + retargeting) | 50% | 11 | 220 |
| Field events (micro-meetups, community) | 15% | 3 | 66 |
| Partnerships (local businesses) | 5% | 1 | 22 |
| Organic inbound/PR | 5% | 1 | 22 |
| Total | 100% | 22 | 440 |
| Channel | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Local digital | 14k | 168k |
| Mentor content/landing & referral tools | 7k | 84k |
| Field events | 4k | 48k |
| Partnerships/PR | 3k | 36k |
| Total | ~28k | ~341k |
Allocate budget roughly to match the join mix - 50% to local digital (which drives 50% of joins), 25% to mentor content/referral tools (which enable the 25% mentor-sourced joins), etc.
Recognise and pay mentors on new billers in 90 days, not just sign-ups. Publish a weekly CPL & conversion dashboard by source and by mentor.
We built a 7-pillar KPI framework with clear, measurable targets for the 12-month growth plan. Each pillar has specific metrics that can be tracked monthly.
| Pillar | KPI | 12-Month Target |
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Agents EoP; % active | 300 by Dec-26; 70%+ active |
| Inventory | New mandates; conversion | +40% mandates; +5 pts conversion |
| Productivity | Completions per active; time-to-first | +2 comps/active; halve time-to-first |
| Monetisation | Realised fee %; company take | +10-20 bps fee; +200-300 bps take |
| Recurring | PM lots; churn | +50% lots; <10% churn |
| Network Build | % with first mentee | 30% of actives mentoring |
| Brand & Trust | NPS/Engagement Score; complaints/100; compliance | >60 NPS; <2/100 complaints; >98% pass |
More agents (Distribution) generate more mandates (Inventory), which enable more completions (Productivity), driving higher revenue (Monetisation). Happy agents become mentors (Network Build), recruiting more agents and completing the flywheel.
Brand & Trust + Recurring revenue create the stable base that makes the flywheel sustainable.
Each KPI should be tracked monthly with red/amber/green status. The scorecard becomes the agenda for monthly leadership reviews - focus discussion on amber and red metrics, celebrate green, and adjust tactics based on what the data shows.
We built a 3-year financial model showing the pathway from 2M to 10M based on agent count, activity rates, and average transaction value.
Staff: ~0.8m | Non-staff opex: ~0.9-1.2m | Total opex: ~1.7-2.0m
Digital spend: ~341k/yr | Targets flow through: 300 to 600 to 800 agents with subscriptions at 200/m
Assumptions: Avg selling price 320k; fee 1.0%; take 25% (Year 1) rising to 28% (Year 2-3); % active improves 70% to 75% to 80%; productivity 8 to 12 to 14 completions per active
| Year | Agents (on file) | % Active | Active Agents | Completions per Active | Transactions (m) | Subs (m) | Total (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 300 | 70% | 210 | 8 | 1.34 | 0.72 | 2.06 |
| Year 2 | 600 | 75% | 450 | 12 | 4.84 | 1.44 | 6.28 |
| Year 3 | 800 | 80% | 640 | 14 | 8.03 | 1.92 | 9.95 |
Take rate = company's share of the commission after paying the agent split and any upline/MLM overrides.
Revenue per completion = Average Selling Price x Fee % x Take rate
Example: 320k x 1.0% x 25% = 800 per completion (Year 1)
At 28% take: 320k x 1.0% x 28% = 896 per completion (Year 2-3)
At 1.0% fee and 320k ASP, revenue/completion is 800-896 depending on take rate. At realistic productivity (8 to 12 to 14 completions per active), we reach ~2.1m in Year 1, ~6.3m in Year 2, ~10m in Year 3.
To hit 20m at 800 on-file (80% active = 640 actives), you'd need ~31.5 completions per active at 28% take - or ~29.4 at 30% take. This requires either more actives (~1,000 on-file) or higher productivity than Year 3 baseline.
We start by mapping your entire recruitment or sales funnel, identifying where the biggest drop-offs occur and what conversion rates are achievable.
Working backwards from your target, we calculate the required inputs at each stage - leads, budget, capacity - so you know exactly what it takes to hit your number.
We create a KPI framework with clear metrics and targets, so leadership has one place to track everything that matters.
We build a financial model connecting activity to revenue, showing the pathway from current state to target state with explicit assumptions.
From messy recruitment data to clear growth roadmap in 3 weeks.
Data In, Decisions Out
We help SMEs turn messy data into clear revenue actions.
Olga Sakka
olga.sakka@congs.co.uk | www.congs.co.uk