BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Sales agents at Conversion Monster in Buffalo field call after call, more than 10,000 daily. But they don't have enough people in the office to answer the phones.
“I have never in my career, 20 years in sales and 15 years in sales leadership ever seen it this hard to hire people,” said Mike Hobson, Director of Business, Development and Growth at Conversion Monster.
This local company on Seneca Street in Buffalo acts as the middle man between those looking to buy homes and real estate agents.
"So when someone goes onto Zillow and types in that they want to take a look at a home, that call comes to us," said Hobson.
They match people with real estate agents all across the country. It’s a business that’s done well, despite the pandemic.
"We’ve grown 150% in the last 12 months," said Hobson.
But that growth will stop if he doesn't hire 100 people in the next 60 days or less. Of the applications he gets, Hobson says very few are from here in WNY.
“I can find people in Texas to work remote, but I want people back in person, I want to hire people in WNY this is where I live, I want to support our local economy," said Hobson.
But why is this happening?
"I mean my guess is something to do with all the stimulus and everything going on with unemployment and I don’t blame them for staying home for $800 something a week, but we’d sure like them to come back to work," said Hobson.
A lot of those benefits don’t expire until September 2021, according to the New York State Department of Labor.
"The incentive to go back to work is just not there and it quite frankly doesn’t make sense,” said Ann Nichols, a local attorney
Many of Nichols' clients worked minimum wage jobs before the pandemic and tell her they won’t be returning to them any time soon.
"Which to me signifies, we need to start talking about as well paying people a more living wage," said Nichols.
So how much could you make here at conversion monster?
"They can make around $45,000 a year plus,” said Hobson.
With room to grow. If you do everything right, you could be a team leader in 90 days, which comes with a substantial pay raise and substantial bonus," said Hobson.
To get people excited, Hobson tries to foster a fun work environment, by playing music, hosting office parties and walking around with a megaphone to encourage workers.
All you need is a high school diploma, no experience necessary. They’ll train you for a month then put you right on the phones. To apply, click here.
UPDATE: As of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, 100 people had applied to positions at Conversion Monster since this story first aired on Tuesday morning. The company is still accepting applications.
For more hiring opportunities in WNY, click here.
