How JBGoodwin REALTORS increased recruiting by 37% and scaled operations with automation

Edward Tull never set out to become an automation expert. As Vice President of Technology and Operations at JBGoodwin REALTORS, a Texas-based brokerage with over 900 real estate agents, his mission has always been straightforward: equip his team with the tools they need to grow the business and support agents.

But growth wasn’t always simple, especially when it came to recruiting.

“We hire over 300 people a year, but we talk to several thousand,” Edward said. “It used to take a lot of manual work: emails, phone calls, handwritten notes. Recruiters were spending 25% of their time just entering data.” That effort didn’t scale well with JBGoodwin's ambitions or the fast-moving Austin and San Antonio real estate markets they serve.

What started with a broken connection between a CRM and a former tool snowballed into a complete automation overhaul. That search led Edward to Zapier, and more recently, its AI capabilities. Now, JBGoodwin REALTORS isn’t just keeping up with growth—they’re leading with innovation.

JBGoodwin REALTORS' results, by the numbers:

• 37% increase in recruiting after automating lead enrichment workflows.

• 20–25% reduction in manual workload for recruiters.

• 1,000+ chatbot conversations supporting agent success.

Automating recruiting with lead enrichment Agents

Recruiting at JBGoodwin REALTORS wasn’t just high volume—it was high friction. The team was overwhelmed, trying to keep pace with thousands of applicants using a process that hadn’t evolved in years. Every new lead meant a chain of repetitive, manual steps that slowed everything down.

That pain point became the catalyst for one of the most impactful automations Edward built: a two-part workflow using Zaps and Agents to streamline the entire recruiting journey—from lead capture to enriched applicant profiles.

Here’s how the full system works:

Phase 1: Zaps handle intake and initial enrichment

• A new Indeed applicant email is parsed with Email Parser by Zapier.

• Zapier Filters then filter submissions to ensure only relevant applications are processed.

• HubSpot creates a contact and logs the information with the parsed details.

• A corresponding record is created in Zapier Tables to track every submission.

• Zapier sends a confirmation email via Gmail acknowledging the receipt of the lead.

• Once the contact data is collected, AI by Zapier is used to analyze the information and return additional insights.

• The contact in HubSpot is updated with these AI-enriched details. 

Phase 2: Agent behavior for deeper research

Once the HubSpot assessment form is completed, a Zapier Agent is triggered to:

• Search the Texas Real Estate Commission website for licensing and real estate education info.

• Look up job history using LinkedIn.

• Run a Google search for any relevant personal or professional details.

• Generate a summary of the findings (up to 300 words) and a 250-word applicant overview.

• Email this information—along with the resume link and structured contact details—to the recruiter.

• Add the summary and resume link to the contact notes in HubSpot.

Recruiters now enter interviews with enriched, accurate profiles, saving time and improving consistency across more than 900 interviews a year. Edward credits this automation with helping drive a 37% year-over-year increase in recruiting.

Scaling content creation for 900+ agents with Zapier Agents

At JBGoodwin REALTORS, keeping agents visible online used to be a constant struggle. With over 900 agents and just one marketing coordinator, content creation was a bottleneck, until Zapier Agents stepped in

To change that, Edward built two specialized Zapier Agents to handle the content pipeline from research to ready-to-post. Here's how these agents work: 

The News Agent

• Every Wednesday, it searches Google for the latest real estate news stories relevant to Austin and San Antonio.

• It selects the top five stories for each region.

• Each article is summarized with a title, link, and brief description.

• A 250-word overall summary is written.

• Two social media posts are created for each region based on the news.

• The summaries, links, and posts are sent to the marketing team via Gmail.

The Analytics Agent

• Every Wednesday at 10:00 AM CST, it pulls real estate market data from Texas A&M's analytics site.

• It writes an 800-word blog post about the Austin housing market using medians.

• The blog post and source links are sent via Gmail to Edward and the marketing team.

"Before this, our VP of Marketing and Social Media Manager had to manually search for news. Now, the Agents serve it up ready to go—it’s fast, relevant, and fully automated," said Edward.

Thanks to these Agents, the marketing team can keep up with a high volume of content needs—giving agents a steady stream of branded, timely posts to share without lifting a finger.

The agents' AI agent: Meet Chat JBG

As JBGoodwin REALTORS scaled, so did the daily demands from its 900+ agents. Whether it was writing a listing description, drafting a video script, or answering licensing questions, the team needed a way to provide fast, self-serve support without adding headcount. That’s where Chat JBG came in.

Edward built a custom chatbot using Zapier Chatbots, embedded into a secure portal created with Zapier Interfaces. Accessible exclusively through JBGoodwin’s internal intranet, Chat JBG is tailored to agents' most common needs.  

From the Chat JBG home screen, agents can:

• Drop a property link to instantly generate listing descriptions.

• Request video scripts for listings, customized by length and tone.

• Ask for help with social media, including captions, posting ideas, and blog post drafts.

• Get quick answers to common real estate questions—from licensing to lead gen.

The chatbot’s prompt positions it as a seasoned and supportive real estate coach, built to inspire confidence and performance. "Agents don’t always want to email or sit through a training. They want quick, direct answers—and that’s exactly what Chat JBG gives them,” Edward said.

Behind the scenes, all chatbot conversations are logged in Zapier Tables, which gives the team insights into usage trends and helps refine future responses.

"We’ve had over 1,000 chats through Chat JBG. And because it’s tracked in Tables, we’re constantly learning and improving," said Edward.

Automating personalized outreach across the recruiting journey

Engaging leads and recruits at the right moment is key to JBGoodwin's relationship-driven approach. But doing it at scale—without missing a beat—requires automation behind the scenes.

Edward built a series of connected Zaps to streamline how his team communicates throughout the recruiting pipeline.

Here’s how it works:

• When a new lead is added to Copper CRM, Zapier triggers a Mailchimp email campaign to deliver onboarding or recruiting content.

• If a candidate’s status changes—like being marked as "won," "lost," or scheduled for a real estate exam—Zapier sends a personalized text message through JustCall. (For example, test-takers get a "good luck" message on their exam day.)

• Once someone is hired, Zapier moves their contact into an onboarding pipeline in Copper CRM to kick off the next stage.

"These touchpoints used to be completely manual—now they’re built in. We’re keeping candidates engaged with zero added lift for recruiters," said Edward.

These simple, thoughtful automations ensure that every lead feels supported and no touchpoint is missed, without requiring a recruiter to manage each step manually.

A scalable foundation for innovation

Edward isn’t just solving problems—he’s building a system that grows with the company.

From recruiting automation to content creation and AI-powered support, Edward has helped JBGoodwin REALTORS transition from reactive to proactive, setting up processes that save time, scale service, and give agents the tools they need to succeed.

Now, the team is building with the full power of Zapier—from Agents, Chatbots, and Interfaces to Tables and Zaps—creating a unified automation system that touches every part of the business. It’s not just about saving time; it’s about powering how JBGoodwin runs, grows, and supports its people every day, allowing them to focus on what matters most: helping people move forward in life.