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Here is how you double your business with a showing partner in 2024

Written by Steve Olson | Jun 4, 2024 1:42:00 AM

There are three main time drains in real estate that are essentially unavoidable.

  • Property showings

  • Prospect and client followup

  • Closing processes / paperwork

These aren’t time drains because they are a bad use of your time. They are time drains because they have a direst impact on your ability to get more business.

Let’s break down the showing process.

  • Prospect starts a conversation with you

  • A meeting (zoom or in-person)

  • Research is done

  • Showings are scheduled

  • Showings are held

  • More research (comps etc)

  • Offer is written

  • Offer is negotiated

That is the lifecycle of most buyer clients.

Now let’s talk about what the highest value activities are that you bring to your clients.

It is not showings…

Here is what your clients really rely on:

  • Market knowledge

  • Negotiations

  • Process

Here is what 99% of all clients want from you

  • Seamless process

  • Good, easy, and fast communication

  • Their financial goals met with finding the right home

  • An advisory partner to guide them to the finish line

They don’t place value on your “24/7” availability, your ranking, your brokerage, or your niche.

Remember, people build trust, not resumes.

I believe you can get to 3-5 buyer transactions per month before you hit your limit. (If you are doing it all on your own.)

A showing partner can easily double that.

Here is how we set that up.

For starters, let’s make pay really simple.

  • 15% of the gross commission

  • You can do a per door and then a fee at closing, but there is more management in that.

When we launched this in the Phoenix business, I paid 15% for buyer side and 10% for the listing side. Our average sales price was crazy low.

So let’s say your average sales price is $475,000. You earn a 2.5% commission (yes I know this is going to change). The total gross commission amount is $11,875

You pay the showing partner 15% to handle all the in-person stuff. That is $1,781.25

What in person stuff?

  • Showings

  • Inspections

  • Property visits

  • Sign installs (if you do it)

  • Lockbox

  • Meeting appraisers

  • All of it

What about when the client wants to write an offer? Yes, you need to go see the home on your own.

Some clients will be one showing / one offer. Yes, pay the 15%. Some will also be 41 showings then one offer. Pay the 15%.

Here is the secret.

This works best with an all or none agreement. If you cherry pick the easy deals and just give the harder ones to the showing partner, you will have turnover.

If you don’t vet and sign agreements with the buyers you give to the showing partner(s), you will have turn over.

This is a partnership. You need to treat it that way.

I believe one showing partner can handle about 6-8 closings per month. Don’t hire one if you are only doing 1 deal per month. They won’t stay.

You have a showing partner, now who does what?

Jobs of the lead agent:

  • Selection process on what homes to see

  • Final viewing of home

  • Negotiation of the contract

  • Coordination of inspections (your closer should be doing this)

  • Negotiations of the repairs / contingencies

  • Final walk through

Responsibilities of the showing partner

  • Scheduling of the showings

  • Showing the properties

  • Getting feedback for all showings

  • Showing up for inspections

  • Property visits for any one off reasons

The showing parter does not negotiate and they don’t run comps. They are there to be the best experience for the client during the selection process.

If you do this right, you can have a showing agent work Wednesday through Saturday 1-7pm. This is the availability window not working hours.

Closing 7 deals per month working almost part time could end up being around $128,232 per year.

Who is a good fit for this?

  • This is NOT a step up position (meaning you have someone do this before they become an agent on your team)

  • This is a permanent role.

  • This is a high I role (DISC Profile wise)

  • They need to be social

  • They should live in the area you serve (this is super important)

You can easily do 200 deals per year with the following team:

  • Showing partner (2)

  • Listing manager

  • Runner

  • Virtual ISA (2)

  • Closer

  • Marketing and Ads VA

Notice I didn’t mention any buyer or listing agents.

In future posts, I will break down every role mentioned above and how you pay them.

Scale doesn’t need to be hard. It needs to be on purpose.
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