The Secret to Getting Clients and Co-op Agents to Contact You Instead of Your Agent

So your agent has been communicating with the seller all this time trying to get them to list their home. They finally do and now the file is turned over to you, but the sellers are still contacting your agent with questions.

The buyer’s agent on your team has been showing this buyers homes for several weeks and finally gets them under contract. The file is turned over to you, but the buyers are still contacting the buyer’s agent with questions.

You’ve emailed the co-op agent, the title company, the lender and the entire world to let them know that you are handling the contract for this transaction and to contact you with any questions or concerns. And yet all those people are still reaching out your agent or buyer’s agent.

What’s an admin to do?

The #1 Secret

The secret to getting those people to contact you instead of the agent is to insist that your agent stop taking their phone calls and stop responding to their texts and emails.

Now, I know you are thinking, “Yeah, but there’s no way my agent will ever leave anyone hanging. Calls must be answered. Texts must be responded to right away. Emails need immediate attention.”

Here’s the reality: You as the admin are 100% responsible for those clients once a contract has been signed. If your agent has put you in charge of making sure all the listing item have been done and all the contract items have been done, then the BEST person to handle questions from anyone regarding those items is you, the admin. And isn’t THAT what your agent wants? The best at customer service should be performing the customer service duties.

Therefore, in order to train buyers, sellers, and co-op agents to come to you with their questions and needs, it is imperative that your agent and buyer’s agent simply stop responding to contact from those people. When they call and have to leave a message for your agent, your agent forwards the voicemail to you or simply texts you to have you call them back. Once they realize that every time they reach out to your agent, it is YOU who calls them back, they will start reaching out directly to you.

Trust me, this works quite well. And the clients are happier for it since you are often able to respond much more quickly than your agent. Plus, you actually HAVE the answer. If your agent gets on the phone with the client or co-op agent and has to say, “I don’t know, let me ask my assistant,” that’s a huge waste of time for both of you.

Set Expectations

Before your agent can just stop responding to clients and co-op agents, they need to set expectations with those people. The agent simply says, “From here on, my assistant will be handling everything. I may check in with you, but if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to my assistant first.”

Listing Under Contract Email

When my agent Ron Henderson is done negotiating an offer that was received on our listing, he sends this email to the seller. Notice how it sets expectations and next steps and turns everything over to our transaction coordinator, Courtney.

SUBJECT: Congratulations! We’ve sold your home.

Carol,

Everything has been signed and Courtney will be emailing you copies of all the contract tomorrow morning. We still have a very long process ahead of us so please be sure to read this entire email and call me if you have any questions.

FINAL AGREED SALE:

Purchase price of $179,000
Buyer is asking the seller to pay up to $3,000 of their closing costs and prepaids.
$1,000 earnest deposit
Buyer is pre-approved for a FHA loan through Wells Fargo
Closing date of September 29
Possession date for the buyers of September 29 at closing
10 days for home inspection
Buyer is asking for a one year limited home warranty from HMS at a cost of $449 to be paid by the seller at closing

MOVING FORWARD

My transaction coordinator Courtney Downer will be handling the entire transaction moving forward. Of course you can always call or email me if necessary, but Courtney will always know more about the file and typically be able to respond faster if you need something. She is a licensed agent as well.

Courtney Downer
Transaction Coordinator
Ron Henderson & Associates
816-895-2279 office direct & text
cdowner AT kw DOT com

 

The next step in the process is setting up the home inspections. The buyers agent will coordinate this with their home inspection company and will get back with us as to the date and time they would like to do it. As soon as we find out the date/time, we will let you know. You will need to be out of the house during this time.

We will be switching your home over to “Show for Backup” status in the MLS. This means the home will continue to show up on all the public websites and still be available to show by other agents. Any buyers that are interested can still write an offer, but that offer will be held in back up status behind this current offer. We would have to cancel the first offer to move forward with any backup offers. Although I am very confident that this current offer is very strong and have no intentions of letting it fall through, I feel it is important that we continue to market your home clear through the inspections and appraisal periods.

Honestly, most agents don’t want to waste their time showing a home that is already under contract so if they see the home is in backup status they’ll typically just call me to see where we are at in the process. At least then I’ll know who to call in the unlikely event that something happens.

A very similar email is sent by the buyer’s agent to the buying clients. The only difference is, we leave off the last two paragraphs about changing the status in MLS, and the paragraph immediately after the video is changed to, “The next step in the process is setting up the home inspections. Courtney will coordinate all the details of that with you when she calls you in the next 24 hours.”

Have questions or want to get in touch with me? Send me an email: egilbert AT kw DOT com. I’m happy to respond!