How do you, Realtor, without an assistant, work in your licensed market, while away from your market? How do you maintain continuity with clients and transations when traveling, on vacation or called unexpectedly away from home?
Answer: Team with a ground "facetime" agent in your company. Say you're traveling and need/want to manage a new or current transaction. Team with a ground agent who takes responsibility, when client or transaction requires on-site presence, an approach that works well with repeat clients who want you in charge.
Define Business Relationship
Be sure to start with broker buy-in. Write up the commission split, make it worth their while to team with you. Define mutually agreed role expectations and responsibilities, which will differ from traditional transactions. If your goal is to exceed client expectations, your ground agents should share that view. If you have prior experience splitting a traditional transaction in the past and worked well together, parlay that partnership into a "virtual" business relationship.
A simplified template of your business arrangement with Facetime Agent might be:
1) Facetime (Ground) agent handles front and back end of transaction including prep for those events - showings, listing appointments, inspections, settlements/close of escrow.
2) Originating (Away) agent handles everything in between - negotiations, documentation, facilitation.
Away agent, protect yourself and your client from Murphy's Law. Work with two two, or more, ground agents. Be prepared in advance when unexpected circumstances pop up. Ask another pre-vetted agent to step in, if/when your contracted ground agent cannot perform on one or more days.
Conditions for Success
As originator of the business, working with a facetime agent ensures transaction success when positioning your facetime agent upfront to client, as done in traditional teams. Introduce client and ground agent virtually, describe their responsibilities (not to be confused with dual agency), and benefits to your client. Client will be working with two agents on the same page, both with fiduciary responsibilities. Your consistent communications keeping all parties, including facetime agent, in the loop helps ensure client satisfaction and transaction success from a distance.
Benefits
Working while traveling affords flexibility and opportunities for business continuity and growth regardless of your physical location. Facetime agent benefits in major way too. Their duties are less but their compensation should reflect their commitment to being there when the unexpected arises. That is worth it's weight in gold.
You have two choices when away from home. Refer out the client. Or work with facetime agent - so easy with today's technology. Teaming up this way maximizes your income while not physically present in your market. It allows you to re-service repeat customers and not disappoint with a referral. Try this approach for the planned and unplanned reasons you may be away. The learning curve is minor for seasoned agents, not recommended early on for newbies. A ground team enables you to travel while working, escape extreme weather conditions, even semi-retire out-of-state taking your business with you. After all, you spent many years building it.
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