Solutions to Four Common Challenges with Showing Assistants

Showing assistants are responsible for finding and showing homes to interested buyers, and are also fairly recent additions to many real estate agents’ organizational charts. In the 3L Blueprints eBook,  KellerINK explores these four common challenges with showing assistants:

1. Testing the waters instead of making a commitment to the success of the model.

2. The position has not been sold to the team as an opportunity for income growth.

3. Buyer agents are cherry-picking leads.

4. Dropping the ball when passing a buyer to a showing assistant

Challenge 1: Testing the waters instead of making a commitment to the success of the model.

What is happening: Too many people discount the benefits of having a showing assistant on a buyer team, so they do not spend time to make the necessary changes to their business model in order to successfully incorporate this position and reap the benefits.

The problem this is causing: Similar to when agents look to introduce an inbound or outbound sales associate to their team, they aren’t taking the time to get training on hiring at a high level and working successfully through other people. Without these key steps, agents don’t have the tools to succeed with a showing assistant and don’t commit to the model.

Solution: Once the decision to hire has been made, an agent should commit to becoming an expert on hiring. The first step is to pinpoint the qualities that a showing assistant must have to be successful in the role. Once the right fit has been made, an agent must be all-in and commit to the time-consuming process of onboarding and training the showing assistant on the systems and processes of the team so that the person has a chance to succeed in the role.

Challenge 2: The position has not been sold to the team as an opportunity for income growth.

What is happening: The benefits of a showing assistant are not portrayed accurately to various team members, so they do not buy in or support

the position.

The problem this is causing: When team members do not accept the position and feel that its existence will decrease their overall earning potential, they are less likely to give it a rightful chance.

Solution: Similar to how other concepts take time to gain traction, agents often don’t recognize the benefits of having a showing assistant until they find themselves bumping up against a ceiling. If the vision and concept of the showing  assistant is introduced to an agent during their time of “pain,” they may be more willing to see how it can help them break through to the next level. An agent who plans to introduce the showing assistant model to their business should focus  on the opportunity that it provides rather than the commission split. Although the percentage split may decrease from what other team members have experienced previously, emphasis should be placed on how the showing assistant model  exposes them to more home sales and provides an opportunity to make more money with fewer responsibilities than they had before.

Challenge 3: Buyer agents are cherry-picking leads.

What is happening: Buyer agents who have not been convinced of the benefits of the showing assistant model are not utilizing showing assistants to their full potential. Instead, they are giving the showing assistant leads that they themselves  do not want to handle.

The problem this is causing: If a showing assistant isn’t given the opportunity to do their job showing homes to all buyer leads, they cannot make a good enough living with the leftovers. Likewise, a buyer agent who does not use the showing  agent to their full potential isn’t getting enough leverage.

Solution: If an agent utilizes a showing assistant model, the team must all agree to put all buyer leads through the showing assistant so that the showing assistant can show these clients homes, giving buyer agents more time to build the  business. Without complete buy-in from the team, the model will not function. However, once the team acknowledges the added earning potential that having a showing assistant can create, the buyer agent becomes invested in the success of  the showing agent. In turn, the showing assistant also becomes invested in the success of the buyer agent.

Challenge 4: Dropping the ball when passing a buyer to a showing assistant.

What is happening: Agents feel like they are not giving buyers the proper treatment they need when they give the client to the showing assistant and relinquish their own constant interaction.

The problem this is causing: If the pass-off does not happen organically and a client senses that the agent is hesitant to give them over to another team member, the client will likely be unhappy as well. Further, when a client does not feel that they are important to the agent or getting  enough attention, the agent will lose the deal.

Solution: Agents that explain the transaction process and introduce the key people early on to a buyer set proper expectations from the start. For instance, agents with a team approach benefit by walking through the various roles played by  each team member with the client. By taking the time to explain that a showing assistant shows all the properties and once the property is decided upon, the buyer agent takes the reins again to write and negotiate the offer, the client  understands that they will be interacting with multiple people and won’t feel like they are being passed off because their agent was too busy to interact with them.

The information in this article is from the 3L Blueprints: Leads, Listings, Leverage eBook. Download your FREE copy from KellerINK today to read more.