Industry Partners, Day 1
Weekly Objective: Identify your preferred vendors and establish relationships with your industry partners.
Monday: Title & Escrow
Tuesday: Lender
Wednesday: Home Inspector
Thursday: Marketing
Friday: Other Industry Affiliates
This week, your focus is on compiling a preferred vendors list. These are industry affiliates that you will work with often and develop a relationship with. Your preferred vendors list is important for a few reasons:
- Transactions wouldn’t happen without them!
- Their timeliness, communication, and professionalism impacts your clients’ satisfaction. Good partners = smoother transactions = happier clients.
- Having industry partners boosts your value proposition when talking to potential clients.
- Many agents choose to co-brand their marketing/mailers with one of their industry partners. If you do this, your industry partner could help pay for the marketing, saving you money!
Becoming a cohesive team with your industry partners can make a huge difference for your client – and a good team can help create seamless transactions. Buyers and sellers love working with preset teams because it means they can work with a team of professionals that trust each other and work well together to provide the best experience.
DAY 1
Monday’s Objective: Find a Preferred Title Company & Escrow Officer
As a Realtor, one of your primary industry partners is a title company. Finding an escrow officer that you trust and can effectively communicate with is paramount to seamless closings.
What is the #1 thing you should look for in an escrow officer? Excellent communication.
Your escrow officer should understand your role and your clients’ needs in the closing process.
They need to explain their forms in a way everyone can understand.
The escrow process is complex – but good communication and an educated escrow officer can make the process easy and straightforward for you and your clients.
There are many title companies servicing the Treasure Valley. Linked below are the websites for each company. Explore the website and learn about the company, their resources, and their value added:
Alliance Title: WEBSITE | COMPANY REPS
Fidelity National Title: WEBSITE | COMPANY REPS
First American Title: WEBSITE | COMPANY REPS
Empire Title: WEBSITE | COMPANY REPS
Pioneer Title: WEBSITE | COMPANY REPS
Stewart Title: WEBSITE | COMPANY REPS
TitleOne: WEBSITE | COMPANY REPS
**Want the advice of your fellow Silvercreek agents? Go to the Silvercreek Agent Forum and search “Title” or “Escrow”. You can see previous posts of agents recommending their title or escrow officer representative of choice.
Action Items:
- Take a peek at the title & escrow company websites
- Need extra input? Search “Title” or “Escrow” in the Silvercreek Agent Forum on Facebook. You can find recommendations from other Silvercreek agents.
- Contact two title companies and set up meetings with representatives.
- After your meetings, decide which one you want to work with, at least for your first transaction. Make sure you have all their contact info so you’re prepared for your first deal!
- Create a list to write down your industry affiliates and their contact info.
- Best place is your CRM system, but if you want it elsewhere it can be in a contact book, on your phone or computer, in a binder, however you prefer. But also add them to your CRM.
Those few couple deals, pay attention to make sure you jive well with the escrow officer you’re working with: Did they meet their deadlines? Did you close on time? Do they communicate with you well? Was it an easy process for your customers? Did you and your customers have a good closing experience? Was the escrow process simple, fast and efficient? If not, you can always search for a new title company. Luckily, we have a lot of fantastic escrow officers in Idaho and it’ll be easy for you to find a great partner!
Resources:
