How do I negotiate a referral fee?
Choose My Own Agent
Sometimes it makes more sense to choose the agent you want to place your clients with. For example:
- You have a close relationship and want to be more hands on with the interactions.
- You want to negotiate a higher referral fee.
- You know an agent that you want to refer your business to.
- You just prefer to have more control over the transaction/interactions.
In these situations we recommend this option.
Whenever you are going to choose your own agent you must first decide who that agent is going to be. Once you know who you want to refer your business to, you'll need to reach out to that agent and let them know the scenario.
An example of the conversation may look like this:
RC Agent: Hi this is Naomi and I'm a referral agent with Realty Connect. I have a referral I'd like to place and was hoping you'd be interested in helping my clients. Are you open to taking my client in exchange for a referral fee?
Outside Agent: Sure, what's the referral fee you're looking for?
RC Agent: This client is a close friend of mine and looking for a property in the $600k range. I'd be happy to connect you if you're comfortable paying a 40% referral fee. Does that work for you?
Outside Agent: I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with 40% but I can do 35%. Would that be agreeable?
RC Agent: That will work. I will go ahead and send you a referral agreement with the clients information. Please have your Principal Broker sign and follow the instructions to send it back to our Admin team. Once they get it, they'll have my PB sign and send everyone a fully executed copy.
At that point you'll:
- Login to your Agent Dashboard
- Select "Create a Referral"
- Choose "Buyer Referral", "Seller Referral", or "Buyer and Seller Referral"
- Enter client information
- Select the option that says, "Choose Your Own Agent"
- Type in the details for the agent you're sending your referral to (name, email and phone)
- Hit Submit and review your referral information
- Complete the referral submission
You will want to reach out to the agent of your choice and let them know that they're going to receive an email to create their Partner account. This will give them access to your referral agreement, Realty Connect's W-9 and payment information, client information and the ability to update the status of the referral.