We’re back – the new site is up and available at agentinvitation.com. It took a little longer than we had hoped, but it was worth the wait. We have repositioned our offer to better help Buyers and Sellers find the right agent for their needs, and to help agents differentiate their services and attract clients that are a good match for them. We have opened the information up so that consumers do not have to register to get lots of value from the site, and agents are charged a nominal fee to be a member.
At a high level :
- we help agents differentiate their services. Agents select the communities they work in and the market segments they focus on (luxury, condo’s, first time buyers etc.). We have added Neighborhood Focus. Agents can contribute articles and information about the communities they serve that can be searched by anyone for free. This helps buyers and sellers easily research the communities that interest them and they will see which agents really know the neighborhood.
- Buyers and Sellers can research agents in our Agent Registry. They can search by community, language or specialty. They can review an agent’s services offered, their focus areas, credentials and experience. There are links to the agent’s website and their full contact information so that a potential client can contact any agent directly at any time.
- we help Buyers and Sellers get trusted references directly from other consumers. A member agent can refer us to a previous client to contact for a reference. We contact the client and provide a link to the site for them to review their agent’s performance. They award one to five “gray stars” and provide a written review. When a client that chooses to send an Agent Invitation (a request for agent proposals) completes a transaction we ask them to award one to five “gold stars” and provide a written review of their agent’s performance.
- we are open about how commissions work so that Buyers and Sellers can easily understand what they are paying for the services they need, and our member agents can highlight the value they bring for the fee they charge.
- should a Buyer or Seller wish, they can send an Agent Invitation that outlines their specific needs. They can ask any three agents to propose their services and fees.
There are video presentations that review all of this in greater detail on the site. The videos and the rest of the site content will evolve as we get feedback.
I am approaching major Real Estate offices in the Toronto area to get their impressions, and to see if they will work with me to offer this solution to a number of their agents on a pilot basis.
That’s it for today,
Don
