What Can an ISA Do for your Real Estate Business?

Inside sales agents (ISAs) are becoming increasingly popular. And not just for large real estate companies with massive teams, but for small teams and even highly successful single agents. But no matter the size of the operation, real estate teams hire inside sales agents so they can have a steady stream of highly qualified leads that will help them take their business to the next level.

Role of an ISA

I explain the role of ISAs to my clients in terms beyond the general view of appointment setters or lead scrubbers—ISAs are skilled real estate professionals who are highly trained, skilled, and dedicated to their craft in the same degree as an outside agent.  The advantage of the ISA is that they specialize in the initial tasks of lead generation, lead nurturing and setting listing and buyer consultation appointments.

Their goal is nurture the lead from start to finish, from prospect to client. Often they own the entire sales process. They do their own prospecting, reach out to potential leads, show the lead their intimate understanding of their needs and the product they are selling, and make follow up calls as necessary in order to set up an appointment.

Basically, you are hiring an ISA to be the first point of contact with potential business—representing your brand and the value you or your team can bring to clients, as well as ensuring the potential client is serious about buying or selling and worth your team paying attention to.

Why Hire an Inside Sales Agent

Once hired and properly trained, leveraging an ISA will allow your business to grow by leaps and bounds. Within their first 12 month, you can expect your ISA to produce between 50 and 60 transactions.

Though it varies, on average ISAs are compensated by a low salary and between 5%-15% commission. This may seem like a lot, but a well-trained ISA is more than worth it. According to a statistic from the Real Estate Trainer, real estate teams which utilize ISAs have found the income they produce to be at least five times the cost of employing them, amounting to a 5 to 1 return on investment.

ISAs will do this by establishing for you a consistent and predictable stream of seller and buyer leads. The key is to establish an effective training program, and clear expectations of what the ISA is supposed to accomplish.

If you do that, hiring an ISA may well be the most important new hire you make for growing your real estate business.

Are You Ready for a Real Estate ISA?

Among other things, you probably need to hire an ISA if you meet the following conditions:

• You have too many leads to deal with and are unable to follow up with them all.
• You are so focused on existing clients and income-generating activity that you have no time for prospecting.
• You have too little time available to properly prepare for listing appointments.
• Once a client is finished with the inspection and appraisal process, they often don’t hear from you until right before closing.

If you are already bringing in around 150,000+ in annual GCI, and you already have a solid and well-trained assistant handling your transactions for you, then you are ready for an ISA.  At this point you are able to scale and do more business.  You can leverage your lead generation while producing more appointments and contracts.

In fact, at this point, if you are looking to sustain and grow your business then you have to hire an inside sales agent for your team. To not do so is to stagnate or decline. The essential problem that you can’t avoid is that there is only a limited amount of time in each day. Day in and day out, if you are knocking down doors, leaving no stone unturned, and asking for business from anyone and everyone, you will have no time to focus on overall direction and strategy.

Hiring ISAs Gives You Breathing Room

Having an ISA allows you to focus on your business. It means you can rest easy knowing that the leads are coming in and that you have the time and resources to help your agents or focus on your strategy for the future.

Real estate inside sales agents allow your business to thrive.