August 17th and the implementation of the NAR settlement is coming. Are you ready to confirm appointments and get signatures on all the required documents?
Remember—you as the agent are required to use those forms. But consumers are under no obligation to sign a form in order to tour a property. And that presents both a challenge and an opportunity for buyer agents.
I’m sharing a script for the confirmation call so you can get those documents signed without wasting your time.
New buyer agent requirements
I’ve used the confirmation call throughout my entire career. We coach our team on this. You’ve got to confirm. You’ve got to pre-qualify.
Well, this has gotten a heck of a lot more important when it comes to buyer agency.
Confirmation calls used to be critical only on the listing side. But with the new requirements in the NAR settlement terms, the buy side is basically identical to the listing side. You are looking to meet with potential buyers and get them to sign a contract.
You’re not there just to show them houses and hope they decide to move ahead with you because you’re the person in the room. You made some calls, opened the door, and were physically present to answer any questions they might have.
Starting August 17, which is less than a month away, you, as the agent, will need to have a written buyer agreement signed before touring properties with a buyer. This is something you have to talk about with them.
Two-step process for buyer confirmation
We took a lot of our calls that had been recorded, put them through ChatGPT and ran an analysis. We found that one of the biggest turnoffs buyers had was when buyer agency and upcoming changes were brought up too soon.
When these conversations were brought up on the initial call, people did not like that, and oftentimes it only confused them. You don’t want to throw too much at them in that first call.
You know what the buyer does care about? Getting into the house they want to tour. So, rather than bringing it up on the initial call, make it a two-step process:
- Set the appointment. Once you get off the phone, send a pre-appointment email, a video, a resume, and any information the buyer could find helpful.
- Then, call back to confirm the appointment. This is the opportunity to discuss buyer agency.
Script for the confirmation call
The confirmation call should go something like this:
You: “Hey, Brian. Hey Wendy. It’s Tom Toole here with RE/MAX. I’m giving you a call to confirm we’re still good to look at the property at 123 Banana Street at five o’clock tomorrow.”
Buyer: “Yeah, sure, Tom, that sounds great. We’re excited to see the place.”
You: “Perfect. Can’t wait to meet you guys. I really appreciate you taking the time to set something up. Just out of curiosity, has anyone shared with you the new changes in place around touring homes and working with a buyer agent like myself?”
Buyer: “Well, no, I’ve heard nothing. I mean, I’ve seen some stuff on the news.”
You: “Okay, great…”
So you’re asking the question, “Hey, what do you know?” But you’re asking in a nice way: “Just out of curiosity, has anyone shared the changes to touring homes and working with a buyer agent?”
Notice we’re removing all the jargon. We’re asking a question, and we’re being genuinely curious. And the mindset around this is you want to know everything about the lawsuit and assume the consumer knows nothing.
If you start spewing out words, you’re going to lose them. You want to keep this clear and concise.
So, let’s finish the rest of the script.
“…So hey, you guys don’t know anything about it. Totally get it. That’s what my job is to explain it to you. I’m glad you told me that, Brian. So, one of the biggest changes that’s come out of this lawsuit is that prior to touring any homes, buyers and agents are going to be required to enter into a buyer contract or a buyer agreement before getting into any property. Normally we offer a six- or a 12-month. Which one do you prefer?”
Now, you may get some pushback, but let’s start there. And they may say, “I’m not signing a contract with you. I haven’t even met you. I’m not signing a six-month agreement.’
“Okay, Brian, I totally get it, and I’m glad you brought that up because, in light of these changes, we’ve developed a couple of other options for people. We can go with a 30-day test drive contract so you can see how I work. We can make sure we feel comfortable working together and go through it that way.
“Or we can sign a property-specific agreement. The challenge with that is that anytime you want to see a home, we’ll have to keep signing these contracts.
“So, would you be open-minded to a 30-day test drive agreement?”
And see what they say? Remember, they’re going to have to sign something before they go tour a home with an agent. And you want to also remind them—
“Hey, the vast majority of sellers are still offering acceptable commissions. I’ll explain this more when we get together about how all that works. But if you want to go tour this home, we’ve got to do that.”
And then if you get a lot of pushback, you can just bring them into the office and set the consult up.
What the NAR settlement does for buyer agents
This settlement is going to do a couple of things for you:
#1. It’s going to make your script work better.
#2: It’s going to flush out the people who maybe aren’t that serious about looking at properties.
Because anyone who doesn’t want to meet with you to understand this or won’t sign an agreement will run into the same issue no matter who they talk to.
There’s a ton of opportunity here. Again, make sure you know everything, assume the consumer knows nothing, and use this confirmation call.
Think about “test” versus “test drive.” When I hear “test,” I feel like it’s like a blood test or something’s wrong with me. But a test drive? Everybody knows what that is.
Touring homes, a test drive, a buyer agent like me—these are things consumers understand. When you start getting into too much jargon, it makes it way too complicated.
So, use this script, confirm your appointments that way, and obviously stay compliant with the rules of the settlement, and you’re going to be in great shape and earn more buyer business.
