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  • Brittany Gardner
    • Apr 29, 2021
    • 7 min read

7 Tips to Help You Turn Transaction Coordination into a ‘WOW’ Customer Experience

Coordinating transactions can seem like the “unsexy” side of real estate. In fact, many agents and brokers still see transaction coordination as a purely administrative role (if they make it a unique role at all).


But that kind of tunnel vision can come at a cost.


The thing is, as unsexy as the transaction might seem, it can also be the most daunting part of the process for your clients — which makes it a prime opportunity for your team to step up and deliver an incredible experience for the customer.


So how do you take transaction coordination from stressful 😫 to STELLAR 🌟?


We caught up with seven top real estate producers and coaches to get their tips on how to turn transactions into ‘WOW’ experiences and empower your transaction coordinators to knock your clients’ socks off, and effortlessly win repeat and referral business.


Our expert lineup includes:


Without further ado, here are their top 7 tips for turning your transaction coordinators into a dream team of client experience creators.


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Tip #1: Invest in your TCs


The real estate industry does a great job encouraging agents and team leaders to seek out coaching and invest in themselves, but what about all the supporting folks? David Breckheimer thinks it may be a missed opportunity.


“Invest back into the people and roles that are there to support the goals you’re trying to achieve,” he says. “There has never been more opportunity for our TCs, listing managers, ops managers, and more to find and receive amazing support, training, and coaching than there is today.”


“As you’re intentional about investing into your support staff, the potential for return can and will greatly outweigh the cost. This investment will, in turn, have a major effect on your business and your customers’ experience throughout the buying and selling process,” David explains.


It doesn’t even have to be a huge monetary investment. “Have a regular coaching session with your TC weekly to support them, answer questions, and teach them best strategies,” recommends Julie Harris.


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Tip #2: Create a rock-solid transaction coordination process


According to Jared James, the true power of transaction coordination comes down to consistency — and the key to consistency is having a proven process to follow every. single. time.


“Just by following their workflow and staying consistent, TCs are already ensuring a more standout experience than if you left the transaction to the agent alone,” he says. “Empowering a TC to follow the same plan every single time gives the client the ‘McDonalds’ experience they desire.”


Wait, what? 🍔


“You never go to a McDonalds and experience a different tasting fry,” Jared explains. “And a client should never work with an agent and get a different experience because of how busy or slow that agent is at the time.”


In other words, your transaction coordinators may just be the Special Sauce of your business.


Executing with confidence


“The absolute best (and only) way to ensure a TC feels confident in their work is for them to have an amazing process to follow that they have been properly trained on, can rely on, and can TRUST!” explains Joshua Smith. “They have to be able to ‘trust the process’ in order to feel confident in their work and the results they’re able to produce.”


Once you have a great process in place, “The TCs 100% focus should be executing brilliantly on the process each and every time,” he says.


In Joshua’s experience, proven processes are also crucial for successful leadership: “If you as the team leader can’t deliver a proven process that your people can follow, trust, and have full confidence in, then they can’t and won’t trust you as their leader.”



Tip #3: Ace the handoff


Passing a client to another member of your team can create a snag in the customer experience — which is why it’s so important to get the “handoff” right.


Julie recommends that agents and TCs use personalized video to make the transition seamless:


“Clients can be caught off guard with a random email from a TC they’ve never heard from, so record a simple video where you introduce the TC to your client. Say something like, ‘Stephanie will be your Transaction Coordinator between now and your closing. You’re in great hands with her, but know that I’ll always know what’s happening. Here’s her number and her email address.” Then, the TC can follow up with a quick video introduction and overview of what happens next.


According to Julie, there’s no such thing as over communication. “Remember that knowledge = confidence and ignorance = fear,” she says. “Pending buyers hate to be left in the dark, so your goal is to ‘over communicate’! Even on days where nothing is happening on the file, call to let them know what happens next.”


Sarah Leonard also reminded us how important it is that agents and TCs stay in sync through the contract-to-close phase: “I have wonderful TCs behind me. We are in constant communication to make sure we are all on the same page with all our clients and files.”


Keeping agents and TCs connected is also a priority for Quentin Dane: “Our producers stay involved from start to finish, allowing our TCs to act as an extension of the producer.”



Tip #4: Trust your TC’s expertise


The whole point of having a transaction coordinator is to let them handle things for you — so let them!


“Just allow them to do what you hired them to do,” says Jared. “As the owner of a TC company myself, we’ve learned more than once that being a TC is a specialized skill that not everyone can do. In fact, what makes an agent great at what they do is what makes them not great at doing their own TC work. They are two completely different skill sets.”


Of course, that’s not to say that agents shouldn’t be involved in the transaction process. “We like to tell agents we work with that the more involved they are in the first couple of transactions, the less they will have to be involved later on,” Jared says. “Don’t be afraid to let your TC know exactly how you like everything done early on so that they feel empowered to take over and let you focus on what you do best.”

Michael Stott has learned to trust the expertise of TCs: “A transaction coordinator delivers a ‘wow!’ for our clients because they get answers and solve problems in a more timely manner than I can as a productive agent,” he says. “In many cases, they can suggest a better solution because of their experience.”



Tip #5: Give ‘em the reins


All that said, one of the best things you can do for your TCs (and your business) is to empower them to act.


“The best thing I ever did was allow my transaction coordinator to solve problems without involving me,” Michael says. “I empowered her to spend up to $500 (at first) to solve problems without any input from me. I was amazed that after the first year, she spent $20,000 less than I had the previous year solving problems… and I had zero worries!”


Quentin makes sure his TCs have what they need to get the job done: “Since our TCs are licensed, they can act and respond quickly and autonomously whenever necessary,” he explains. “Plus, since real estate happens 24/7, we make sure our TCs have the flexibility to work from anywhere.”


Julie takes a similar tack: “If your TC isn’t licensed yet, get them licensed! Otherwise their hands are tied. Then let them create their own best practices, checklists, and timelines — help them own the position!”


But perhaps even more importantly, empower them to take control when necessary: “Allow your TC to say, ‘Please step away from this file, I have it handled!’” Julie says.



Tip #6: Make the client experience part of your culture


Of course, none of these things will make much of a difference if delivering exceptional client experiences isn’t central to your team’s culture.


Sarah and her team have seen the payoff of prioritizing relationships:


“My TCs and I go above and beyond to build relationships with our clients. The TCs truly get to know their clients and become friends. We stay in touch with them long after closing day. Past clients always say it's the friendships that are formed that sets us apart from other agents.”


Quentin’s team feels the same: “We know real estate is made up of transactions, but each client is unique and each relationship is one that should be fostered. We work to win our clients over every day.”



Tip #7: Give them the tools they need to succeed


Empowering your transaction coordinators to deliver stellar customer experiences takes work. But it’s a lot easier when you have the right tools to do it.


Quentin Dane and the DASH Carolina team have nailed the intersection of process, culture, and brand — and they’ve found that creating a consistently excellent client experience is easier with Preclose:


“One of the things that makes DASH special is that we have a common belief in a better way to do real estate, and wanting to educate our clients on the biggest investment they are going to make,” Quentin explains. “Preclose helps us all to communicate in a similar voice and deliver information in a timely, effective way that’s easy for our clients to understand.”


Using Preclose, their agents and transaction coordinators have everything they need to communicate effectively with clients, empower clients with visibility into the transaction process, and create the ultimate client experience.


Preclose GO! is the home buying and selling experience platform your existing (and future) agents and TCs have been looking for. Easily communicate with clients, lenders, and other transaction parties via text, chat, and email all in one place. Try Preclose GO! for free with your real estate team and impress your clients from contract to close.


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