“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” This quote by Rosalynn Carter is a great starting place for understanding why a good sponsor is so crucial to your success as an agent at eXp Realty.
As a real estate agent, you have the responsibility to build your business and make it successful. But, no matter how good you are, you can’t do this entirely alone! You need a good leader to help you get where you want to go AND to stretch you to places where you may not have thought you wanted to go but where you need to be.
At eXp Realty, a good sponsor is the difference between you being just another okay agent in a worldwide brokerage and you becoming a record-breaking top producer in your market and around the nation.
Now is the time to consider what it means to choose a truly excellent sponsor at eXp Realty, because only the best sponsor will take you where you need to go to become a truly excellent real estate agent.
How To Choose the Best eXp Realty Sponsor
I cannot count the number of times I’ve received a DM from a real estate agent who wishes they had chosen me as their sponsor. Usually, they tell me that they’ve either had to navigate the complexities of joining this cloud-based brokerage alone or that they joined up and their sponsor vanished.
Unfortunately, some sponsors out there are in it for the money and only for the money. They know that if they sponsor a new agent, they’ll get a small percentage of the revenue generated by the agent (i.e., revenue share). But once the sponsor officially brings the agent in, they completely ignore them. Obviously, if you’re joining eXp Realty, this is NOT what you were hoping for!
So, how do you find the right sponsor, a sponsor who will lead you to success?
What Is an eXp Realty Sponsor?
An eXp Realty sponsor is the person who was most instrumental in your decision to move to the eXp brokerage. A sponsor is also someone who helps you onboard at eXp Realty and start building your business as an eXp agent.
There’s a good chance that if you start researching information about eXp Realty, you’ll run into many different “sponsors” from the brokerage trying to get you to join their team. This is because eXp offers a unique system to encourage such sponsorship.
Why Sponsor at eXp Realty?
In most brokerages, you’ll get little more than a “thank you” if you refer a new agent to join your brokerage. However, that’s not how it works at eXp. Part of the reason that this brokerage has expanded so quickly is because of a little program called the Revenue Share Program. This Revenue Share Program was the first of its kind when eXp Realty introduced it to the world in 2009.
At eXp, an agent who sponsors another agent to join will receive a portion of the new agent’s revenue. All agents join eXp at an 80/20 commission split. Out of the 20% that goes to eXp, a small portion will go to the sponsoring agent from each and every transaction until that new, sponsored agent caps and starts earning 100% commission on their transactions.
In fact, this pattern continues for seven levels! So, once an agent that you sponsor sponsors another new agent, you’ll earn a bit from that new agent’s commissions as well…up to the seventh level. I’ve explained the sponsorship process and the revenue share system in other posts.
This is why some eXp Realty agents have gone from sponsoring 10-30 agents personally to bringing in thousands of agents in their overall group, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in income from revenue share alone! This is also why sponsorship at eXp Realty is so popular and why some agents may sponsor you in and then leave you hanging. They were only in it for the money.
Why Having an eXp Realty Sponsor Is Important
Obviously, there are tons of agents exploiting the sponsorship system to make more money for themselves. You may think that I’m the same as the rest of these agents, but I can show you right here why I am not.
It really has little to do with me and more to do with the amazing team of agents and partners I have gathered around me. We have created an incredible community that you may just want to be a part of!
My goal as a sponsor is to cut through the noise and help you build a lucrative business. I know that when you’re successful, we are all successful! In my years as an eXp sponsor with hundreds of agents in my group, I have learned what agents long for the most and I strive to provide that to everyone joining my team.
Here are a few of the priorities that you should focus on when looking for a sponsor, no matter what group you go with.
1. Community
These are a few questions to ask yourself as you seek a sponsorship group:
- Are you joining a group filled with other qualified agents who are both high achievers and willing to help you reach that same level?
- Can you trust these agents when you share the direction in which your business is going?
- Can you trust them to offer good advice?
- Do they make you feel included in trainings, events, and just the real estate life in general?
For example, in the Agent First Group (AFG), we regularly meet up at national real estate events. We also maintain a deep connection over Slack, building personal relationships. We have fitness challenges and other ways to push each other to grow and do better in all areas of life.
2. Availability
A sponsor’s best ability is availability. Is your sponsor available when you have a question?
Are they able to leverage their work so that they can hand off tasks to assistants in order to have time for you? Are they successful enough that they can leave the chase for clients for a few minutes each day to be there for their sponsorship team?
One of the biggest concerns I hear from the thousands of agents I speak to about joining eXp is whether I will have time to respond to them one-on-one or whether they’ll just be another number. That’s why at AFG we presently employ a staff of 15 that is available for answering questions or supporting you with editing, designs, advertising, and much more.
Our goal is to be there for you on a one-on-one basis and support you through the staff that we already have on our team.
3. Resources
You want a sponsor who not only has resources that work but also gives you direct and easy access to those resources. You want to be able to quickly tap into your sponsor’s resources to accelerate your business without having to spend tons of time and money trying to figure out how things work.
At AFG, we offer over 100 resources ranging from on-demand training to done-for-you services. We can provide done-for-you video marketing, social media marketing, and paid ads management. Plus, we have a robust training center with programs such as an Accountability Program or the $100K Accelerator program.
Each of these resources was designed with agents like you in mind, and they’re all free and easy to access on the AFG hub.
4. Proven Results
When you’re looking for a sponsor, you want someone who has helped other agents reach the place that you want to reach. It doesn’t matter as much if your sponsor has reached that level themselves—what matters more is that they know how to equip others to get there.
It doesn’t help you if you’re working with a phenomenal agent. What helps you is working with an agent who knows how to make OTHERS phenomenal. That’s why you want to find a sponsor with proven results in helping other agents create success.
As an example, here at AFG, we work with world-class marketing coaches who have coached thousands of agents. We have seen agents go on to become ICON agents at eXp, get their own TV shows, create financial independence on YouTube within one year, or become top producers in their markets.
Time To Choose the eXp Realty Sponsor for YOU
It’s important to note that once you choose your sponsor, you cannot change your mind.
If you choose a sponsor at eXp and decide they’re not the right one for you, you must quit the brokerage for at least 6 months before returning with a different sponsor. Obviously, that is not the ideal scenario if you’re trying to make it in real estate.
Make sure you carefully consider your options and what benefits a sponsor can offer you before you choose one. And if you think that the Agent First Group might be the right sponsorship group for you, we would be delighted to have you!
We will work with you one-on-one to take you to the next level as an eXp Realty agent. To get started, just reach out to us today!