Consumers have flipped the script on lenders and real estate agents when it comes to the home-buying process. Ninety percent of consumers start their home search online and many get prequalified for financing before they even reach out to a real estate agent. In this changing landscape, it has become increasingly more difficult to get to the consumer. Lenders and search companies alike need to look for trusted agent partners to provide the client with the experience they deserve.
The Jason Mitchell Real Estate Group (JMG) pioneered this relationship-based model more than a decade ago, facilitating partnerships by providing a platform that seamlessly connects consumers captured by some of the largest lenders and networks in the country to top agents who can deliver a quality experience.
“Serving some of the top organizations in the real estate and lending space is a privilege,” said Jason Mitchell, president of JMG. “Our goal is not to simply be a distribution warehouse. All our agents have an incredible amount of accountability to each of our partners to make sure all clients have a world-class real estate experience.”
JMG, which was recognized by Real Trends in 2021 as the No. 5 mega team by volume at $1.370B, works with some of the biggest names in the industry including Rocket Mortgage, Veterans United, New American Funding, Amerisave, Zillow and many more.
“By having a vast arrange of partnerships, we have created a significant amount of leverage with our agents considering the number of referrals they receive,” Mitchell said. “When you are able to add the number of closings we do to our agents’ book of business, they understand the importance of delivering the results we require.”
Technology plays a key role in managing a platform like JMG, where each real estate agent is under the JMG brokerage umbrella. Having systems and processes in place to receive, distribute and follow up with consumers is a must. The JMG platform is a centralized model where referrals are sent to their mission control team for immediate distribution in any of their markets across the country. Accountability including instant communication, weekly updates, follow-up as well as surveying the client before, during and after the transaction is also part of the JMG process.
“Serving our partners at the highest level is our goal,” Mitchell said. “We have an obligation to not only the partner but most importantly to the consumer to deliver. Technology plays a vital role in this. From the minute we receive a referral until closing, our client experience and the journeys implemented with technology and personal communications are second to none.”
The JMG model was designed to bring more accountability in serving other business and their clients.
“Simply having a network isn’t good enough,” Mitchell said. “A great partner has the control. They manage their agents with the understanding that receiving referrals at a high level is great but it comes with a high level of accountability. “
When you look at the systems and processes in place at JMG, that’s hard to argue. Every JMG real estate agent is network certified, which requires three weeks of initial training and once-a-month continued coaching to educate them on their assigned partners and ways to increase their closing ratio. Additionally, every partner has specific campaigns which highlight a variety of key components when it comes to agent performance. All the opportunities, training and support from JMG were created to achieve high satisfaction from customers, and of course, partners.
From a real estate agent perspective, the JMG model aims to provide high levels of opportunity. According to Mitchell, as a referral agent under the JMG umbrella, the average agent receives over 120 high-quality referrals a year resulting in an additional 36 closings a year for approximately $167,000 in additional income.
“When you can help build agents’ book of business at an extremely high level, you have agents that understand the importance of delivering the results you need,” he said. “These referral closings lead to an incredible amount of increased self-generating business by those clients referring their friends and family. It’s a perfect circle of success.”
As for the future, Mitchell sees the market continuing to push to where organizations want the trust and support from real estate agent partners across the county. The trend certainly seems to be indicating so.
“Managing a brokerage is a lot of work,” Mitchell said. “Partners want trusted real estate relationships where they know their client is taken care of and where they simply take a referral for the business. It’s simplistic. It makes sense. To me, if you are going to be in purchase mortgages or search, having trusted partners is no longer an option, it’s a necessity. We are just thrilled to be a choice of so many. It’s been an amazing journey.”
For lenders looking to partner with JMG, find out more here.
