Have you ever thought about how many steps are involved in the closing process? How many phone calls are made? How many people are involved? It's really mind-boggling. There are over 90 tasks if you do closings the way they should be done. That's a lot to keep up with unless you are a super-organized person, which very few people are. Our solution is to have a closing coordinator - another indispensable member of the Results Team.

Let's take a side road here for just a minute and talk about the team approach to real estate. In past articles, we've discussed the listing coordinator and the buyer's representative. My team also has an office manager, a marketing coordinator, and the lead agent, me. Each of those jobs is highly specialized and requires a certain personality. The lead is responsible for all contract negotiations, thus must be a hard hitter with an unshakable confidence and a natural intuitiveness. Also, as the overseer of the entire operation, the lead agent must be something of a visionary with the drive to make things happen, (a rainmaker). The marketing coordinator should be an ultra-creative free thinker who's not afraid to move in different directions and try new things.

The closing coordinator has a completely different personality from either of those people. He or she must be almost compulsive about the need to organize. I'll give you an example. Above my closing coordinator's desk is a shelf of books and manuals she has organized by height and color. If you were to switch the places of two or three books while she was out, upon her return her sharp gaze would immediately hone in on that shelf and she would be literally unable to function until she had returned the books to their proper places. Now some people might suggest that she seek medication for her condition, but as a coordinator, that trait is a real asset. She excels at her trade and is a big part of the reason the Results Team is able to boast a 99 percent closing rate. Having the right personality to do this job is essential but you also need the proper tools.

We use the Top Producer software, which we've customized to meet the needs of our market and our clients. It's allowed us to really streamline our closing process. As I mentioned earlier, the closing coordinator has 90+ details to coordinate for each contract. Her first challenge is to find a closing date and time that's convenient for the buyer, the seller, both agents, the closing attorney, and so on. With about 80 percent of all properties closing on the last few days of the month, this is no easy task. That step alone often requires about a dozen phone calls.

Once she's got a closing date, the closing coordinator can really start coordinating - inspections, appraisals, mortgage finalization, title work, repairs, contingencies, etc. She deals directly with the attorney's, mortgage companies, insurance agencies, inspection companies as much as possible without having to involve the client, unless necessary. The reason? So the client does not have to be burdened with all the tasks involved in preparing for a closing. Our office always does what it takes to make the whole buying and selling process as easy and stress free as possible.

One situation which has recently surfaced is that of the assistant in another offce trying to one up the other assistant. I feel this is because so many agents now have assistants. We call it the I'm better than you attitude; you know I do my job better than you do. This is a new challenge that has popped up due to the different way we do business today. My closing coordinator tries to keep me out of the loop unless there is a problem she cannot handle and that is rare. I am updated twice per day by email and I file that update in a special folder in my email program for fast access. All comments are entered into Top Producer so even if I am out of the office or at home I can turn my laptop on and detailed notes are there for me to review. It's all about communication. Some top producing agents leave all the details to their closing assistant and do not want updates. I like to be in the loop as far as where the closing is. In the event a client calls me I will know what is happening with their closing etc.

My closing coordinator can have as many as 30 closings going at any given time and she makes over 100 phone calls every day. Next time marketing is the key to successful sales. I'll share a unique concept we created and it's a very unique “Virtual Office Concept”.

This is the way of the future.

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Published: February 29, 2000

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