What does “top producer” signal to other agents?

“Top producer” may signal one thing to consumers, and quite another thing to real estate agents themselves.

Sarah Leonard of RE/MAX Suburban’s Sarah Leonard Team finished 2016 with 380 transactions completed over a vast swath of territory that includes Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Glen Ellyn, Libertyville, Mount Prospect and Wheaton. For her, a reputation as a top producer opens doors with other agents.

“It helps build relationships within the broker community,” Leonard says of her team’s top producer status. “People know that you have a presence in an area and they’ll give us insights on listings they have coming up or ask if we have questions about values, and that’s been helpful.”

She notes that while prospective clients care about the reputation aspect, it’s not enough to win their business. “When we go in, I don’t try to sit on the shoulders of the fact that we do a lot of business. It’s more that we let them see how we operate and why we do so well, and have them form that opinion for themselves.”

Frank Montro of Keller Williams in Orland Park agrees. Montro works mainly with rehabbed homes throughout Chicago’s South Side, particularly in neighborhoods that were hit hard when the market soured in that part of the city in 2004. Last year, he sold 331 units for a sales volume of about $55 million.

“People will sit down and talk with you and listen to what you have to say if you’re a top producer,” Montro says. “You definitely get more doors open. However, they do not care about you and your top producer award. They want to know what you can do for them.” Being able to call oneself a top producer certainly opens up opportunities, Montro says, but agents must be able to demonstrate why they deserve a prospect’s business.