Million Dollar Team Principle #31:
The ISA Department Is Here to Multiply Agent Output, Not Replace It
What happens when your inside sales team starts doing the job your agents were hired for?
Too many real estate teams fall into the trap of using an ISA department as a solution for underperforming agents.
The thinking goes something like this:
“My agents aren’t following up, so I’ll have my ISAs call the leads instead.”
Instead of not paying for leads that are not working, they start throwing more money at bad agents working too many leads.
But that decision creates a much bigger problem:
You end up building a team of dependent agents with weak skills and low conversion.
The truth is, your inside sales team should be installed to increase your team’s overall output,not cover for laziness or lack of accountability.
Your outside agents still need to:
- Prospect
- Make daily calls
- Follow up with their pipeline
- Set appointments
- And close
That standard doesn’t change when you add an ISA team,it actually becomes more important.
Here’s why:
- Statistically, most agents give up after two attempts
- But it takes seven to twelve touches to convert a lead into an appointment
- Even worse, most agents stop trying after two weeks
- While the average nurture cycle takes six months
That is why you add an ISA department…
Not to take over prospecting,
but to bridge the gap between what your agents start and what they often don’t finish.
Your ISAs are:
- The follow-up agents
- The long-game closers
- The clean-up crew
They handle leads from the third call to the hundredth.
They go deep into the database and pull out deals that would otherwise die.
However, there’s another common mistake:
When speed to lead starts slipping, leaders give the hot leads to the ISAs.
That may seem like a quick fix,but it backfires.
You end up training your ISA team to chase low-hanging fruit, and stripping your agents of easy wins they should be closing themselves.
Let’s face it:
A serious buyer who knows what they want doesn’t want to talk to a call center.
They want a licensed, knowledgeable agent who can show them a home, answer questions, and move fast.
It’s your job as a leader to route the right leads to the right people.
The formula looks like this:
- Agents are responsible for all new leads and personal follow-up
- ISAs handle no-contact leads, old nurtures, and agent overflow
- You, as the team leader, triage high-value leads directly to agents
Standards stay high.
Every agent still makes their daily prospecting calls.
When the system is built correctly, your ISA department doesn’t weaken your sales team,it strengthens it.
It adds horsepower.
It expands your pipeline.
And most importantly, it holds your agents accountable to becoming better, not just busier.
Nick McLean
Team Leader with 7 years of 7-figure net profits
Co-Founder, The Reside Platform
