Affiliation Program Description
Participation Overview:
OnlineAgentsReferrals.com (OAR) offers an online referral exchange program to qualified and experienced Affiliated Firms/Brokers/Agents throughout the United States. There are no upfront fees or registration costs. To authorize Firm participation, Brokers-In-Charge complete a single, one-page Agreement to permit use of the network, including referral commission rates, by Brokers/Agents of their firm. Individual Broker/Agents wishing to participate then complete a single Affiliated Broker/Agent Agreement consistent with the Firm Agreement which governs their participation. Subsequent to enrollment, Brokers/Agents may submit Prospect information to the network through a simple on-line process. Brokers/Agents are under no obligation to use the OAR network and incur no costs whatsoever unless they use the network to earn referral fees. Participation is voluntary and self-enforcing, since no income is derived from referrals without participation.
Referral Fees and Commissions:
Affiliated Firms/Brokers/Agents potentially receive income from three sources:
Referral Generation:
Once enrolled, Affiliated Brokers/Agents will, at their discretion, provide specific, preformatted on-line prospect referral information to the OAR network in order to earn referral fees. This includes prospect contact information, a description of the desired property, financial pre-qualifications, and other information (see www.OnlineAgentReferrals.com/ProspectReferral). After reviewing for completeness, OAR relays this information to other Affiliated Brokers/Agents on the network for follow-up. In addition to referrals originating from Affiliated Broker/Agents, OAR may initiate referrals to Affiliated Brokers internally through independent marketing efforts, including direct mail, internet promotion, mass media and presentations to clubs and organizations. In exchange for receiving referrals of these highly desirable potential buyers, Affiliated Brokers/Agents pay referral fees on closed sales that are the direct result of network leads. OAR retains a portion of these fees as compensation.
Independent Contractors:
Affiliated Brokers/Agents are recognized as independent contractors and as such may choose to participate or not to participate in the network at their sole discretion.
Affiliation Agreements:
BICs must execute Affiliated Firm Agreements before their Broker/Agents are eligible to join the network. If Broker/Agents choose to participate, their participation is subject to executed Affiliated Broker/Agent Agreements consistent with those signed by their firm. See www.OnlineAgentReferrals.com/signup for Agreement examples. These executed documents must be accepted by and on file with OAR before active participation is available. All Affiliated Brokers/Agents adhere to the same guidelines regarding referred clients. All agreements may be unilaterally cancelled at any time by written notice by either party; however, commissions from sales from prior referrals remain payable.
Referral Fee Calculation:
Through execution of the above referenced agreements, Affiliated Firms pre-approve payment of a referral fee of .75% (.0075) of the closed sales amount for Prospects directly referred to a Broker/Agent of the firm through the OAR network, said fee to be paid to OAR at closing. Affiliated Firms also agree to accept a referral fee of .50% (.0050) of the closed sales amount for qualified Prospects referred to the network by a Broker/Agent of the firm, said commission being due to the firm from OAR within 30 days of closing. Referral fee splits between participating firms and its brokers and agents are a matter of internal policy and do not bear on the calculation of the fee paid to or received from OAR.
OAR Income:
The difference in commissions payable and accepted by Affiliated Firms/’Brokers/Agents is the amount retained by OAR for development and maintenance of the network.
Broker Selection Rules:
Affiliated Brokers/Agents are assigned a geographical area of coverage based on the areas in which they work. Unspecified referrals received are assigned to Affiliated Brokers/Agents based on a set of criteria that will result in the highest likelihood of customer satisfaction, including geographic areas of interest, broker/agent expertise and past participation in the OAR network. Many areas and prime locations will be covered by multiple Firms/Brokers/Agents. OAR will generally select Affiliated Firms in the local area to receive referrals based on the following criteria:
As noted above, referring agent preference will be the initial determinant of selection.
The firm that is geographically most suited to meet the needs of the customer. OAR will always keep the interest of the real estate buying public as the focus of our business and paramount in our efforts.
The firm with the most narrowly described “Area of Interest” as selected on the Firm Affiliation Agreement. This will help to ensure that the prospect is referred to the firm having the most knowledge in the area of customer interest.
The number of instances where commissions are paid by an Affiliated Agency through the network as a result of successful sales to referred clients or customers.
Thus, the more often an Affiliated Firm/Broker/Agent participates on either side of a network referral transaction, the more often that Firm is likely to be selected to receive referrals for their particular area versus other Affiliated Firm/Brokers/Agents in the same area.
Integrity and Compliance:
OnlineAgentReferrals.com relies on the integrity of our Affiliated Firms/Brokers/Agents. Integrity is an absolute cornerstone of our business philosophy and a primary benchmark for judging success. We trust and expect that our business partners will likewise uphold the same high standards of conduct that we expect of ourselves. Referral fee obligations are the responsibility of each and every Affiliated Broker/Agent and no follow up by OAR should be required. Any broker or agent not willing to abide by these high standards in theory and in conduct should not join our network.
Program Audit and Enforcement:
As a service obligation to our Affiliated Firms and to maintain the integrity of the Network, OAR will periodically and regularly follow up with referred clients to measure their satisfaction with the process, to gauge their satisfaction with the professionalism and effectiveness of the Firm/Broker/Agent to whom they were referred and to ensure that referral fees are paid on closed sales as agreed under Firm and Broker Affiliation Agreements. All Affiliated Firms/Brokers/Agents will be given the opportunity upon request to examine information on file with OAR regarding specific transactions to which they are or were a party.
Amendments:
Online Agent Referrals, LLC retains full discretion as to the participation of Affiliated Firms/Brokers/Agents and the operation of the Affiliation Program and reserves the right to amend policies and procedures at anytime as considered necessary at it’s sole discretion.
FIRM ENROLLMENT INDIVIDUAL ENROLLMENT
Privacy Policy: No contact information is ever distributed or sold and records are maintained with the highest regard for your privacy and security.