Ask the agent
Should I shoot exclusively for one real estate agent?
Exclusivity is not a yes or no question. It is a price. Say yes and you have capped your business at one agent’s volume, for free. Say no and you lose your biggest lead. Neither is the answer.
She’s not asking for exclusivity. She’s asking you to cap your business at her volume, for free.
Say yes and you have capped your business at one agent’s volume. Say no and your biggest lead walks. Both answers are wrong because both treat it as a yes or no question, and it is not. It is a price.
From her chair it is reasonable. She does not want her listings looking like the agent’s across the hall. Same photographer, same look, same seller comparing the two.
From yours, it is every other agent in her office, gone. Not for a fee. For the privilege of being her photographer.
Exclusivity is a retainer. Price it like one.
Pull her last 12 months before you say a word
Before you answer her, there is one number you need, and it is sitting in the MLS. Look up her listings for the last 12 months.
Under ten, and she is asking you to turn down an entire market for a client who books you eight times a year. Ten-plus, and it is a real conversation, because her volume might actually be worth the calendar. You only know which conversation you are in after you look.
Her count sets the price of your calendar, not your fear of losing her.
I kept a tight lid on who I used for ten years as an agent. Exclusivity was never about the photographer. It was about the agent across the hall. Once you know that, the ask stops feeling like a compliment and starts looking like a contract with no number on it.
Answer with a retainer number, then give her an exclusive that costs you nothing
The reply is one line: "Happy to. Exclusive means you’re buying the calendar, so it’s a monthly number, and it covers every listing you take." Then your number.
Most agents quietly drop the ask when they read it. They wanted the word, not the bill. "My photographer." Nobody else in the office getting her look. You can give her all of that without giving up the office.
So give her what is exclusive and free. First call on the calendar. Photos by 9 a.m. A look you build for her and do not sell down the hall. That is the exclusivity she was actually after, and it costs you nothing.
The client is not loyal to the photographer. She is loyal to the reliability.
Happy to. Exclusive means you’re buying the calendar, so it’s a monthly number, [your monthly number], and it covers every listing you take.
The client isn’t loyal to the photographer. She’s loyal to the reliability.
This week: before you reply to her, look up her last 12 months on the MLS, then answer with a retainer number, not a yes or a no.
The three-package sheet I send agents
Put your numbers in it before your next booking. Free. Then take the sixty-second roadmap quiz and I tell you what to fix first.
Get the sheetGet my roadmapStraight answers
- Should a real estate photographer sign an exclusive agreement with one agent?
- Only as a paid retainer. Exclusivity caps your business at her volume, so it is a monthly number that covers every listing she takes, not a favor.
- How do I respond when an agent asks me to work only for her?
- Check her last 12 months on the MLS first. Then reply: "Happy to. Exclusive means you’re buying the calendar, so it’s a monthly number." Most agents drop the ask there.
- What can I offer an agent instead of exclusivity?
- First call on the calendar, photos by 9 a.m., and a look built for her that you do not sell down the hall. It feels exclusive to her and costs you nothing.
Related questions
Julian Lundgren sold real estate for ten years before he shot a listing for money. He runs Cineminn, a Minneapolis real estate photography studio, and writes these answers from the agent’s side of the table. Send a question to info@cineminn.com.