Exclusive Agency Agreements: Commitment to Service

A CEA-industry workgroup has recommended for salespersons to commit to a list of services to be delivered to their clients when they are engaged on an exclusive basis. This “Commitment to Service” provides greater accountability and assurance to clients on the services to be delivered.

This CEA-industry workgroup was formed in October 2014 to look into ways to encourage the adoption of exclusive estate agency agreements by consumers. The objective is to minimise the duplication of marketing efforts and increase the productivity of salespersons. The workgroup comprises members from estate agents, real estate agency industry associations, and the Consumers Association of Singapore.

The “Commitment to Service” is provided to the client in writing and is appended as part of the exclusive agreement. The adoption of this initiative is voluntary for estate agents.

Why use the “Commitment to Service”?

Salespersons can use this pledge of commitment to encourage clients to engage them on an exclusive basis. It will contribute towards achieving a more client-centric approach in property transactions and raise productivity of the real estate agency industry.

What to note

If an estate agent decides to adopt the initiative:

  • Ensure you have a standard list of services for all your salespersons to use when clients engage them on an exclusive basis. Examples of such services include marketing the property, facilitating open house sessions, and providing updates to clients.
  • Inform salespersons that they can offer additional services to their clients beyond the standard list if they choose to.
  • Inform salespersons that they should get their clients’ agreement on the level of services to be delivered, e.g. frequency of advertisements, number of open house sessions, and frequency in providing updates to their clients on the marketing progress.
  • Inform salespersons who do not wish to commit to the list of services to request that their clients engage them on a non-exclusive basis.

Download (DOC,13.9KB)a sample of the "Commitment to Service" for reference. Estate agents are welcome to amend the document.