Advocating for your clients in real estate isn't just a box you can check off — it's the crux of your success. A skilled real estate professional not only manages transactions, they also champion their clients' dreams, goals, and motivations. 

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate's Paracle, founded in 2012 by Lucas Mudrey in South Carolina, was based on this principle of advocacy. Paracle business partner and broker-owner Tony Hanson said the firm's use of the Greek word paracle, which translates to "come alongside, advise, and counsel," was deeply intentional.With a real estate business rooted in partnership, coming together is crucial to every element of Paracle's success, Tony explained: "We're all about people, support, and doing what we say we're going to do."

From the start, Paracle has operated primarily as a lead generation-based brokerage. When Tony became a partner in 2018, he zeroed in on opportunities to build systems and processes. When the team built a sales manual designed to scale the business, they quickly realized the importance of generating a strong volume of leads to keep their new approach to operations running smoothly.

The challenge: Finding the right lead provider to fuel BHGRE Paracle's systems

Simply put, a brokerage without a system can't have long-lasting, scalable success. It's what forms the foundation of any brokerage and provides the structure needed to achieve continued revenue growth, team expansion, delightful customer experiences, and overall efficiency. A brokerage that lacks an established, streamlined and cohesive system is less efficient, leading to missed opportunities that put the brokerage at risk of falling behind.

Brokerages that invest in creating, tailoring, and reinforcing systems specific to their business needs and market can position themselves for continued success. Much like building a fortress, brokerages need to build their systems to protect their business and thrive. "Until we had the process, we weren't going to grow," Tony said. "We put a whole system together and started growing."

With their new operations and processes in place, the Paracle team quickly realized it was crucial to hone in on the right lead providers, and they started to invest in a variety of lead sources, including Realtor.com. They started out spending about $5,000 a month, eventually lifting that investment to about $300,000 a month. By the end of 2018, they were a $3M gross commissionable income company.

Realtor.com noticed Paracle's continuous — and increased — spend on leads, and in mid-2019, reached out to Tony and the Paracle team to better understand their systems and processes. After all, if the leads weren't working well, Paracle wouldn't keep investing. The Paracle team jumped at the chance to share what they were doing, including sending over their training models and sales approaches.

Soon enough, Realtor.com realized Paracle would be a great fit for Market VIP, which allows brokers to access exclusive, motivated consumers in the brokerage's local ZIP code or area. Paracle jumped at the chance to secure the first Market VIP city in the Carolinas, with 100% market share, a healthy monthly spend, and no competition. But there was one small hiccup: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was the only city available as Market VIP ramped up, and Paracle wasn't in that market… yet.

The solution: Partnering with Realtor.com PRO as a key lead provider 

Entering a new market can be daunting for even the most seasoned of real estate pros, but with the power of their systems behind them — and their partnership with Realtor.com — Paracle decided the opportunity to secure the Myrtle Beach market was too good to pass up.  The brokerage started working the area, launching its Market VIP efforts in early March of 2020 — mere days before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. But Paracle didn't skip a beat. They leaned into their business and systems, and were relatively unscathed by the rippling effects of a nationwide shutdown.

Partnership has been a key aspect of Paracle's success in the face of adversity. "Realtor.com is one of our core partners. We buy a ton of leads from them and we believe 100% in the product," Tony shared. "What continued our growth is that Realtor.com had high-intent leads, so we just kept growing and growing." 

While the quality of Realtor.com leads has been a proven component of Paracle's success, the partnership goes so much deeper.As Tony explained, "For me, it was really good support from their leadership team. When we started buying more, I'd ask questions to learn what would take us to the next level. And we'd always get support. They're very transparent with you about the process and the leads."

The results: Bringing quality, high-intent leads into established systems to see scalable success

As Paracle's partnership with Realtor.com continued, and even with a bit of risk heading into the new-to-them market of Myrtle Beach, investing in Realtor.com leads has paid off. 

Today, Tony and the Paracle team are seeing an annual GCI of $20M and enjoying their status as one of Realtor.com's top 100 clients. But still, it's not just their lead investment — their approach to lead handling continues to compound their success.

How Paracle's systems work hand-in-hand with Realtor.com PRO leads

"About 40% of our closings every year come from Realtor.com. To give you an example, it's probably a quarter of a million per year in sales volume," Tony noted. "We operate on Connections leads and convert between 3 and 6%, depending on our agents. For Market VIP leads, we average between 10 to 14%." 

The conversion is fueled by Paracle's training system consisting of sales scripts, established and proven processes, and a strong CRM, Tony explained. Paracle also invests in lead performance managers who listen to calls and coach agents, which up-levels motivation, Tony said: "People are engaged, and we have a lot of fun with it."

When asked what he thinks sets Realtor.com apart from other lead providers, Tony said it's all about consistent quality — and results. "We think Realtor.com offers some of the highest quality, highest intent leads. We buy all kinds of leads. We have a dozen different lead sources. Realtor.com is still our go-to.," he said, adding: "We're a believer; we love the product. It all has to do with understanding how to handle the leads, work the leads, the follow-up process, and then giving people an extraordinary experience."

Scaling their team of real estate pros with recruiting and retention

In a competitive environment, it takes more than a simple job offer to attract real estate agents. Agents want a brokerage that offers a solid foundation for their business with strong support, training, marketing, and leads. Paracle leverages its Realtor.com investment as part of its recruiting and retention efforts. 

"From a retention standpoint, we can advertise that we're the #1 buyer of Realtor.com leads in the Southeast," Tony said. "When we're using it for recruiting, we say 'all leads aren't created equal'  — these aren't leads that hit our website last night and gave us a fake name and number. Realtor.com leads are a higher-intent lead. We believe people that get to Realtor.com are typically wanting to go see a house right away."

Lucas Mudrey, Paracle's co-founder, also emphasized the power of Market VIP in recruiting and retaining agents. After all, what better way to draw in more agents than by offering them exclusive leads within a market? "Realtor.com allowed us to go exclusively. For a percentage of the agent population in this area, that's their business model," Lucas shared. "If we take that exclusivity, it's a great conduit to get people to join our firm since we're the only place to get that resource."

The combination of high-intent leads, market exclusivity, and a powerful mix of strong systems, processes, and training sets the Paracle team apart, making it easier for the firm to successfully recruit, retain, and grow their staff — and scale their business.

How investing in Realtor.com PRO leads pays off

If brokerage leaders are still on the fence about whether or not to partner with Realtor.com for their business, Tony points to the bottom line and references Paracle's company-retained dollar, or the revenue the broker generates after all commissions are paid to their associate brokers or agents. "We're retaining close to 30% — which is more than double the industry right now. That makes your multiple a lot more attractive when you have a lead source like Realtor.com that allows you to convert and retain a higher company dollar."

Continuing Paracle's ethos of "come alongside, counsel, and advise," Tony doesn't hesitate to lift up other real estate professionals — but he's transparent about the importance of the process: "If you're just hoping to buy leads and let them come into your portal, and you're expecting your agents to all of a sudden get rich, it's not about to happen."

"The majority of our closings are coming from Realtor.com. It's our largest investment. And we would spend more if they could give us more leads!" — Tony Hanson, Broker/Owner, Better Homes & Garden Real Estate's Paracle