Ask what they are accountable for, who specifically works on your project, what happens to a nine o’clock Sunday enquiry, where the data lives, how they report, what they need from you, what happens if nothing sells, how handover works, and what they refuse to do. The answers separate operators from presenters.
Every sales partner presents well. Experience in your city, a team, a process, a deck of past projects. By the end of the first meeting they are difficult to tell apart.
These questions separate them, because they are about accountability rather than capability.
1. What exactly are you accountable for?
Listen for where the sentence stops.
“We generate leads” — you are buying leads and keeping the hard part. “We generate leads and follow up” — better, but where does it end? “We are accountable for enquiry to site visit, you close” — that is a defined boundary you can hold someone to.
Vagueness at this question predicts vagueness everywhere else.
2. Who specifically works on my project?
Not team size. Names, roles, hours, and what else those people are running.
Many arrangements are sold by senior people and staffed by whoever is free. Ask for the names in the proposal.
3. What happens when an enquiry arrives at 9pm on a Sunday?
Property enquiries do not arrive during office hours. This question distinguishes an operation from an office.
An answer with a specific mechanism is worth more than an assurance that they are “always available”.
4. Where does the data live, and who owns it?
If enquiries sit on their platform, you are renting your own buyer database and your exit is expensive.
The right answer is that every enquiry, with full history, lives in a system you own and can export at any time.
5. How do you report?
Ask for a sample report from an existing engagement.
Leads delivered and cost per lead means you are buying volume. Enquiries received, contacted, contact rate, response time, qualified, visits booked, visits held, bookings — means they are running an operation and are willing to be seen doing it.
See cost per lead vs cost per booking.
6. What do you need from me?
A partner who says “nothing, leave it to us” has not run a real engagement.
Real answers: current availability updated on change, someone empowered to approve terms same-day, site access and a prepared site team, decisions within a stated time.
The ones who tell you what they need from you are the ones who have done this before.
7. What happens if nothing sells?
Most engagements are indifferent to the outcome. The fee is paid either way.
Ask directly. The answer tells you where the risk sits, and whether they are confident enough in their own process to carry any of it.
8. What is your handover if we stop?
Enquiry database exported, buyers in progress documented with their status, broker relationships introduced to your team, scripts and process documented.
A partner who has thought about a clean exit is a partner who expects to be judged on results rather than on lock-in.
9. What do you refuse to do?
The most revealing question. A partner with standards has a list — fake urgency, invented scarcity, claims about approvals that are not in hand, promises about possession dates or returns.
A partner with no such list will make those claims on your behalf, and the consequences arrive at your door.
The shape worth looking for
- One accountable party for the operation between enquiry and site visit
- The developer keeps price, closing, and the data
- Reporting to bookings, not to leads
- Named people with defined hours
- A defined term with an honest review
- A clean exit
That combination is rarer than it should be, and it is what separates a sales partner from a vendor.
Also worth reading: in-house team vs outsourcing and sole selling mandates.
The 99-Day Sprint
Crudoimage installs and operates the full selling system on your project for 99 days — enquiries, follow-up, qualification, brokers and site visits, run daily. You set the price and close. If no flat sells in 99 days, your monthly fee is ₹0.
See how the 99-Day Sprint works →
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a real estate sales partner?
Ask what they are accountable for, who specifically works on your project, what happens to a 9pm enquiry, where the data lives, how they report, what they need from you, what happens if nothing sells, what handover looks like, and what they refuse to do.
Should the sales partner own the enquiry database?
No. Every enquiry with full history should live in a system you own and can export at any time.
What is a good reporting standard?
Enquiries received, contacted, response time, qualified, visits booked and held, and bookings — not lead counts and cost per lead.