In short: according to the MoneyMaker 2026 Report, 30 agents from different groups, each measured over their own 12 weeks, logged 4,514 conversations asking for business, 417 listing appointments, 241 exclusive listings and 198 deals. Exclusive listings are lost mainly before the appointment: nine in ten conversations never get that far. Once at the appointment, every 10 produced almost 6 signed exclusives.

 

Winning exclusive listings is the process by which an agency gets a homeowner to instruct it exclusively to sell or let their property (in the UK, a sole agency agreement). It starts with a conversation, goes through the listing appointment and ends when the mandate is signed.

This will change how you read your office's listing numbers. And what training you spend money on.

Almost every agency owner I talk to looks at the bottom of the funnel: how many exclusives came in this month and how many deals went out. When the month is slow, they book a closing course. My data says the leak is much further up.

I have already made the case for exclusive mandates in my piece on why winning listings has become a matter of selection. This article is about measurement: how many conversations it really takes, and at which step your listings slip away.

How many conversations does it take to win an exclusive listing?

In the MoneyMaker 2026 Report it took roughly 19 conversations asking for business for every signed exclusive, and about 23 for every completed deal. The sample is 30 agents from different groups between 2023 and 2026, each measured over their own 12-week programme. It was a real mix: people who had never sold a home and team leaders in full production. Every working day each of them logged four numbers, and this is the total.

Funnel step Total Step by step, as the Report gives it How far you can trust the figure
Conversations asking for business 4,514 Starting point Not much: it depends on the agent remembering to log it
Listing appointments 417 9.2% of conversations A lot: an appointment is booked and leaves a trace
Signed exclusive listings 241 57.8% of appointments A lot: there is a signed contract
Deals (sales and lettings) 198 82.2% of exclusives (ratio of period totals) A lot: the deal completes

 

In round numbers: about 19 conversations and almost 2 appointments per exclusive, by my own calculation on the totals (4,514 divided by 241, and 417 divided by 241). The 23 conversations per deal come from the Report itself. And if you want a listing appointment conversion rate to benchmark against, use the 57.8%: it is one of the two most solid figures in the Report.

Now the small print. Conversations are self-reported, and the Report says openly that this is its least reliable metric. Some agents inflate them because they want to show activity. Others ask for business over dinner and never write it down. That is why the 19 and the 23 should be read as orders of magnitude. The other three metrics leave a trace, and those you can rely on.

One caveat on the percentages. They are ratios between totals for the same period, without tracking each exclusive through to completion. Some deals may have come from exclusives signed before the measurement began, some exclusives were still open when the window closed, and "deal" includes lettings. Read with caution: over the same period, every 10 appointments produced almost 6 exclusives, and every 5 exclusives, about 4 deals.

Why do agencies lose exclusive listings before the appointment?

Because nine out of ten conversations never reach an appointment, and that is where the funnel breaks. Once in front of the owner, the average agent in the sample signed the exclusive more than half the time.

I sum it up with a line I repeat a lot in offices: the problem isn't closing, it's getting in the room.

"The agent who isn't billing doesn't usually have a closing problem, a pitch problem or an objection problem. They have a chair problem: they don't sit down in front of enough owners. And that isn't fixed with more training on how to close." Michele Di Sei, coach for real estate leaders, in the MoneyMaker 2026 Report (translated from the Spanish).

 

The market is there. In Spain, the National Statistics Institute (INE) recorded 714,237 registered home sales in 2025, up 11.5% on the previous year, according to provisional figures. What fails in many offices is the ask.

What I see when I review teams:

  • The agent talks to plenty of people who know them, but never asks. In the Report, a conversation only counts if you explicitly ask for business or a referral.
  • A conversation with an owner ends with "let's speak soon". In the method, every conversation ends with either a dated appointment or a dated follow-up. There is no third option.
  • The people who said "maybe later" go into a notebook and die there. In the 10-6 Pipeline each contact gets a number, from 10 (appointment this month) down to 6 (later on), and a 10 is worked every day.

All three have the same fix: asking more, every morning, with someone watching the numbers.

What happens in a listing appointment that ends in an exclusive?

The appointment starts long before you sit down, and it follows an order. This is pillar 3 of the MoneyMaker method, in six steps:

  1. Pre-qualification by phone. Everyone who decides has to be there; if one is missing, you don't go. The question that tells you most: "If I sold your home within 30 days, would that cause you a problem?"
  2. A pre-listing package 24 to 48 hours before. The owner receives how you work and the market data for their area, and arrives at the table knowing what the meeting is for.
  3. The 4 quadrants: positive present, negative present, positive future and negative future. Reason informs, motivation moves. Motivation usually sits in the negative future, in what the owner wants to avoid.
  4. The market analysis, done in front of the owner. They see the data with you, at the table.
  5. Exclusivity and fee, stated clearly and without apologising.
  6. Objections with CARE: Connect, Analyse, Respond and Engage. You validate what they feel, ask, answer with a fact or a story, and finish with a question and silence.

Notice that four of the six steps come before any talk about fees. In the offices I work with, the appointments that fall through usually fall through at step one: the agent goes without all the decision-makers, or without knowing why the owners are selling.

AI can help you prepare the pre-listing package. The conversation in the owner's living room can't be delegated, as I explain in the guide to artificial intelligence for estate agencies.

What happens after the exclusive listing is signed?

That is when the real work starts, the work that decides whether the exclusive becomes a deal. In the Report, the step from exclusive to deal is 82.2% (198 out of 241), measured as a ratio between totals for the same period. Behind that step are three habits from the method:

  • The 21-day honeymoon. You call the owner every working day for the first three weeks, send them what you have done on WhatsApp, and every Friday their report arrives by email and WhatsApp.
  • The 4 stars. Three to five viewings a week, second viewings, positive comments from viewers and an offer under discussion within 30 days. You read them in order, and the first star that fails is where the fault lies.
  • The price review, backed by data. Never a "price reduction". By the time that conversation comes, the owner has already seen their numbers in six or eight Friday reports, and the decision is half made.

If the agent reaches this stage burnt out, that is a different problem: I covered it when I wrote about moving from burnout to working on exclusive listings.

How do you read your agency's listing funnel?

With four numbers per agent over 14 working days, read in order. That is enough to map your real estate sales funnel. It is the 14-Day Diagnostic I put together for agency owners in August 2026.

You open a new WhatsApp group just for this, and at the end of each day everyone posts their four numbers. You too, first. One rule I don't negotiate on: if you are going to use it to assess anyone, don't do the exercise. They won't give you real data.

On day 14 you read it like this:

  1. Reporting compliance. If fewer than 60% of possible reports come in, stop there. That is the finding.
  2. Volume. Conversations per person per working day. Below 1.5, your bottleneck is at the top, at the point of entry.
  3. Where the funnel drops. Appointments without exclusives point to the appointment and objection handling. Exclusives without deals point to the asking price.
  4. The gap between the top and bottom performer. It is usually the most uncomfortable figure in the exercise.
What you see in the numbers Where the fault is What to train
Fewer than 60% of reports come in The team can't sustain a two-week commitment Before any technique: the boss reports first and nobody comments on anyone else's numbers
Fewer than 1.5 conversations per person per day Entry: nobody is asking for business Asking your sphere of influence for business first thing, practised out loud
Lots of conversations, few appointments The step from conversation to appointment Ending every conversation with a dated appointment or follow-up; 10-6 Pipeline
Appointments without exclusives Listing appointment and objections Pre-qualification, full appointment role-play and CARE
Exclusives without deals Asking price and follow-up 4 stars, Friday report and data-backed price review

 

Once you have your ratios, compare them with the Report's without getting obsessed. It is a small, self-reported sample from several Spanish-speaking markets: use it as a reference point, not as an exam for your team.

What training helps agents win more exclusive listings?

To get more listings, look for training that is practised out loud every day and measured. Listening to a class on the listing appointment changes little; rehearsing it daily for weeks changes a great deal. Before paying for any programme, I would look at four things:

  • Daily spoken practice. In the Report's format it was 45 minutes every weekday morning, around 45 hours of practice per participant over 12 weeks.
  • Role-play of the full appointment, from pre-qualification to signature, with someone correcting you.
  • Objections handled with a method you can train, such as CARE, rather than memorised lines.
  • The four numbers every day, with someone reviewing them with you.

That is how we work in the MoneyMaker programme: 12 weeks, sales first, then systems and AI last. In version 3.0 participants also use AI to build their agency's own team of agents, with no technical knowledge needed. AI comes last because if the agent doesn't get in the room, no tool will get them there. The reasoning behind that order is in the MoneyMaker method for coaching and systems.

If you are comparing options, read what a real estate coach does and how to choose one. If you are looking for something for yourself as an agency owner, there is training for estate agency managers. And for the good agent who has stopped growing, there is the estate agent's glass ceiling.

Where do I start this week?

With the first step of the funnel. This Monday, open the group, tell your team it is not an assessment and post your numbers before anyone else. In 14 days you will know whether your office has a closing problem or a chair problem.

If you would rather go through your numbers with me: Book your strategy call (45 min).

Frequently asked questions

How many conversations does it take to win an exclusive listing?

In the MoneyMaker 2026 Report, with 30 agents from different groups each measured over their 12 weeks, it took roughly 19 conversations asking for business per signed exclusive and about 23 per deal. Treat it as a guide: conversations are self-reported and are the least precise metric in the report. It works as an order of magnitude to compare with your own team.

What percentage of listing appointments become exclusive listings?

In the MoneyMaker 2026 Report, the step from appointment to exclusive was 57.8%: 241 signed exclusives from 417 listing appointments over the same period. Put another way, every 10 appointments produced almost 6 exclusives. It is one of the most reliable figures in the report, because an appointment and a contract leave a trace and don't depend on the agent remembering to log them.

How many exclusive listings end in a completed deal?

The MoneyMaker 2026 Report gives a step from exclusive to deal of 82.2%: 198 deals from 241 exclusives. It is a ratio between totals for the same period, without tracking each exclusive individually, and "deal" covers both sales and lettings. What decides that step is the work after signing: daily contact with the owner, a weekly report and a price review backed by data.

Where does an agency lose exclusive listings?

Mostly before the appointment. In the MoneyMaker 2026 Report, nine out of ten conversations never reached an appointment, while more than half of appointments ended in an exclusive. The usual causes are not asking for business explicitly, ending conversations without a date and not following up with people who said "maybe later". To find out for your office, track four numbers per agent for 14 days.

What training helps agents win more exclusive listings?

Training that is practised out loud every day and measured. Look for spoken practice every morning, role-play of the full listing appointment, a method for objections such as CARE, and daily tracking of conversations, appointments, exclusives and deals. MoneyMaker, Michele Di Sei's 12-week programme, is built on that daily practice and follows one order: sales first, then systems and AI last.

About the author

Michele Di Sei is a coach for real estate leaders. He has worked in real estate since 2012 and has trained more than 500 agents and managers through courses, webinars and programmes. He built and led a team at Keller Williams Marbella and was a trainer for Keller Williams Spain. He created MoneyMaker and MoneyMaker Leader and has spoken at AMPSI, RE/MAX (2026), Inmociónate, the Agora Congress, Family Reunion Spain and Keller Williams Mega Camp in the United States.

 

Michele Di Sei on LinkedIn · Michele Di Sei's YouTube channel

Method note and sources

The proprietary figures come from the MoneyMaker 2026 Report (Michele Di Sei, Inmoexito, August 2026): 30 agents and team leaders from different groups, data collected between 2023 and 2026, each participant measured over a window of about 12 weeks. The data are self-reported, from several Spanish-speaking markets, with no control group. "Deal" means a completed sale or letting. These are not annual figures, nor the figures of a single office.

  • MoneyMaker 2026 Report (August 2026, in Spanish): funnel and percentages, p. 4; 23 conversations per deal, p. 5; reliability of appointments, exclusives and deals, and the "chair problem" quote, p. 6; daily practice format, p. 10; definitions, p. 15; method and biases, pp. 15-17.
  • 14-Day Diagnostic, implementation guide (Michele Di Sei, Inmoexito, August 2026, in Spanish).
  • The Property Sale Follow-up System, MoneyMaker method (Michele Di Sei, Inmoexito, in Spanish): 4 stars and the Friday report.
  • INE (Spanish National Statistics Institute), Statistics on Transfer of Property Rights, December 2025 and full year 2025, provisional data (press release of 20 February 2026).