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Don't Make Me Call Your Sellers! Signed Midori.... AKA, "The Manager!"

As the company trainer and manager for the Pelican Bay office of Century 21 Sundance Realty, there are occasions where a seller requests to speak to me, why, because I am:

Usually an associate will fill me in and ask me to contact the seller. I tell them, don't make me call your seller's! Usually the conversation ends with I'm Sorry. It's not necessary, but they know.....yes they know!

Usually the customer is no longer speaking to the agent! They want to withdraw! and /or they want to know why their house hasn't sold!

My Detective Work Begins........... There is a lot of history to find out!

I have to understand what has happened and so does the customer.
I have to see what we have done right and remind the customer.
I have to see where we went wrong and apologize to the customer.
I have to eat humble pie and relive where we went wrong and find a solution.
I have to be objective and then I will have to apologize to your customer once again.

Remember these important points:

Usually this is the first time I am talking to the customer!
Face it! Your customer is already mad!
There is a 50% chance I can fix where we went wrong, I am not superman!
Usually I have stop what I am doing to take care of this matter!
Do you realize how much prep work is involved talking to someone else's customer?

Maybe while I am dealing with your customer, you can type up my training for me! HA Do I sound bitter? I am not, just busy like an agent!

Objectively- The Encarta Definition

Without bias: without being influenced by personal feelings Accurately: on the basis of fact! In many instances, it is our customers largest investments in the world!

I speak objectively! Hmmmm, could that be the problem? I think it is! My job is to keep your customer focused on their move. To make sure we are all on the same team! I don't take it personally, I stay focused and I tell it like it is! I usually warn the customer, that I am direct and blunt and to the point, probably quite different than their real estate agent.

The Customer is Always Right Perception

NO, not with me in real estate! Yes, I do remember that while they are the customer in real estate they are not always right but I do respect the fact they are indeed the customer and I treat them accordingly.

I hear 3 versions of the situation, the agent, the customer and my perception. When dealing with the agent I look at it through a customer's eyes, when dealing with the customer I look through it in the agents eyes, Why Perception! Everyone's Perspective!

These are my usual findings:

The agent does not contact the seller enough
Agent does not keep the seller informed on marketing, share it with them!
Property is overpriced and the agent gave them a reality check on price and they didn't like it!
The agent over-promised and under-delivered
The seller read yet another "Earth Shattering" article about our current real estate market
The agent failed to keep them current on market conditions, updated cma's

My Advice to Seller's:

Make sure you have to sell now and be really realistic with your price!
If you don't feel trust between you and the person you are interviewing, don't hire them!
Remember 6 months to a year is a long time to list with someone make sure you are on the same page!
Be open to your agents suggestions, you hired them, let them do what they do best and that's marketing your property!
Try and communicate with your agent, it takes total cooperation and teamwork to get your house sold!

My advice to agents:

Abide by the Code of Ethics and Real Estate Law
Pre-qualify and make sure they have to sell and they are realistic
Keep your Word-Under-promise and over-deliver
Show them what you do, they won't know unless you tell them and show them.
Stay in touch with them even if there is nothing to report. They will appreciate it!
Keep them current on Market Conditions

The usual outcome after the call:

They didn't like me... They reduced their price!
They didn't like me and they still do not like you! The only solution, share it with another agent to keep the listing. They reduced their price!
They didn't like me but they now love you and they will reduce the price!
OOPS! They reported me to the owner! The only solution share the listing with another agent to keep the listing. They will reduce their price!

To me as long as we did not lose the listing I did my job!

I placed you in the best light available meaning for what you have done and a price reduction, I did my job!

If you thought I should do more or done things different, think again, you had the opportunity to do just that and you placed your customers in my hands!

Tell me, if you spent all these marketing dollars, your valuable time and your level of expertise on this seller, why on earth would you want to take the risk of having them talk to me? Why risk the relationship that you built by allowing them to talk to me (a stranger) Midori, AKA, THE MANAGER!

Posted by Florida Real Estate Trainer | Daytona Beach After School Training | Midori on 05/20/2007 12:12 PM

Comments (23)

customers, daytona beach real estate sellers, midori, midori miller, daytona beach florida real estate training, century 21, real estate

Originally posted at: Daytona Real Estate Training: Don't Make Me Call Your Sellers! Signed Midori.... AKA, "The Manager!"

23 Comments on Don't Make Me Call Your Sellers! Signed Midori.... AKA, "The Manager!"

MAY

2007

I love it, I managed my RE/MAX office last year so I had to do that a few times. I'm bookmarking this if I ever need to refer back to it or mail it to someone,

Great insight, great reporting! I like coming here to get the info and inside scoop well written.

Missy-Thanks for stopping by! Yes, the old phone calls, dislike them big time! I have been threatening this post for weeks and at our next sales meeting I am giving every associate a hard copy! Thank you for your comments.

Sally-Yes, I am giving away Century 21 Sundance office dynamics, quite interesting wouldn't you think? Thank you for stopping by.

I'm not a manager, just an agent. I consider a part of my job to make the calls you wrote about unneccessary. When that doesn't work, I try to give the manager the most background I can. This is particularly important in the case when the problem isn't just price. The manager cannot help without all the info, and can make bad mistakes by talking too much to the client before talking to the manager.

Jim-I agree with you, I like talking briefly to the agent about customer. I make it a point, no emotion, just the facts. Yes if I do not have the important facts, I could lose the listing for the company! I do agree especially when tempers flair, all communication should cease until the matters are resolved!

Just an agent? Your customer, your business! You are indeed a very important piece of the puzzle. Thank You for stopping by, I enjoyed it!

Midori,

I have a few clients for you to call for me.I hope you do not mind that my list is 2 pages long! LOL! Just kidding.

This way i can by more time by having you bug them while I try to sell thier house.

Neal-Ok, when I see you in June, handled! Only 2 pages... Very funny!

Midori, I like it!!! I was just thinking about this yesterday. I work alone but was thinking IF I had associates under me I would personally approve ALL of their listings to make sure they were priced right and that we actually had a chance of selling them. I would want their sellers to have my direct phone number in case they are not hearing from their REALTOR(R) on a regular basis. Just think how much better this would make an office? After all my name is on the sign and it would very important to me that folks are getting the same kind of service from my agents as they would from me. Think how awesome our industry would be if brokers did this.

Broker Bryant-Thank You! We try really hard but you know the fine line between independent contractor and employee. On the most part they do a great job! It's usually the favor or this nice lady that does the associate in. Yes that is one thing, all customers have our direct phone numbers! I hope they never have to use it but if they do..... Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your input!

Midori, You are right about the fine line. But you do have more freedom on the listing side because the listings belong to the broker. So the company rules can be a little more strict. I'm looking forward to meeting you in June.

And Bryant you are so right! That is the one thing broker's have going for them! Yes they own the listings! We do have a great company policy manual and all of us police the listings! Let's just they I think they are really listening! Yes, June should be fun, I really look foward to meeting you too!

Midori...

I am running a little behind on AR today but I wanted to also say that we can't wait to meet you. I am soooo looking forward to the party :)

We have put together an INCREDIBLE group of people :)

I'll probably chug a bottle of Bordeaux for breakfast on the day of the party. LOL.

P.S. Great post by the way. I don't think that I would want your job though :)

TLW...ROAR!

Billie, Midori's job isn't all that bad, you see, I have her back :) She does take heat on occasion but I pay attention when I need to and when she makes these calls I'm not in her office but I am there for support if needed

Billie-Yes it will be a party! Look forward to meeting you! It's not as bad as I made it sounds, I don't make a lot of these calls. Now it just assisting to get their sales contracts thru! Thank for stopping by! Can't wait until June!

Lysa-Yes you make it much easier for me and you do have my back! Thanks Lysa....

MAY

2007

Midori,

I have found that by keeping the lines of communication totally open between myself and my Buyers and Sellers I don't encounter any problems!

They don't need to ask or wonder...they already know!

Joan-You are right. Its very easy, communication is the key! It makes perfect sense! If you keep everyone updated, there is no misunderstandings! Thank you for your input and for stopping by!

I suggest you make the agent fix the problem. Keeping the listing is not always in your or the clients best intrest, especially if they are over priced.

Midori,

This is a great post, and yes, sometimes the seller needs to hear that same info from "the authority figure" to change his /her perspective.

Jeff-Oh if only we lived in a perfect world! When a relationship with a buyer or seller goes bad with an agent and an agent asked for help I will assist. Let's think about this, why do agents need brokers? For various reasons! We provide support, yes, that is where a portion of their commission goes to for support! We are supposed to provide proper training!!!!! Does it happen, most often not!

When things get so bad with the customer, whose reputation is at stake? The agent, the broker and the company. Not sure about you but our company cannot afford a bad reputation and the owner spent 11 years building her good name! It's my job to protect it!

While I would love for each agent to handle their own problems....it's not always the case! It's not always in the best interest for the customer, the agent and especially for the company's reputation. I agree with you 100% when it comes to overpriced listings. WE SHOULD NOT HAVE THEM! We should not take them. Read through all my post you will see I dispise overpriced listings and what they do to the seller that needs to sell.

I can tell you my job is to keep it real and I do that. I owned and operated my own company as an independent, believe me I did everything I could to preserve my reputation. I noticed you are a broker/owner I imagine if an associate came to you, you would provide the same support or at least I would hope so.

That is another reason why we have problems with our business, these agents sometimes are very independent and have no one turn to too. I can sleep at night, I feel good every day for how I treat this business. I will always be there for the agents....but it doesn't mean I have to like it! Thanks for commenting.

Ana-I remember in retail the same thing would happen, I want to talk to your manager! Sometimes people need to hear from an authority.

The good thing is when talking to a customer, I can share my thought process with them! You know how long it takes me to prepare but most often it is well worth it! They may not like me, but we keep the listings and get price reductions at the same time! Not bad for a days work.

MAY

2007

This was a really good post! I'm bookmarking it for further reference. You give solid advice & perspective to all parties in the transaction. Sometimes, it becomes difficult to see things clearly in the "fog." Thanks for posting this to Blogger's Choice today!

Lola-Thank you! How flattering! I appreciate you stopping by!

OCT

2007

Midori, After I got past your use of "customer" (I realize you're in FLA) I found your post to be informative and useful. I've had to do tis in the past. It is never fun. It seems that you almost always prevail. That's fantastic.

I found this because of Chris Griffith's "six pack."

Bill Roberts

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