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When A Colleague Calls For Showing Feedback

Yesterday, I got a call from the listing agent of a place I showed last week - someone I didn't know at all. He was polite, started off by apologizing for not following up immediately and described the house to jog my increasingly unreliable memory.

And it turned out that I loved his listing. My buyers liked it a lot. It was easy to see, showed very well and was, I thought, the best house we saw that day. We actually had a very pleasant conversation and he told me that of all the agents he called, I was the only one who was nice to him!

Huh?

Now, I can think of a lot of reasons to be nice.

This guy may be a fairly new agent, and he'll probably remember the agents who were nice to him at the beginning. Lord knows, I do and it's been over 25 years!
My guys really did like his listing, and if I do wind up writing on it, I would like to have made a first impression that conjures up warm feeling from the listing agent! It'll make things easier, a lot easier, if the two agents like and respect each other.
It's just as easy to be pleasant as it is to be bitchy, well most of the time anyway.

This is the kind of little encounter where you build whatever kind of reputation you have with your community of colleagues. And I always try to vote for behaving nicely!

Posted by Patricia Kennedy on 06/13/2009 07:52 AM

Comments (41)

Good Manners With Colleagues in the Sales Strategies / Tactics Channel

good manners

Post is included in group: Realtors®

41 Comments on When A Colleague Calls For Showing Feedback

JUN

We all know that feedback is a necessary evil for our sellers...why not be nice...it might be us on the other end asking for feedback for our information thirsty sellers one day.. :)

Pat,

I do agree it is always a good thing to be nice to the other agent. I think it will make the whole process move along smoother and you will have someone that will want to work with you in the future.

Pat--I don't understand why an agent wouldn't chose to treat another agent respectfully. What goes around comes around. I am certain you made an extremely favorable lasting impression on this collegue. That will go a very long way when negotiating in the future.

While I am not a big fan of these "feedback" calls , I do think that being nice goes a long way. We need to remember that we are all in this together. :)

Patricia,

Years ago I set up a template in my email just for feedback to listing agents. I found that it was much appreciated, and very well received, when I would email the listing agent with the feedback within 24 hours of showing. I almost always got either a phone call or an email thanking me for being so 'on top' of things.

I also found that as a result of this that I didn't have to chase buyer's agents in order to get feedback, since they had gotten feedback in a timely manner.

It's just good business sense to be reciprocal in our actions. The smoother the water ... the easier the ride.

It is just a matter of respect for fellow agents. The agents is just doing his job. This business is hard enough without making it more difficult.

Hi Pat-It makes life so much easier when you work with people that are friendly and nice. Life is too short not to be. BTW-I love Arnolds lilies. I love tiger lilies and had a lot of them myself in NY. <SMILE>

Absolutely. I remember fondly the agents who were kind to me when I was starting out.

I think it is absolutely a sign of the times that we all have to work with agents who are not so nice anymore and I swear, Christi and I have always sworn, that we will not become that agent.

Even now, I dread seeing certain agents names pop up on my phone, as they bring back memories of dealing with a not nice, not courteous, not friendly person.

I find it very sad that of all the agents he called (how many I wonder?), there was only one lone pleasant agent. I am not surprised that it was you!

I use automated feedback via email - more agents will respond that way. Keep in mind that often times the sellers have access to the feedback form as well, so be careful and choose your words wisely, especially when you have something negative to say about the house!

Just because people are licensed and have business cards it does not make them a professional. This industry suffers from the relatively low barriers to entry compared to many other businesses (which have their share of jerks too ... just not as many it seems).

This low barrier (and cost) compared to other businesses also lends itself to include some people that don't have to be successful to stay in the business. Thus, their behavior is no longer as important as it is to many others.

The industry suffers for this as a whole. At the same time there are parties in the industry that make money off of the unprofessional and those that won't succeed. Thus, the barriers will remain low and continue to permit many to remain in the industry that could not make it in other lines of work.

Don't mean to be harsh and you can tell me I'm wrong. Really. Thanks! G

We all need to remember to be nice. Why? because it seems that occasionally the hardest part of being a Realtor is the dealing with the opposing agent... sad but true.

Pat - I know I'm less likely to respond to an email asking for feedback than I am with human interaction. Like you, if we've seen 15 similar properties, they often blend together and without that conversation to locate it in my limited memory -- " Was that the house with the willow tree out front?" and "The one with the green kitchen?" -- I will usually not respond. Also, the feedback emails I've received have generally been clinically cold.

Nothing replaces human interaction.

We have automatic email followup for our showings, but sometimes you still need to speak with the agent. You always remember who was helpful.

Morning Patricia, I make it a point to call the listing agent and give them very specific feedback. Most are surprised at my call but almost all seem very appreciative.

Thanks for sharing your post with me this morning. Keep up the great blogging

i have no problem being "nice" when responding with feedback. We have to, of course, balance that with representing our clients interests... which always befuddles me when the listing agent asks, after we've told them our client liked it, with "So... what did you think of the price?"

what do they expect me to say... "I think it's a bit low... so don't pay any attention to the offer we're going to bring you on Monday, just 'cause we're coming in 20% below your listing price." Or even "I think the price is great"... how does that reconcile with my upcoming offer that's $28,000 off the listing price?

Of course I'm going to respond that the price is high. I need the negotiating room. What I do say under those conditions is say ... "well, since my client likes the property, and who knows... I may end up writing an offer on your listing... I'm going to respectfully decline from answering that one.... hopefully that'll bring us both good luck."

Good for you Pat, for taking the high road. I hope your buyers write and you close it!

It's sad that our colleagues have to be rude when we are trying to do our jobs for our sellers. I have been on both sides of that type of phone call and it is definitely better to be nice, as you were!

Oh my -- don't get me started! I don't know why agents can't be civil and helpful to each other NO MATTER WHAT! I had a very difficult transaction and both myself and the listing agent stayed pleasant, made jokes and we got the deal together and to closing! No need to be a jerk!

I enjoyed reading your post over a cup of coffee on this fine Saturday morning. Do enjoy the weekend

Patricia: It just makes so much sense to be nice when someone calls for feedback. And... I an not going in the direction of "if we are nece to the , they will be nice to us." Sure... they will... but that's not the best reason to be nice. It's nice to be nice... just to be nice. Take care... thanks for sharing your story.

@ Eric: How nice of you to share the "same exact words" comment of yours to everyone you comment on. It's nice to know we are all individuals, and you actually read our posts... NOT.

Pat... maybe I'm using my sarcasm here a little too nicely. This comment above is another one of those comment spammers... same comment everywhere he goes. Not... so nice.

PS... I just made this comment about Eric's comment spam, and up pops "Katiejo" above... doing the same thing. Same comment ten times... same to every post.

Pat... why do people do this ?

I had an agent recently who was rude to one of my clients. Why? Because she thought the person standing in front of her was my assistant. DUH so why would you be rude to my assistant? It has put a damper on what was going along as a nice transaction. So be nice to everyone you encountering in a transaction. You never know when it will come back to bite you!

Pat,

There are so many rude people around, or so it seems, that one has to wonderwhat the appeal is in being that way.

There is no reason to not be cheerful and helpful. Being a professional does not mean being a jerk.

Pat ..I couldn't agree with you more...It PAYS to be nice..although I would be nice anyway..that is my nature.But some agents just don't get it..did a blog recently about it..if you have a chance check it out..thanks

HelpfulHannah your friend in Philadelphia

twiiter

I try to call with feedback right after I show, when I get home. Try being the operative word. Now here is the thing, the last bunch I did that with were all blown away, they said, you called me? With feedback? Like I was an alien with 2 heads.

Whats the point of being bitchy?

Pat --- there are so many Realtor jerks out there --- it is embarrassing to me. I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams that you would not be nice --- I must admit that I am always nice even when someone else is a jerk.

Mama Liz's Signature

Interesting. I am always nice to the listing agents that call for feedback for those very reasons you mentioned.

Typically, most people I call for feedback have been nice. The ones who weren't were doing the weird "Preening Bird/Alpha Male/Jockying for Position" dance that some REALTORS do. That's actually pretty amusing to me for some reason.

Thankfully I find most buyer agents to be pleasant. Its so much more fun to do this job when we are working with pleasant people on the other side.

Pat,

While I've had pretty good responses when I call for feedback, it isn't always the case. I've read many posts and comments where agents have basically said "if I didn't call you, my buyers aren't interested. I'm too busy to give you feedback and don't even remember the properties."

Frankly, I was a bit shocked that folks would admit to that. I do not imagine them being very cordial if the listing agent does bother them...

As you pointed out, what goes around comes around. (Or so we hope!)

Hi Pat... I agree with the points you made. It is just as easy to be nice and courteous to another agent as it is to be rude or uncooperative, so whay anyone chooses the latter is a puzzlement. The best relationships and transactions are ones based on mutula respect and courtesy.

Pat - Well, I try to be helpful, an I am always courteous, but getting a call 3 weeks after I showed the property makes it pretty tough for me to remember any specifics, especially since I am showing lots of homes to lots of people. We didn't make an offer so there you have it. But I am happy to share what I can. I see no point in being rude.

Jeff

Good for you and I totally agree with your reasoning. I always try to be helpful, but those calls that come 10 minutes after you left the house and are still with your client are tres annoying. LOL Contrast that, though, to the calls that come 3 weeks later from an agent who has never seen the house...uh, which one of 10 identical houses was that one again?

Behaving nicely...I agree. Karen said it it's nice to be nice. You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

PS do you Really remember who was mean to you in the beginning? Are they still around?

I agree. You never know who you are going to do your next deal with so it is just common courtesy to show respect to colleagues. I must admit though I sometimes wonder where common courtesy and common sense have gone????

Pat - What goes around comes around. Being nice is how you earn the respect of others in the real estate community.

JUN

Patricia,

Of course, being nice is always great. The problem is that people are not always nice, even when they agree that it would be beneficial. You business approach is terrific, and is important.

I also applauded Karen Anne on her nice but firm stand against spamming. By the way, this is just another example to be nice about thing not so nice. I have a shorter fuse, unfortunately (LOL)

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