THE TELEPHONE

Bill,  I'm having a little debate with Lenn Harley about answering the phone EVERY time it rings.  

Bill:

Now you can figure out who's cell phone is on if they don't answer. If it is off it will go directly into voice mail. If its on, it will ring a bit. I called you the other day. How come you didn't answer? :)

Bill, I'd rather not talk to a person if I can hear water running, or better yet, a toilet flushing in the background. I just get a sudden urge to wash my hands compulsively. There are times when it is rude to answer a phone. Clients don't want to see me fielding calls on their time. Also, in our state it is illegal to use a cell phone while driving, so you won't see me picking up on calls that come through while I'm on the highway. We also have a lot of dead zones in our area. It I don't immediately answer your call it may be because I have no bars.

Some of the most successful people use time-blocking. And this applies to your time spent on phone answering and returning phone calls. I know some very successful agens who indicate in their voicemails a scheduled phone time and I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. I guess I feel this way because I happen to know that they're productive.

What I can't stand is agents answering the phone with noise in the background, if they happen to answer at all. Then I also can't stand endless voicemail recordings and agents who never return a phone call; a complete lack of professionalism if you ask me.

Ricardo, I really like the idea of time-blocking.  It's hard to get focused on anything if you are constantly answering the phone.

Bill, I answer my cellphone if and when I am available. I won't answer it if I am driving down the trans canada at 120 kms/hr. I value my life more than I value talking with whoever is at the end of the line. Some things are more important than a real estate transaction.

I won't answer it if I am in the middle of an appointment (listing or showing ) with another client. To me that is just plain rude. When my clients are with me they get my full focus. There is nothing I find ruder than being with someone in the middle of a good converstion and their cell phone or landline is constantly beeping or ringing and they are talking with other people intermittently while interacting with me. I guess I am just old-fashioned that way.

I won't answer it if I am sleeping or taking a stress-reducing bubblebath or in a concert or play or meeting. There are a few other times I won't answer it as well, however I always explain to my clients that I will return their call within 1-2 hours max. 

Jo 

I agree with you, Bill. Telling people you only return calls between 'a' and 'b' seems a trifle pompous to me. I certainly wouldn't deal with a company or salesperson who advertises this, nor would I refer to them.

Jo 

This is exactly why we have a receptionist for our team.  I will not answer calls when I am with clients.  I will not answer calls if I am doing things that I shouldn't involve the client in (like your bathroom example).  I will not answer calls before 8am or after 7pm.  I will not answer calls on Sundays.  If I have planned relaxation time or family time, I will not answer calls during that time.

There is a misunderstanding that to be successful or represent your clients to the fullest or to be rich that one needs to answer their calls all of the time and at the moment that it rings.  That is a misnomer and your personal 'evidence' is anecdotal. 

Let me show you my anecdotal evidence.  The wealthiest and most successful people we know are not available 24/7 within 15 minutes.  If they are not reached immediately, they return calls when it's convenient for them, based upon their schedule.

 

I once lost a deal cause I didn't want to answer my phone. It was pesky buyer I'd been working with for a few months. Turns out he'd finally made up his mind.

Another time I got a call at 11 pm. I wondered who'd be alling at that time? I answered it and it turned out to be someone that had been referred to me and he was flying in the next morning and wanted me to show him properties.

I stayed up late, prepared some showings and to make a long story short they bought two condos.

It pays to answer the phone!

• (Receptionist fit into the business mold of what are called gatekeepers.  Thousands upon thousands of words have been written giving advice of how to get around gatekeepers.  The advice should have been written telling why there should be no gatekeepers.)
  

Let me clarify - the licensed 'receptionist' that we use is for our team.  Our team has our own office - we do not work out of our brokerages office.  Secondly, we have a 'gatekeeper' for a reason and prospects and clients easily 'get passed' the gate keeper when they actually call her.  Sales calls do not (telemarketers and advertisers), they get voice mail or a message taken.

• listing agents put riders on the company's sign giving the listing agent's name and either his/her cell number or his/her number with a service that's named Voice Retrieval.  It is not the office number. 
  

Just want to clarify - it is our own phone number - one that comes into our own personal office where all calls are tracked, all leads are tracked, etc.  Instead of using a cell phone, we use a land # and IVR.

Our IVR system has an option to 'talk to agent immediately'.  The agent carrying the 'phone' that IVR is directed to gets the call.  Some agents elect to take those calls on Sundays.  Our team policy (created by me) is that all calls are to be answered immediately Mon-Sat 8am-7pm.  Messages left are to be returned within 30 minutes or less.  If you are with a client, leave the appropriate greeting on your phone indicating such. 

• The listing client is being misrepresented.  You and others feel otherwise.  Wonder what your listing client would think if he knew you were not there to try to sell his house when someone called? 
  

That's not dependent upon when or how they answer the phone, it's dependent upon when and for how much they sell their clients homes.  We are currently at, and have been since 2003, 100% sales on our listings.   We sell 100% of our listings - the only listings we do not sell is when the seller has elected to wait another season to put it on the market again.

The problem with the impression you are giving is that it is required that all listing agents be available 24/7 at the whim of a buyer.  That is wrong and frankly why good agents burn out and, why they never learn how to make their business duplicatable. 

• I don't feel real estate sales is a business match for those who want it to take place at their convenience and on their predetermined schedule.

Ok, that's your opinion.  I can certainly understand how you got that opinion.  It drives me nuts when agents don't return calls when our BA's call to schedule showings.  However, we have a very successful, almost 3 decade old team that has been at the top globally for several years with our brand and amongst all brands.  And we run our business on a schedule.

• Finally, there are some similar behavioural practices by the successful people I know.  One of them is that they are available.  Another is that they expect me to be available.  And I've been very involved with those people for most of my career, so I can proclaim to have some amount of empirical expertise here.  The list of the names include many that would be familiar to you.

I have to say, you are not the only person to work with the ultra-wealthy or the famous (and infamous).  I'm not going to bat with you over who works with the most well-known or wealthiest people or even which of the two of us has more experience in a certain demographic.  Being available I certainly understand.  Again, being available 24/7 is extreme.  

• But then it is evident to me that I did a poor job of explaining my position in this blog.  Frankly, it's quite ego deflating since I thought I had done a pretty good job writing it.  So I'm through discussing it in this forum altogether. 
  

This I don't quite understand.  This is the forum for discussion.  You say something, people ask for clarification, you say more, they say more, etc. etc. etc.  That is one of the best advantageous of blogging!

There is a side to this that is being implied but not really voiced.  Perhaps the reason some people disagree with the idea of 24/7 is because it's rude.  You are showing disrespect to your clients if you are taking/making calls when you are working with them in person.  You are showing disrespect to your family/friends if you are taking/making calls when you are with them on a 'scheduled' time.   People have to eat, use restrooms, need breaks.

Now, I totally and completely agree that agents do not return phone calls.  I feel it's more a matter of returning the call in a timely fashion and that the whole 'answer it immediately' wouldn't so much be an issue if people actually returned calls. 

I also wonder what is the point of putting your contact information on a property sign or in an ad if you aren't going to at least answer those calls during business hours.  This is a HUGE problem, well, perhaps it's not a problem.  We get a lot of leads from prospects who tell us we are the first person to answer or call them back.

• If the next serious down market in real estate is anything like those many of us have had to live through in the past, only those who have always seriously practiced real estate with bravura will survive.  Those who didn't will all but starve to death.  It will be too late to change.  And frankly, I'll be glad to see them go.  I'm tired of tripping over them.

I am practically frothing at the bit for this to happen.  I can not wait for the numbers to dwindle.  People are sure getting hungry out there!

Bill

I know you said you were through with this blog and I respect that, so, I don't expect an answer.  No hurt feeling here. :)

I am from a very old school that cannot stand a ringing phone.  I was taught if it rings you answer it because someone took their valuable time to call you.  What it is about, important to you or not, is for you to decide after  you answer the call. If it's not important to you, then in as nice a way a possible you tell the person.  I never say, I'll call you back, if I don't intend too, and if I say I will, if it is more than several hours away, I make note of it to remind myself....I never use to have to do this...age you know...but if I say I will call, I call.  I do this even if I'm sick.  Just old fashioned training.

Thanks for the great post and for enlightening those that were raised in an era of the nonchalant manners.

  

wow Christina.  Most of my deals are put together after 7 pm (since everyone is home from work and has had dinner by then). Good thing I answer my phone !  Do you people only work til 7 in your neck of the woods ?

Jo 

I suppose some do.  It's a choice for me - I'm up 4:30-5:00 and available early in the AM.  I'm often in bed and asleep by 8:00-8:30pm.   Remember, we are in a 'smaller' community and I am a listing agent.  I very rarely have a listing appointment in the evenings.

Christina,  I am up at 5 every morning too. That's usually my blogging, AR, emailing, ad writing, paperwork time of the day.  My community is a small one too (Belleville itself has approx 46000 people and then there are numerous surrounding smaller towns and villages and rural areas that I also cover ). I'll send the rest of my questions to you privately.  Sorry Bill, for taking over the comments section of your blog....

Jo 

Bill -- I'm guilty of a good portion of what you wrote and can't even remember how we managed to survive without caller ID!!