Home > Blogs > Bryant Tutas > Broker Bryant's Real Estate Ramblings

Please leave a message after the beep

By Bryant Tutas

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC BK607690

July 24, 2006 12:18 AM

Don’t you hate it when you call a Real Estate professional on their cell phone and they don’t answer and they have no message. Just the standard “leave a message.” Personally I have a problem leaving information on a voice mail that doesn’t identify the person you are calling. The message on your voice mail should be very clear and precise. It should identify who you are and when you can expect a call back and give an alternative way to reach you be it your web address, E-mail, fax or even another phone number. You should record this message in a quite place and speak in a clear voice that can be understood. Once this is done. Call your voice mail and make sure the message is what you want your potential customers and fellow Realtors to hear. This could be the first point of contact for a customer so make sure your message sounds upbeat, professional and very precise. Always smile when recording. Your smile will actually “show” in the tone of your voice. Try it! It works.

Now this is the part that I find to be the most frustrating. Being on the receiving end and not being able to understand the message that has been left on your voice mail. I get them everyday. Talking so fast my phone is smoking while I’m trying to make out what is being said. Leaving a great message with no return phone number. Listening to the caller ordering McDonalds while trying to leave you a message at the same time. Taking a break in the middle of leaving a message to smack the kid (just kidding?). It frustrates me so much because I want to return the call and can’t. I hate it when that happens. I feel like I’m missing out on something. Could be a potential customer or a Realtor wanting to show one of my listings.

So speak slowly. Leave your name, phone number (the phone number should be at the beginning of your message and repeated at the end) and a brief message explaining the purpose of your call. Let me know the best time to call you back. Please leave a message after the beep.

Click on the "leave a message" link in this post for good sample messages

Comments(4)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Bryant Tutas

Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC - Winter Garden, FL

Selling Florida one home at a time

I love when they then get mad at you for not returning their phone call. Very frustrating,

Jul 24, 2006 07:34 AM

Rob Stevens

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage - Martinsburg, WV

NMLSR ID 231698

Wow, what a true testament to where we are today - too busy to make a proper announcement and too busy to leave a proper message. What does it come down to? Are you a professional and to you practice propriety? If you are a client or potential client, do you want to deal with a real estate person who is not professional?

Another note: Voice mail is great, but why can't we just answer the phone occasionally? My team has a "No Voice Mail" philosophy. We directly answer over 95% of our calls. How do we accomplish this? Commitment! We forward our cells to our office (when we're in the office) and one of our team members picks up the call. When we know we will be out of the office and unavailable, we simply forward our cell to an available team member's cell. This is definitely a contribution to our #1 ranking in the mortgage industry. Our clients say, "I can contact my banker personally any time, even on the weekends!" This is a deep commitment and a service no other mortgage company can deliver.

Jul 28, 2006 02:22 PM

Rob I am with you on that one. Just answer the phone. In my opinion it is the number one thing you can do separate yourself from the competition. So easy. Yet so few people do it.

Jul 29, 2006 01:55 AM

DeVina DeLoach

Nathan's Realty - Marietta, GA

I agree with answering the phone. Before I started practicing real estate, I was an admistrative assistant at a C21 and I would see the craziest stuff ever. Agents would actually be in the front of the office talking with others, when there phone would ring. Instead of answering the phone, they would look to see who was calling and then just let the phone ring, while commenting on who was calling. I thought that was so rude. At times that person would call right back and the realtor still would not answer. Then the client would call the office looking for them and they would tell us to transfer it to their desk phone, which then transferred it to their cell phone, and they would still not answer. So when clients called back, I was instructed to say that s/he must be with a client at the moment and to leave them a message. That's one thing I promised to never do...avoid calls. If I can't get to the phone at that moment, I return the call before the end of the business day. I don't see what's so hard about that.

Sep 01, 2006 09:53 AM

Please leave a message after the beep

Comments(4)

Bryant Tutas

Real Estate Resources

Recent Posts