There's a famous scene in Apocalypse Now in which a Navy patrol boat is traveling up the Nung River (SE Asia) looking for Colonial Kurtz who had gone rogue. The boat pulls up to the shore so that one of the team members, "Chef," can get some fresh mangoes growing wild in the jungle. As Chef is is walking through the jungle, a tiger leaps out of the underbrush, he fires off a few shots and runs back to the boat yelling, "never get out of the boat, never get out of the boat." It's a heart-stopping scene that ends up being funny. My little story...not so much.
I felt the same way as Chef this week, except it was "never stop offering your services." On Monday, I finished an email conversation with someone that contacted me on Saturday evening in which the potential client sent me a message inquiring about an Open House in Toms River (I maintain an Open House website; www.OpenHouseOceanCounty.com that provides most of this type of information). Since I was away from my desk and computer, and was a little rushed, I simply sent a link to the website from my Blackberry to the information she was requesting. 
Sunday morning I sent another email asking if she received the information from me. I didn't get a reply until Monday that she, indeed, found what she was looking for. I asked if she had a buyers agent and included in the email why she should be using one. You know, the basic; A Buyer’s Agent will:
- Protect YOUR best interest
- Protect YOUR negotiating position
- Advise and give informed opinion to assist in the transaction
- Help YOU to get the BEST deal on the home
- Recommend mortgage specialists, inspectors, attorneys, title companies, etc, etc
She responded back: "I wish you would have sent me this on Saturday, I put an offer in on the house Sunday morning!"
And this isn't just any house, this is the ONLY house she wants. You see, her family built this particular house in the 1940's on The Jersey Shore and sold it in the 1970's. Her brothers and sisters decided they wanted to buy back this home so that thier children could create the same memories they had as kids. There goes 10K...just because I didn't ask the basic question; "can I help you?"
So, just to recap; this buyer is fully qualified, wanted to look at only one home and was willing to buy immediately! What an idiot I felt like. But it certainly has reinforced in me to 'never stop offering your services' or in Apocalypse Now terms, "Never Get Out of the Boat!"
P.S. That was NOT the smell of victory!
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