(Warning: The following is a rant. All characters mentioned in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance or similarities to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. However, if the shoe fits...)
Last Friday I received a phone call and referral from a Keller Williams agent in Salt Lake City. His Seller clients were relocating to our area here in Kitsap County and were in desperate need of assistance. They had come out for the weekend on a fast and furious house hunting expedition, but the agent they had been working with unfortunately didn't share their same sense of urgency. After looking at just a few homes that the Buyers themselves had found online, the agent abruptly deposited them back at the place where they were staying, and just before he drove away said, "Give me a call if you find anymore homes you want to go see!"
Shortly after talking to them on the phone, I was able to identify about a dozen or so potential candidates for us to go see.
The next morning, prior to us meeting, I determined the order of the homes we would visit.
I called the first listing's phone-to-show number to arrange a showing.
The number turned out to the be office number for the listing agent, and the line was busy. I called the office's 800 number, but it was disconnected.
I tried to find the listing agent's cell phone number. It wasn't listed on the MLS datasheet.
I looked on his website. But no direct phone number, just the office number. Which I called again. Still busy.
I called the owner and left a message.
I met with the Buyers and began taking them through the various homes I had scheduled. Numerous times I attempted to call the listing agent's office, but it remained busy.
Finally, we came to the end of our list of homes, and the last one to see was the home I hadn't been able to reach anyone to confirm the showing.
I normally don't like entering a home without a confirmed appointment, but these Buyers were desperately under the gun to find something. That easily trumped any concerns I had.
As I approached the door, I saw that there were dogs inside. Great! Just what I needed to compound the situation as it was!
I knocked on the door and rang the door bell, but no one answered. The dogs seemed fairly sedate, so I carefully opened the door.
Luckily, we were able to tour the home, and actually, it was the one my Buyers ended up liking the most.
So, my Buyers go have lunch, and I head back to my office to write up an offer. I tried calling the listing agent again, but his office number was still busy.
I finally called one of the neighboring offices of the same brokerage franchise in the next town over, and asked if they had the listing agent's cell number. They did and I called it.
There was no greeting to help identify exactly who I had called, but I left a message anyway.
"This is Rich Jacobson with Keller Williams West Sound. I have some Buyers who are considering putting in an offer on your listing, and I just had a few questions about the property before we draft our contract. Please call me back as soon as you receive this message. Thank you!"
3 hours later, I was still waiting to hear from the listing agent.
My Buyers and I went ahead and drafted the offer and submitted it to the listing agent by email. I called the agent and left a message, alerting him that an offer had been sent to him, and to his office as well.
In our offer, we stipulated a 24 hour response time from the Sellers. The next day, Sunday, we waited. And we waited. Finally, at around 6pm, I started calling the Listing Agent on his cell phone once every half hour, each time leaving a message for him to call me.
Finally, around 8:30pm, I spoke with the Listing Agent for the very first time in the entire process!
Lesson Learned
Ease of Accessibility is absolutely crucial to the success of today's agent/broker. Your direct line number should be easy to find on whatever platform or website you're engaged in or using to promote your business. Make yourself easy to reach. Don't play 'Hide & Seek' with clients or potential clients. If people can't find you easily, they'll quickly move on to look for someone they can find and connect with.
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