Is there a book somewhere on text etiquette? There are a lot things that I just don't get and was wondering about. For some reason, people think that I should recognize their phone number or know what they are talking about when they text message me. When I send a letter or an email, I sign my name; when I make a phone call, I start by identifying myself.
I don't have EVERY ONE of the people I speak to or have ever spoken to recorded in my phone. And even if someone is recorded in my contacts, if their number comes across with a +1 in front of it, it won't register who that person is. And so, half the time, I don't know who is text messaging me.
Now sometimes I can figure it out from the text itself. But a lot of times -- most of the time -- I can't. Got this one the other day, "What did your buyer think?" I had shown 15 homes to 3 different buyers that day. I didn't have a clue which house, which buyer, or which agent. Turns out it was a house from the day before; a house that I had already left feedback for the agent.
Then I got this one, "how flexible is your seller on that asking price?" What? That might be an ok text if I only had one listing and if I knew if the text was coming from a buyer or an agent. My answer would be the same basic idea. If it was a buyer, I would suggest that I write an offer to see how flexible the seller was. If it was an agent, I would suggest they write the offer.
I know it takes up characters, but is it so hard to use the same etiquette that we use in email, or phone calls, or snail mail, or any other form of communication? We identify ourselves! We put our name at the end of an email. We start a phone conversation with, "Hi, this is Suzie." We sign our name to a letter or postcard. Why can't we do that with a text?
Comments (186)Subscribe to CommentsComment