Is It Negligent To Refer An Agent That Does NOT Answer Their Phone?
In my professional opinion it would be negligent of me to refer my clients to an out of area agent when I know that agent does not answer their phone.
But wait, there is more. Not only did the agent not answer their phone four times throughout the course of a day, during normal business hours, (hahahaha, I know, what is normal business hours in the business of real estate?) but I also did not receive a warm, friendly, personalized greeting that identified who I was calling. For example, "You've reached Kathleen Daniels with KD Realty ..."
That might should persnickety but, it does happen to be what I require in order to do business with anyone. If I cannot reach an agent in four attempts, and I get a recorded message that does not tell me who I've called, that sends the red flags flying and flapping in the wind.
I called at 9:30am, 12:30pm, 3:00pm, and 5:00pm on a Tuesday. I called from a phone that is not caller ID blocked. This means they can see my name and phone number. Each time I called I received an automated recording that said: "The person you are calling is not accepting calls at this time."
Add to that the person did not follow up with me on four missed calls. Whether it is true or not, all of these issues combined tells me the agent is either too busy and/or the agent does not care about customer service.
Despite the fact that the agent came highly recommended by reliable sources, getting that kind of response, or lack thereof, suggests to me that the agent would be difficult to do business with. Bottom line is I will not hunt and chase down an agent to make a referral. Even after paying a 25% referral fee, the net commission for this buyer referral would be $17,000.00.
My clients have already relocated and have been renting. They are now ready to buy. I've referred a great lender, a member of the AR community, who already has them pre-approved. Details on this AR Super-Star to follow.
I've searched Active Rain to find an "active" Rainer in the area I need to refer, and I cannot find one. The top blogger in that City last posted over 2 years ago.
Would you pass on the agent who does not answer their phone, or would you continue to pursue?
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