The other day I received a voice mail message from a caller who wanted to talk to me about working at Buyers Agents Portland, LLC. The woman caller told me she was getting her real estate license and wanted to talk to me about becoming an agent. Oh goodie.
I did not return the call having an extremely busy week.
Today, she called again and I answered the phone.
"Hi, my name is Wanda B. Agent . . . and I'm calling to find out if you're looking for an agent?"
"Oh," I replied. "Are you the one who called me a few daze days ago and left a voice mail message?"
And she said -- I'm not making this up:
"I don't remember. I called a lot of companies."
Well, gee . . . this is starting off great. Here I am REMEMBERING HER!
She told me she had no experience in real estate, hadn't work for over 8 years, and thought real estate would be a good career for her so she could stay at home with her two kids.
Yeah, that's a great elevator pitch if I ever heard one . . . hmmmmmmmmmm . . . NOT!
All things being equal . . . I can tell you that when I began real estate there was no way I could stay home with my 9-year old son.
The first seconds of that phone call was all I needed to know about the abilities of the caller. She hadn't even mastered the technique of follow-up notes, for the love of all that is UNSOLICITED. She didn't remember calling me, had no clue about my brokerage and when she called, it was as if she was doing me the favor. If she can't keep track of those little ditties when she's calling to inquire about possibilities / opportunities in real estate, how do I expect the caller to be able to keep track of . . . oh, I don't know . . . . . . . . . prospecting INQUIRIES!?!? They're called "Follow-up calls," and we make them all the time in this business.
NEXT . . .
I asked her if she knew what a "FIDUCIARY" was?
She did not.
I asked her if she knew what a Rent-Back was?
She did not.
But, she told me, that the other brokerages were offering her a 25% / 75% split. I laughed. She thought my rent-back question had to do with office fee splits.
Here's a caller that can't even remember calling me a few days ago, has never sold real estate, never bought real estate, took the real estate course (which, apparently didn't teach her much) since she didn't know what a Fiduciary was or what an rent-back ("Agreement to Occupy After Closing") was.
I told her my agency spilt for greenhorns was 45% / 55%. After all, I would be training, doing all the work and shouldering all the liability. She thanked me and wished me luck.
OMIGOSH!
Facepalm AND eye roll all in the same phone call.
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