Agents Please Provide Some Follow up

I agree, what goes around comes around, dont expect agents to answer your questions on feedback if you dont answer theirs

I agree that feedback is especially important in this market and always try to respond to requests for it.

Kelly~ Either way, I try to give feedback as well as get the feedback for showings. 

Maybe you should just go ahead and call all of the agents of the listings you have shown to show them that simple courtesy and maybe they will realize how important it is and start doing it naturally themselves. 

In California over 50% of the Realtors have been in the business less than four years.  Many of them have not learned the art of prospecitng and follow up.  A good Realtor looks ofr feedback and follow's up.

Kelly - I hear you - but think about this - if a buyer has the slightest interest is it in the best interest of the buyer for that agent to tell you prior to making an offer.... don't get me wrong I do give feed back - but not always what my buyer thought - often times it is what I thought - what my buyer wants to do - thinks about a home or the like is confidential - until they give me permission to share it with you...If I were to say - oh they loved it - and then they wrote on it at a lower price - I have given you a peak at their cards -

Chances are though - this is not the case for what you are talking about - but it is food for thought - I always will at least tell you - they have or have not written on something :)

I agree. We have an automated email system that requests feedback on our listings. If I dont hear anything I call them directly within 24 hours before they forget valuable details to me. Most agents dont leave feedback here either. I always do as a courtesy.

I think the more we as agents provide showing feedback the easier it becomes for us to obtain feedback on our listings.  Agents should not have to beg for feedback especially with automated systems such as HomeFeedBack.com or when agents can simply e-mail or fax feedback to listing agent.

I have to agree with thesa - feedback here is privileged info-the buyer has to agree to have it released and even if its my own personal feedback - at some point down the road -if there is an offer - that information could be used against the buyer........sorry....

As listing realtors i think we have a pretty good idea of the pro's and cons of any particular house are - if the Seller wants more info, maybe an  email address where people can give anonymous feeback?

Frankly after showing 12-15 places the first thing I think about is not about calling all the listing agents and giving them feedback!  Hopefully I'm either writing my own offers or requesting feedback on the viewing of my Listings!  lol

Kelly, I'm having the same frustrations you are here in the Midwest.  Not only are feedback calls not being returned, but agents aren't leaving cards or in some cases even turning off lights!

Even though giving feedback about what your buyer thought could be tipping their hand so to speak, it's nice to hear what other agents think.  Sometimes it has to come from numerous agents to get the point across to a seller about bad wallpaper or odor in the home.

My best advice is if I don't get feedback within three days of a showing I fax a feedback form to their office.  Sometimes this works pretty well.

I agree, constructive feedback is important for your Client. Agents who use the excuse that it is tipping their Clent's hand for negotiating doesn't work because if they were really interested they would write a contract. If they aren't writing a contract, there is no reason why they cannot provide feedback. 

Good Post!

Kelly,

I think there is a fine line with confidentiality that you keep with your clients. I  try to always give the listing agents some of my feedback and I really like when other agents give feedback on my listings.

Heidi

I agree - I showed 15 homes not to long ago and I only received tow phone calls for agents for feedback - I think that it shows that you are on top of things if you are looking for any kind of feedback and important to be able to pass this info on to your clients.

Kelly - I think that providing feedback is not jus a courtesy, but also makes good business sense. NAR says that only 2% of realtors follow up on open house leads.....so if folks can't be bothered to follow up after their open houses I don't see them likely to go out of their way to give another realtor feedback. That being said, those are the little things that give a good realtor (in my opinion) a unique selling point.

I'm laughing about this one Kelly.  You're right about how the polite thing to do is to always follow up with the listing agent of houses that you've shown. 

However, I think what is funny is that you say that you always follow up, yet in the very next paragraph you made it sound like you, yourself, showed twenty houses, and then you only heard back from two listing agents seeking feedback.  Couldn't that only have happened after you failed to initiate the follow up yourself ?.. :) 

Aren't you complaining about what you did yourself?  Maybe that's the joke I'm not getting.   

Am I making sense?  I've probably got it wrong, but it still cracked me up.

By the way, I've been guilty of failing to follow up myself.  I always apologize to the listing agent that beats me to the phone call.  It happens more often than it should.  Good reminder.

Oops.. now I understand.  You were talking from the perspective of the listing agent not the agent that had shown houses. 

Got it now.  Still cracked me up.