Managing Expectations

I was talking to a client the other day and he was lamenting his choice of REALTOR® to market his home in another market. He's already purchased a home here and will be moving in soon and fortunately was not in a position where he HAD to sell first. However, he's fairly certain that the listing will expire and he'll be going with another REALTOR® after that. One thing he mentioned to me was that it's been on the market for over a month and she still hasn't sent out postcards. Now, we don't regularly send out "just listed" postcards so I asked him if that was part of the marketing plan she shared with him when he made the listing agreement. And here's the crux of the issue: they didn't really go over a marketing plan. Whether she has one or not is still a mystery to him. Granted, she should be sharing this information with him but she may very well be working very hard to market his home but due to the market forces at work right now, it's lack of movement may not have anything to do with how hard or quickly she's working. I encouraged him to get with her and if she didn't have a plan and he didn't want to withdraw the listing from her early, he should ask her to or help her develop one.

I'm fortunate enough to work on a team where we get a lot of positive feedback from our clients. It's not just about making them happy, it's about turning them into "raving fans." The reinforcement that I get from our clients is why I do what I do, it's validating and rewarding. But I think a lot of the reason that we get that feedback is that we try, from the first contact, the first endeavor to work with someone, to manage their expectations. We lay out a plan, cite some of the issues that may come up, and work with them to address their needs and concerns. That way, we know what they are looking for from us and they don't have to wonder when the postcards are going out. For example, we have one client that had a listing expire and came to us. His biggest complaint was, of course, no communication from the agent. Now, almost all of our sellers get both regular and intermittant contact from various members of the team. Each week, I send written reports via e-mail regarding certain marketing activities. However, this seller is a pretty busy guy, doesn't have much time for e-mail, especially written reports. He just wants a 5 minute phone call, once a week whether anything is happening or not. Easy enough. But if we hadn't asked, I'd be e-mailing him reports and he'd probably still feel that we weren't communicating, just like his previous agent. 

I've found that I am most pleased with a vendor, professional or anyone that I work with when I know what to expect or they lay it all out to me. I wish I could say that this happens often but unfortunately not.