Home : Blogs : Toby Boyce, MBA, Delaware Ohio : The Ohio Real Estate Blog

Just Be First

I had some cellular issues last week, calls were going straight to voice mail and I wasn’t getting notified that the call had been missed.

So it took me about 15-hours to return the call from a local gentleman that had been trying to sell some land on his own. He thanked me for calling him back and quickly apologized, he’d signed an agreement earlier that afternoon with another company.

Hating technology at that point, I thanked him for thinking of me and asked, “Who did you sign with?”

“Umm, I knew you were going to ask me that,” he replied. I could hear the paper rustling in the background as he dug for the listing agreement to grab the name of the listing agent.

I was sitting there politely chatting this gentleman, but all my personalities were yelling at once. “No way!”

All that went through my mind was a portion of a Gary Keller quote. “Just be first.”

All that I had to do was call this gentleman back. I had started marketing to him as a for sale by owner about a week or two before, however it wasn’t a great connection. Our conversations seemed strained, so I kept him on the mail list. Stay in the game, but not really expect much.

It worked perfectly, but I’d let it slip through my cell phone.

Okay, so that one got away. What did I learn from it?

Never underestimate the value of a verbal discussion.
Keep in touch
Don't become TOO reliant on technology
Keep your sense of humor and be strong.

Next time, I'll be first.

Image is property of Ralaenin and used with permission.

Posted by Toby Boyce, MBA, Delaware Ohio on 12/14/2008 11:39 PM

Comments (22)

real estate advice, scream,

22 Comments on Just Be First

DEC

Ouch! I can feel your pain. Perfect graphic. You're doing the right thing by assessing and making a plan to eliminate this from possibly happening in the future. I've had technology bite me in the arse before too. It's not fun. Don't beat yourself up though.

Bummer, I've lost business by not being first. You always try to be first but it doesn't always work out.

DEC

Toby, You gotta love tech, it can be your best friend or in this case worst enemy, sorry!

Keller's stuff is so good. Hopefully you won't have to go through this aggrevation again!

If my phone doesn't ring for a few hours I call my voice mail automatically. It's amazing the calls I've missed.

Yeah, technology is great when it works! Maybe you can be his second agent!

This is one of those times you wish you could sue your cell phone provider for lost wages! Clearly that is what lost this sale, not you!

DEC

Been there, done that! A great reminder for us all - thanks. One of my problems with cell phones was turning off the ringer for a meeting, then forgetting to turn it back on afterwards. Now I write myself a reminder to turn it back on at the bottom of the page I'm taking notes on (just in case).

Just happened to me and with a "friend" of mine--- double wammy that one!

Sorry Toby, it can happen to any of us. I would definitely check the phone and the service and see if it can be updated.

Bummer, like you said, learn from it and now just be first next time. BTW don't you have a land line somwhere? Nice dog too!

You are absolutely right that, sadly, sometimes being the first to call back is all it takes. Timeliness is important, but sometimes that doesn't mean the client is getting the best representation!

Don't you just love to hate technology?

Of course, there's the old land-line option. Remember those?

Better luck next time.

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with technology. I know it hurts to lose a listing that way but don't waste time beating yourself up about it, go get a better one.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by. It has been a while since I'd been on the Rain and enjoyed picking up the responses.

Dwelling on it: I'll be honest, writing has always been my "clensing" agent. And this was my chance to clense myself. I've since met the seller, by chance, at the local coffee shop and had a nice conversation with him. I'm hoping I can bring him a buyer for this piece of land. But I think Marian put it best "don't waste time beating yourself up about it, go get a better one."
Interesting Thought on Land Lines. Do I have one. Sort-of. My home office phone number goes through our digital cable system. I don't want to have to have multiple mailboxes to access information from. So all of those numbers are forwarded to my cell phone. Why? It allows me to control how available I am. Call me at the home office or the Dublin office and leave a message; but I'm out all day. I don't get back to you until when? This wasn't the first time I'd had trouble with my cell phone carrier, but it is the first time that it has directly bitten me in the arse. Before I forwarded all the calls it was a routine thing. One e-mail, one voice mail, that works best for me.

Thanks again to all that have read.

Hi Toby,

Great lesson learned, but how would it be avoided next time? How about an alternate telephone number? I know something similar happened to me with an offer on a listing, but I fortunately caught it in time to save the deal....I better not count on always being so lucky!

and yes, Gary does have some great strategies.

Tamara D

Don't dwell, just move on and learn from your mistakes. If I had a quarter for every time I saw another agent's For Sale sign on the lawn of a FSBO or Expired that I didn't contact more often, or at all, I could take you out to lunch. I think, "That could have been MY sign in the yard" and try to move on to more productive thoughts. Gary Keller may say, "Just be first" but Nike and I say, "Just Do It". That's one of my New Year's Resolutions. Be well and happy holidays.

On land lines - with so many people opting for cordless technology in their homes, and relying on internet and cell phones, I've always heard that you should have a corded land line plugged in somewhere in the event of an extended power outage. No electric for days = no charging.

DEC

Hi Toby, Oh I hate that too! But, not your fault - nothing you can do about it now. Don't worry about it. Do the best you can do in future (I hate to say in this business of ours it won't be the last) - hopefully it won't be a cell phone problem next time though.

Love your boxer - they are awesome dogs! What's your boxers name? This is my Boxer, Bailey...

DEC

Tamara - Thanks for the tip. I used to have three numbers on my business card - the office, my home office, and cell. Now? Just my home office. KISS principle.

Kelsey - I like it. Just do it. I have been known to occassionaly spend to much time getting ready to get ready.

Barb - That's one thing I always have. We have a land-line connected in the basement, the ringer is off. Just in case we have another storm that knocks out the power.

Sandy - Thanks for stopping by. Bailey is a cutie! Ours is Sadie Lynn and she's a character!

DEC

Toby- curious on how you market to for sale by owners... can you share with us?

Toby I do feel for you on this one! I had the exact same thing happen to me and I lost $5000. I had been calling Nextel regularly telling them I wasn't getting my messages and then it happened. I called that day and told them what they could do with the phone and went to Verizon. Haven't had the problem since!

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?