You Don't Call Any More

In an age of voicemail, email, texts and tweets, where everybody knows your "status" and we all have hundreds of "friends" and "followers", communication has really broken down. If you are talking, but nobody is listening or responding, how do you know if your message is getting across? I am running into more and more real estate agents who want you to contact them by text. No problem, except when you don't hear back. My other favorite is when another agent contacts me by text, but does not identify who they are. Please don't get me wrong, I use texting too, but I try to use some common sense.

I was setting up showings for this weekend, and one of the agents was very clear she did not want to be bothered with a phone call or email. The instructions were "text xxx-xxx-xxxx for showing instructions..." I texted my name, company name and requested showing instructions for her listing along with the time I wanted to show the property. I received no response. The next day, the date of the requested showing, I sent the same text message and still heard nothing. About two hours after the time I had asked to show the property, I received a nasty text from this agent wanting to know why I did not show up at her listing. I informed her that I requested showing instruction twice, but never heard back from her. Of course, she said she responded to the first request. Unfortunately, for her seller and my buyers I never received that response. You would think when she received the second request from me, she would have realized that I did not get the instructions.

Certainly, you might ask why I did not phone her when I did not hear back. Quite simply, I try to respect the communication style that other Realtors and customers prefer. I think it is just a matter of being a sales professional and understanding that people communicate differently. I have customers that prefer speaking with me, and others that would rather have a text. Others like to communicate through email, so they can keep a record of the conversation to which they can refer later. All of these styles or methods work equally effectively as long as both sides are engaged in the conversation. If you leave a message or send an email or text, and do not hear back. Contact them again to make sure they received the message in the first place. When you receive a message, just send a quick confirmation. I always say, if a message I send is important to me then I get confirmation that it was received.

David Welch Real Estate Optimist, Orlando Real Estate, Any Home-Any Phone