Hey, that's my lead! My friend Marilyn Boudreaux has a featured post today that talks about how an opportunity that she created ended up as a lead for another agent in her office. Like Marilyn, my corporate brand is an important part of my image and I greatly benefit from my brokerage's good reputation. But I shudder to think that I'd lose an opportunity with someone in my sphere because that person doesn't understand that agents create and manage their own businesses.
Two days ago my next door neighbor Betty (who I have talked to about selling her St. Charles home for 5 years) called my office. She's in her 70's, she looked up the office number in the phone book. Coincidentally our office has a home on Betty's street listed by an agent named Lisa. Neighbor Betty says that she called in and said "this is Betty Smith on High Street and I'm looking for Leslie". The receptionist gave the call to the agent on floor duty because she heard the street name and assumed that Betty really said "Lisa" instead of "Leslie". The standard practice is to send those calls to the floor agent if the listing agent isn't in the office.
Fortunately the floor agent quickly understood that Neighbor Betty was calling for me, not with a question about the listing. The floor agent gave Betty my number and all was well.
But I hear there's not quite the same level of collegiality in other real estate offices. I'd like to think that all 1,500 Baird&Warner agents would behave honorably in this circumstance but it's probably best not to leave these things to chance.
I don't care how old-fashioned it is, I'm going back to sending mailers to my SOI. Many people, especially older homeowners, simply aren't going to go on Facebook or google my name to find me. Baird&Warner has a strong brand presence in the Chicago metro area, which I definitely benefit from, but I don't want to lose opportunities that I've created over the years.
How about you? What would happen in your office if this situation happened? How do you protect your business and stay in touch with your SOI?
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