Top 8 Things to Remember When Leaving a Phone Message for Listing Agents

Amen...

Although I can s-l-o-w down my VM...and I generally do in order to get the phone number.

And, you're right. It's a contest to see how fast they can rattle off their name and number.

And, actually these rules should apply to any message. And, I like the idea of saying the phone number twice.

I usually slow down and say my number as though I were speaking to a 3 year old. Who knows? Maybe I am.

Good advice Leanne. When I schedule appointments after hours or have to leave a message for a the listing agent, I try to leave the message in the order that many of the local offices take it in. I say my name and phone number first, then I identify the property by address. Then I say my office name and location and the main phone number at the office (main phone number is the easiest way for many of the front desks to pull up agent's info.) Then I again say my name, spelling both names (or I get calls for Lori, Laurie, Maury... I must not speak clearly) and again my phone number for confirmation.    I sometimes write it all out as I am saying it because I do tend to speak fast.  I still can write it faster than they would be able to because I know it.. but it helps slow me down.  Thanks for the reminders. 

LOL... I just got a message 20 minutes ago and I could understand 3 numbers when she left her phone number.

Oh Leanne, from your lips to God's ears!!  I developed a habit many years ago when leaving messages to say my name & where I'm from, the time & date/day of my call and then to go into what I was calling about.  Then I repeat my name & contact info, repeat the showing, etc. I'm requesting, and then I say that I'll look forward to hearing back from them.  I wish this could be taught in orientation or something like that!

I tend to multi-task alot, probably too much so at times.  When I dial a number and am waiting for someone to answer on the other end, I tend to work on my computer or do whatever else I was already doing.  Frequently, if it takes a bit for the call to be answered on the other end, I've forgotten who I called by the time they do answer.  And I've had people answer on the other end and speak so quickly that I can't tell what they've said.  And then I have to ask them to repeat it.  Perhaps part of that is my fault because I was doing other things at the same time, but it sure would be nice if folks would speak clearly and slowly when answering phones as well as leaving messages.

Great post!!

Thanks for the reminder and the tip Leanne. You can't believe how many times I have been unable to follow through on a phone call because I could not get the number even after playing the message back multiple times (never mind the name!!). Sometimes it is only one number that is blurred so I just call all the most likely combinations until I hit it, but this really is frustrating. The problem is especially acute if the person is calling from  cell phone, as the quality is frequently inferior to a land line connection, or it may cut out at a critical moment.

Thank you, thank you, Ann, for admitting to multi-tasking and forgetting who and why you called!  I have the same problem.  I've gotten in the habit of writing down the person I called so I can avoid sounding stupid when they answer.  The messages I love are the people who sound like they are talking with their mouths full of marbles.  My own daughter started doing this when she moved out and started hanging out with a new crowd.  She wasn't too happy when I told her she was talking trash!  She knows proper English but will never get a job that amounts to anything if she continues the slang she's trying on currently.

Fig I understand better than Lychee.  I really have to Google it!

I acquired the habit of always repeating my telephone number.  Knowing how I would like to hear the number repeated, so I can catch it without having to digital number pushing on the phone. 

It really seems like the courteous thing to do...

I received a call yesterday and the message said, "HI, I am .......with ................and want to see your listing in Miami Shores".  They didn not leave their phone number, when they wanted to see it, which listing in Miami Shores and their name was muffled.  Thank God for caller ID.

ines

I don't recall an agent not leaving a phone number, but I do know some are very conversational and after about three minutes (as I sit with pen poised) they get to their phone number and say it very fast so I miss numbers; then you have to listen to the entire freakin message again to get to the fast numbers and hope you get them all the second time around.

This semi comical thing also happened. A lady called on my office voice mail (so no caller ID). She kept asking me to call her because she liked one of my listings and wanted more info; never left her telephone number; each call got a bit more irritated, 'why have you not called me back.' I even alerted our receptionisht to flag any women calling in and asking if they had called before, but as it turned out, she must have been calling after hours.