When it comes to risk management, I have a simple rule: "He who has the most paper wins." In other words, keep GREAT records - either paper OR digital. What matters is that you have access to information about who spoke to whom when, and what was said in each and every communication regarding any client with whom you work (and anyone else involved in the case).
Easier said than done, of course, in the rush to get from Point A to Point B, whether it's one business appointment to another or a run to pick up the carpool. Even if you're at your desk most of the day, there can be so many interruptions that it's easy to miss jotting down a date, time, and conversation in the appropriate case file, or entering it in your online file.
That's one of the main reasons I try to use email for communication, whenever possible, and promptly move each sent and received email into a file set up for that specific client. If I ever need it for my own case, or to benefit my client in litigation, I can print out the entire fille of communication and attachments with a detailed record of who said what and when they said it. Better yet, my records can help avoid any dispute from reaching that point!
But what about tracking phone calls?
Do you make and receive business calls on your home number? At your office? On your cell? All the above? I used to make that mistake, but cell phones empowered me to control phone contact and limit it to just one phone that goes with me to the office, home, the mall and even on appointments. For a time, at least, the call is remembered in your call log and you can transfer those records to your clients' files at the earliest opportunity. But what if it rolls off the call log before you get a chance to do that?
If you use ATT for cell service, all you have to do is this:
1. Log on to ATT.com and log in to your account.
2, Hover over the tab at the top that says "Manage" to view seven other tabs.
3. Click on the one that says "Bill and Payments."
4. On the left navigation bar, click on "Bill Summary"
5. In the center of the page, scroll down to "Wireless Statement Summary"
6. In the white box, select a billing period.
7. Click on the blue link button that says"view full bill" and a new screen will open
8. On the full bill, scroll down to "Call Detail"
Now you can scroll on down the detailed statement of every incoming and outgoing call and look for phone numbers associated with your case and fill in the blanks in your case file. And, if you like, you can scroll down further on the page to review "Data Details." What could add more credibility to your records than the notation in your file that reads "incoming call from client at 2:09 p.m." followed by an email summarizing the conversation. Odds are good that others don't have records like that.
I'm pretty sure that having detailed records prevented potential disputes from escalating into something serious many times in the past 30+ years. As the title says, "He who has the most paper wins!"
P.S. Aren't digital files GREAT? Now we don't have to take this literally and keep mountains of paper for each case.
_______________________________________________________
If you enjoyed reading this post, check out Focus On Crofton and Your Online Relocation Package for Anne Arundel County by Margaret Woda.
Serving home buyers and sellers in Crofton and the neighboring communities of Annapolis, Bowie, Crownsville, Davidsonville, Fort Meade, Gambrills, Millersville, and Odenton.
Margaret: I completely agree, there is nothing more important that maintaining a complete record for your file. I love having emails that I can save to my electronic file to follow conversations we've had with clients, other agents, lenders, etc. Thanks for the excellent reminder!
Comments (68)Subscribe to CommentsComment