Stumbled upon this unique featured blog post in ActiveRain.
Be aware agents, don’t become a robot!
It was around 5:00 and I was talking on the phone to another real estate agent. She had some questions about one of my listings. She said she might call me back later if she thought of anything else. I said “I’ll talk to you in the morning. I turn my cell phone off at 5:30.”
“What!?” she replied, “How can you do that? I leave my phone on all night! I’ve had buyers call me at 11:30 p.m. I wish I could turn my phone off!”
I told her, “You teach others how to treat you. If you jump at 9:00 p.m., your customer will always expect you will be available then. If you return the call in the morning, then they will understand you work during business hours.”
Lately, there has been quite a fuss about always answering phone calls no matter what time. Forget about your privacy. Forget that you have a life and are a human being. You are supposed to be an automaton if you sell real estate.
Definition of automaton:
automaton [ɔːˈtɒməˌtɒn -tən]
n pl -tons, -ta [-tə]
1. a mechanical device operating under its own hidden power; robot
2. a person who acts mechanically or leads a routine monotonous life
[from Latin, from Greek, from automatos spontaneous, self-moving]
You know what? I am not an automaton. I am not a robot. I went on to tell this agent, “I would not be effective if I worked 24 hours a day.” You see, I have peak hours of operation, being a living human being. My personal peak email hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. My peak talking hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. My peak meeting hours are 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. You might be different. If I represented my seller or buyer off-peak, I would be doing them a disservice.
In twenty years of selling real estate, I have not once had a seller or buyer complain that I did not take their call at 8:30 p.m. Bottom line, I think people respect you more if you respect yourself and your own time. They won’t even question it.
Give it a try. It won’t hurt. Maybe you will become more effective. Maybe you will even gain part of your life back.
Photo Credit: FatoOoma Qatar
Blog Credit: Wendy Rulnick, Broker, CRP, CRS, GRI, ABR Rulnick Realty, Inc.
Destin FL Real Estate
Destin Short Sales & Pre Foreclosure Help.
Read Wendy’s Destin Real Estate Blog
www.ShortSaleSuperstars.com for agents
Call toll-free 1-877-ITS-WNDY (1-877-487-9639) or local 850-650-7883 ext 204
Email Wendy: itswendy@rulnickrealty.com
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with you. I tell agents that I will not answer the phone in the early mornings. I am not a morning person. I never run out to show a person property if they call on a sign in the yard. I set up appointment to find out what they are looking for. And most of all is that I did not show property on weekends. That is why I put together a team.
Good for you Brian!
Glad to hear that you are putting your foot down to have your own time away from the real estate world! Sounds like you have a healthy approach.
Enjoy the rest of your week
Thanks for the comment!
EXCELLENT!!! Honestly, I turn my phone off at 9:00pm every night but I don’t mind taking phone calls in the evening most nights. If I’m on a “date” with my wife though, you won’t get me. Family comes first.
Good article! After 20+ yrs in Fortune 100 sales & marketing roles and a few odd incidents since, I have learned to turn off my phone in the evenings and back on in the morning, and leave my Sundays alone as personal days. As a Home Stager, I’ve actually experienced Realtors calling me near midnight and at 6:50 AM. Now I turn my phone off at 7pm and on at 8am. There’s got to be some balance.
Very good Article. I really believe you need to have a Life. Also, this article remind me when I start the business, I was looking like a zombie answering the phone all the time. Now, I control my phone and my phone does not control my Life.
We always say, educate, educate, educate. Then for people from other countries, like from Europe you can adjust zone time with another number, email, then you know when that phone rings at midnight is Europe or Latin America and so on, so on. Also all depend of the stage of your Life you are. When you are young you do not care, when years passed bye, then is hard to get to sleep. Take advantage of it.
Luz Wynne
REALM Properties, LLC
http://www.BuyingwithLuzWynne.com