As a home seller, you’re entitled to getting better showing feedback now that technology is on your side. This should be a top priority as poor communication is one of the biggest complaints from home sellers and can potentially cost you a sale. Sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring or staring blankly at your inbox should be left for those who are better qualified – the anxious single person post first date.
Most definitely, you have better ways to spend your time than getting aggravated and trying to figure out why you’re not getting better showing feedback for your home. Most home sellers are aware of the the traditional questions to ask the selling agent, such as the number of homes they’ve sold, commission rate, and how they plan to market your house.
These questions don’t address the biggest gripe home sellers have today; poor communication. Here are three keys to think about before you hire an agent.
1) Require the Agent to Use Productivity Software for Transparency
Information is best delivered when you can minimize the number of filters it needs to pass through before reaching its final destination. While catching up on some industry news the other day, I ran across an article here in which the writer attempts to make an argument regarding the delivery of negative feedback. He states “well, it’s just not a good idea to be saying those things directly to a seller. That’s the listing agent’s job, and the listing agent shouldn’t require my analysis to come to the same conclusion, though I’m happy to offer it. It’s always best to have all communication go through the agents.” I agree that it’s not a good idea to have the home owner calling the sellers agent for unsolicited advice. However, receiving instantaneous showing feedback removes the potential ‘he said, she said,’ time wasting conversations. What better way to hear that you may need to adjust your price or repaint the living room than from the marketing directly?
2) Inquire if Agent is Technologically Savvy.
Although getting better feedback using real time information should be a requirement before you hire an agent, it’s probably a good idea to be aware if they are plugged into the web 2.0 world. I’m referring to the utilization of social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook. This does not mean that you need to be proficient in these modes of communication (although it may not be a bad idea to start dabbling in these tools). If your agent is a digital native (the internet being second nature to him or her), they will likely have a broader reach on the web, and will also not be staring away at the keyboard and ‘hunting and pecking’ struggling to get a message out to you.
3) Does Your Agent Offer Incentives?
Ok, so it’s one thing to have this information available at your fingertips. However, the old adage,’knowledge is power,’ may not be enough to offer motivation to the lazy (or super busy) buyer’s agent. Ask your agent what techniques they use to get a better response rate from their counterparts in the field. Do they offer contests such as instant qualifying to win a dinner for two if feedback is posted within 48 hours? How about a $5 Starbucks gift card? Sometimes a simple gesture like this can go along way.
Can you think of something we may have missed here? Please share with us in the comments if you think you could expand this list to a number four and beyond! Thanks for stopping by.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
All good points but agents are very independent which is probably why they became Realtors in the first place.