Other priorities, you may be at the bottom of their list. Find another that respects you, there are thousands filter through. Never accept excuses, too many to choose from.

Wed Oct 10 2007, 10:56

Sometimes I don't return a call because the message leaver spoke their phone number too rapidly to decipher. I have listened to many messages form consumers and pros. They state the description and address of my listing very clearly and slowly, then say their own name and number without clarity.

I would have preferred that they mumbled my listing address, then give a clear phone number.

Wed Oct 10 2007, 09:35

I don't know. I always return my calls promptly!

Why don't customer's return calls in a timely manner? Or at all? I have many emailed requests "what is the address" "what are the taxes" "can I have a horse on this property?", whatever, and when I email back, or call, I never hear from them. :) The other week I spent 3 hours with a family, they looked at a bunch of homes, said they really liked one, they haven't returned any of my calls since.

Sun Oct 7 2007, 19:02

Hi Michael,
How many realtors are you calling? Find one that does answer in a timely manner and work with him/her. They will be happy to call other realtors on your behalf if they know you are their client and are in the market to sell or buy. With current market conditions, realtors that are serious about their profession are offering over the top service. With current market conditions, some realtors are working second jobs. I learned this answer in college...It all depends.

Sun Oct 7 2007, 17:08

Hi Michael,

Ouch, the achiles heel of REALTORS. I would say most of the time there is not an excuse but to be fair I recieve messages on some days when I have out of town clients that I meet at eight am and drop them off at nine pm. I am wiped and I do not like to call at the hour of the night. Bottom line everyone should call back on a message.

Wed Aug 1 2007, 14:15

O.K - the last two postings drive home the point. Kudos to Melissa and Angelica. I was waiting for some solid homerun responses. I have restored faith....

Wed Aug 1 2007, 07:49

Hi Michael,

A true professional agent, should have some kind of procedure in place if they know they will not be available for a period of time, whether it’s an emergency, their on vacation, or if its do to prior scheduled commitments. If they do not have an assistant to help filter calls and answer questions, than the least they could do (in my opinion) is set an expectation for callers on their voicemail, indicating when they will be returning calls that day. I come across this myself when working with other agents, and understand how frustrating it can become.

Melissa Mancini, Realtor, CBR, GRI

Tue Jul 31 2007, 20:54

Either they are to busy, to inconsiderate, or afraid.

Tue Jul 31 2007, 18:16

Your experience with agents being unable to look might be a result of no clerical staff and agents tending to their own business and not getting involved w/ others. I used to work for a large brokerage with many agents. It was very hard for me to get an answer to "Do I have a fax?" when I phoned the office. The reason was because the phones were answered by volunteer agents and there was not clerical staff to support agents. For me, it was dependent upon who was on desk and answering phones. A few agents were great supportive team players, others not.

BTW, in our office, which I am the broker, we have office staff that phone the agents within a few minutes of a fax arriving for them. All of our agents are also set up w/ efax and our clerical staff will immediately put the copy in our office fax and redirect it to the agent's efax. Within just a few minutes of receipt, the fax is redirected to the efax and a phone call is made in case the agent is not online or near a computer at the moment. Just an FYI.....Hopefully, that is one tally mark for us on our commitment to our agents, customers, clients, and good communications!

Tue Jul 31 2007, 17:12

I have had agents (2) at one of the big agencys tell me that they couldn;t look on the fax to see if the fax came through becasue it wasn't their client. Ouch....On the other hand I know a few agents that hustle, keep in communication and don't mind driving. You have the attitude of a winner- I think the customer service oriented people will prevail - my father told me over dinner this weekend that he'd rather and has on many occasions spent a few dollars more with A then B becasue of the customer service. I get my busines becasue I beat the customer service drum; not with words only but with action - I under promise in a very positive productive manner and then over deliever. This type of professionalism I am learning rather quickly in business gets you top tier clients - High Ranking public officals etc..word spreads very fast becasue a lot of these seasoned pros in other industries are shocked by quality customer service - and the kicker is - it doesn't really raise your expeditures much if any at all.....

Tue Jul 31 2007, 15:35

excuse me.....

"no call" was a typo......was to read that I am "on call"

Tue Jul 31 2007, 15:05

Couldn't agree more. As a consumer, I am frustrated constantly by the casual attitudes or sometimes blatant indifference. We become immune to it in order to avoid frustration. If I didn't become apathetic, I would be stressed out.

I frequently think, "what would my company be like if we did that???". I am no call 7 days a week from early morning through late evening. I step out of dinners, movies, and even the shower to take a phone call "right now" rather than make someone wait for a return call. I know several Realtors I would categorize as dedciated and readily available most any time.

Yes, I hear what you are saying

Tue Jul 31 2007, 15:04

Market conditions in California maybe a bit differant then most other market places. My frustration comes from a lack of customer service across the board - many industries - not just in our arena. I have built my entire 20 year sales and marketing career through placing a high value on quality customer service. My clients would not accept business being done any other way - my systems, process et al., work becasue its driven with a high regard for customer service. While many lenders, brokers et al are closing doors here in California (perhaps its a direct refelection of poor customer service) the company I work for is thriving. I had worked for other companies and I can tell you the extent of customer service was the sign hanging on the wall in the back. That company went from 300 million net to closing shop. Quality customer service is amazing - its like a serice that keeps on giving. The trusted advisor role has a value far exceeeding then one might imagine.

Tue Jul 31 2007, 14:58

No apology needed. We all appreciate your feedback...sincerely! Yes, I did read your description, and that is why I said I was not implying that was what you were doing.

I am the Broker for our firm, so I receive a higher number of the nasty "bait and switch" calls. I held corporate marketing and sales positions before I entered real estate. I just don't think bait and swtich is the way to approach. I think you might be experiencing the lack of response because of a mistaken assumption. Realtors very much do want qualified bona fide leads. If you have any for NJ, let us know.
:)

Tue Jul 31 2007, 14:30

I can understand your frustration regarding a bait & switch; that would boil my hide as well. If you scroll down a bit you'll see I work for a direct lender and broker as a revneu stream creater a la the business development manager. Today in route to a meeting we talked about the need to convert more of our pre approvals to done deals; and thus the need to aquire new and differant realtor relationships is something I'll be doing. I appreciate your insight and that maybe the very reason they don't return the calls. Another thing we may need to take into consideration is REGIONAL DIFFERANCES. I am in the Northern California and Central Califronia Markets. I didn't mean to pick on anyone but genralizations drive me crazy - I apologize.

Tue Jul 31 2007, 14:23

I receive a fair amount of calls that claim to have a buyer for me, and when I return the call, it was a sales pitch to sell me on subscribing to a service that I did not want. I am not implying that is what you are doing. If, however, agents are unfamiliar with you or your products, they might dismiss your call for that reason.

Tue Jul 31 2007, 14:11

Michael,
If you called eight REALTORs yesterday, and only one got back to you, the extremely obvious answer is to never call those particular seven REALTORs again, and don't refer any business to them either (unless, of course, you later find they had some kind of emergency). Even if some of the non-responsive REALTORs have a good excuse--such as being on vacation-- they should have some kind of system in place to be sure incoming calls are handled. A POSSIBLE reason for the lack of response: do the REALTORs you attempted to contact know you and/or your company/products? Unlike the very polite Bruce Lynn, I will not even bother to return calls from salespeople/telemarketers unless I have specifically requested that they contact me by phone. Perhaps your message was incomplete or misconstrued?

Next subject: I like text messaging, too. For some reason, when my cell signal is weak, I may not be able to place or receive calls, but I can usually receive a text msg and sometimes (not always) send them. Does anyone know why?

Lastly, Micheal, it wasn't nice to pick on Peter about the 99% figure. He was using generalities, and you're just being intentionally difficult (wink, wink--I abhor emoticons!)... And back to one of my previous posts: as a RE industry pro, I think it inappropriate for you to remain anonymous in this forum. Please complete your profile--unless you have a reason not to? Why would that be? Share with the rest of the class... Thanks!

Tue Jul 31 2007, 11:43

Michael,
I would have to say that most agents will try to return calls within an hour (if they are not with a clients). Most people think they know what it is to run a business. Most don't. Everyone will say how they don't have time to do things. I say its the person, not how much time they have. I am a Realtor/Loan Officer. I own two other companies and I have a family. I return every call in one hour or less. I show up 15 minutes before my meetings. I push to do this because its how I show respect to my friends and clients. I think if you check, the agents that don't return call will almost always be late, not have everything the need, and try to do all of their CE classes the week they need to renew. Does this mean they are bad agent? No. It just means that that's how they are with everyone.

Tue Jul 31 2007, 10:25