I won’t lie. It’s pretty darn exciting when I get a text and an email saying, “You have a New Lead.” C’mon, I know you feel the same. That’s the “up” on this rollercoaster ride of a career in real estate. Get ready for the “down” when you find out they have contacted several other agents and they can’t remember asking about the property on the “inquiry.”
Easy come, easy go. Well not really, especially if you are paying for the “leads.” Recently there was a post on a Private Realtor Facebook Group, “Let’s not call them ‘leads’, they are inquiries.” Well, yes, sure, okay, who cares? Point is, call them what you want. One agent’s lead is another agent’s inquiry.
A few months ago I received one of these text messages followed by an email, “Sam Bowen wants more information on 253 Mockingbird Lane,” and a hint from Reator.com, “follow up now, every minute counts,” or something like that.
I called, sounded legit. Sam wanted to see the duplex on Thursday afternoon. It was Monday. I said, good, fine, great, I will set it up and we will confirm the date and time after I hear back from listing agent. Property was a duplex with specific showing instructions, a tenant, and 48 hour notice. I call the agent, set it up, email/call/text Sam and no response. Easy come, easy go. Get back in touch with the listing agent, cancel the appointment. I have been ghosted. New word I just learned thanks to my young coaching clients.
Anyway, back to the story. On Thursday at 3pm I get a call from Sam, “Hey, can you show me the duplex at 4pm?” Uhhhh, buddy, like, where you been? He says, “Oh, well, I set it up with this agent guy and he said he is delayed so I thought you could show it at 4pm, I can’t wait until 5pm when he said he can get there, I have to get to work.” Then he said, in his own defense, “I don’t know how this works, the agent guy told me you all work together.”
Well, well, well, Mr. Sam Bowen, here’s how it works, “You were in contact with multiple agents on the internet and ‘no’ we don’t all work together, so, yeah, no, I am not out driving around for showings “on demand.” By this point Sam was ready to work with one agent. I had no idea that this lead was a “jump ball” and that many agents were trying snag this buyer.
While Sam may have just been naïve, my next “jump ball” buyer turned out to be an opportunist. This one, again, requested to see a house. Interestingly, the house was a quirky rehab that had been on the market 354 days. Showing instructions involved a phone call to the listing agent’s assistant, Rebecca. So, yeah, sure, okay, obviously this isn’t the “hottest” property out there and it was about to expire in the Multiple Listing System. But, there’s a house for everyone. Appointment set, buyer happy, meeting them on Sunday at 3pm until, “Oh, hey Carolyn this is Rebecca, just wanted to let you know that another agent just requested a showing at 3pm on the quirky rehab also.” Well, well, well, what are the chances? A call to the other agent revealed that yes, we were both setting up showings for the same buyer.
What’s the “fix?” Do you have similar, frustrating stories? Wondering who showed the quirky rehab? Want to know how to “make every minute count,” as Realtor.com suggests? How do you successfully grab these “leads?” If you’re frustrated and want to learn how to be the agent of choice for these random inquiries, our personal one-on-one coaching may be for you. No sleazy scripts, learn how to have authentic conversations and put your clients first.
Comentários