“Please, please, please, tell your agents to answer their phones.” That is the first thing that Cliff Long, CEO of Orlando Regional Realtors Association, said to the brokers at the brokers breakfast last week. I like going to these breakfasts for the education and the networking opportunities. Cliff said that some clients when they can’t reach the agents call the Orlando Realtors Association to complain. Some of them want to file grievances against the agents.
It’s hard to blame them. They are frustrated because they are trying to see a house, get their house sold, or get to closing, and they can’t get a hold of a real estate agent.
I have the same problem when I’m calling agents. It’s not unusual for me to have a student who is looking to buy or sell a house. They ask me if I can recommend someone. If I’m sending it to an agent I’ve worked with before, I will just send their information over email and know the client will be taken care of. But if I want to send it to an agent I haven’t worked with as much, I want to talk to them first. I find out if they have done any transactions. Is there a type of person they like working with more, such as buyer, sellers, first-time buyers, veterans? That helps me direct my referrals a little better.
When I call someone, my initial voice mail sounds like this: “Hey, it’s Karen Climer, your real estate instructor. I’m checking in to see how your real estate career is going. Give me a call back when you get a chance.” If they don’t call me – someone they know and spent 63 hours with – back, they probably aren’t going to call their clients back either. In that case, I’ll then send it to an agent I am more familiar with that I’ve used before for referrals.
I recently talked to a past student who has a little less than a year under her belt. She has sold a few houses, but is still fairly new. I wanted to send her a referral. She would not answer my calls. I sent the referral to another agent – a different student with about five years experience who is exceedingly considerate and competent.
When I finally did talk to the original agent, she said, “Why do you want to talk to me on the phone? Just text it to me. If you don’t want to text it to me, I’ve got a million other leads. I don’t have time for this call. I’m trying to work.” That’s the reason I make the initial call: to figure out how you treat your clients.
Also, this was a referral for a million dollar home. The commission on that house is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000. If making $30,000 requires me to talk to you on the phone for five minutes, I will happily take your call.
I tell new agents that if they answer their phone and return phone calls promptly, they can make a decent living in this industry. Sadly, the scenario that I described above is not unique. It’s one of the biggest things that laypeople talk about when they talk about real estate agents. Cliff was right when he said, “Just tell your agents to answer their phones.”
Please note that Karen Climer has no affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. Her father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. It has since been involved in several mergers and acquisitions and is owned by a large investment company. Karen owns Demetree School of Real Estate in Orlando, Florida.
