How not to behave in someone else’s home

Ines,

You make some good points and though I agree with your concept “it’s your house you make the rules” by the same token, different people, different houses, different rules. I think some agents go overboard with the follow up of online leads. They set up the automatic drip mail campaign, send constant emails and phone calls. Using your analogy, it’s the equavalent of the hostess who is constantly checking on her guest every few minutes….

Can I get you something to drink? ……. Have you tried the jalapeno dip? It’s incredible!……. Did you see what we did with the guest bedroom?…… How are you doing? Everything ok?…… You have to try the jalapeno dip! It’s a new recipe……. Are you still working on that same drink?…….. Come sit on the patio, we have a new firepit………. Here, try my mojito……

You get the idea. I can understand the buyers frustrations having been in their shoes. I was trying to help a family member find a home in another state so started doing a little research on line. I had to sign up to see property information so I did, clearly stating in my comments that I was a real estate agent doing preliminary research. I got bombarded with 3 automatic drip emails within 24 hours, along with an email from the agent who obviously didn’t read my comment or even looked at the homes I was previewing, an email from the agent’s assistant who also didn’t read my message, a phone call from the assistant following up the email she sent (which went to voicemail since she obviously didn’t bother to check what time zone I was in).

Capturing leads isn’t about how quickly or how often you respond.

Erion,

In my analogy the guest is buyer, hostess is agent. The perspective is from buyers point of view. Using your store analogy it would be like going to the store and having a sales person following you around pointing out different things you should be looking at, offering to find you a different pair of jeans in your size, and oh btw what size are you, telling you about a great sale they are having on t-shirts, buy one get one 1/2 off, waiting outside the dressing room to give you feedback on how you look or to get you that same dress in a different size and then bringing back a couple of other dresses that they thought you might like to try on, etc.

Some people like that level of “service” others find it intrusive. Let’s keep in mind that the buyer visiting your website is a potential future client. One whom you invited by offering them the opportunity to search for homes on your site. It is up to you to decide who you want to work with (which Ines is doing by requiring information up front) and what your business style will be. Then work with the buyers who fit your style. But don’t knock the buyers who don’t fit your style. I’m not a big fan of giving away my personal information online to someone or some entity I don’t really know anything about.

I do not find it ironic that people do not want to give you their personal information in reciprocation of the nonpersonal property data you will provide. Do you provide your home phone number and address on your website? In this day and age when identity theft is rampant, we can’t just expect people to give us their personal info without a thought, online, and for most agents, not necessarily through a secure means.

Going back to the guest analogy, it’s one thing for the hostess to say “let me take your hat and coat” another thing to say “here fill out this 2 page questionnaire about your likes and dislikes so I can make sure your stay is comfortable”. The intentions may be good but may just be a bit much for some people.

Ok, I know my analogies may be a little extreme, just trying to make a point.

Anita:
I am not arguing that there are some aggressive sites there that can drive anyone insane – but I do think it’s their right to apply whatever business strategy works for them. I think the beauty of New Media is that we can attract like minded individuals and those that fit “our style”. My question here is how you ask for things.

Don’t go on my site demanding for me to act a certain way – ask nicely and then I’ll make a choice whether or not I want to work with you.

Erion and Anita: the consumer will have a choice to not come back, not use my services, walk out of the store, go to a different location, if they don’t like my business practice. But they have to realize it’s not only up to THEM to decide if they want to work with me – i’ve fired plenty of clients because they were disrespectful, not loyal or I just knew I could not help them and was doing them and myself a disservice

For the record, we don’t request personal information – an email will suffice – and they can create a free gmail or hotmail if they wish. the point is to be able to communicate with them and find out how they want to be treated, how they prefer to handle business and ultimately, if we can work together

Joe – 🙂 that’s a CLASSIC!

Benn – I think you know I’m pretty easy going and I do adjust accordingly, but one thing is for sure, I demand respect from my clients and I earn that. Any time I see a hint of disrespect, that’s the end of the relationship. The only one in my life that is allowed to disrespect me is my mother – no negotiating there.

Benn – Thank you for getting me! And yes I think we, the agents, need to set the boundaries for what we want our business model to be.

Erion – I agree that we are offering a tool and the consumer should be aware that it is offered with the intention of possibly earning their business. I wasn’t necessarily objecting to the collection of some basic info such as an email in order to provide further assistance to the client. I was just trying to point out why some people really don’t want to have to give their contact info and how some agents can take things to the extreme. I strongly agree with you about not liking the whole entitlement mentality that seems to be par for the course, not just in real estate but in just about everything now days.

Ines – I totally agree. Every agent needs to decide what business style works for them and then work with the clients that fit their style. I have often said that if people don’t like the way I do business they are free to go and find another agent who will do what they want. Contrary to popular opinion, I am not available 24/7/365. BTW, my previous post wasn’t intended as a personal comment on your specific site. I think you’ve done an incredible job with Miamism, on all its platforms. 🙂

Oh, and maybe, just maybe, that person wasn’t yelling at you. Maybe just forgot the cap lock was on? Seeing as how the first letter of each sentence is in lower case…. Ok but no excuse for the actual message though.

I was frankly amazed that it took until Anita’s most recent comment for anyone else to see the capslock angle. That’s what it said to me the moment I read the comment. A non-typist looking down at their hands who just hit “send” or “enter” before they even looked up.

It changes the IMPLIED emotion of the text, but not the message – it’s still a matter of “thanks for letting me use your house, kiss my a**.” I’m with ya on this one Ines.

Navy Chief, Navy Pride

Ines – This one just came through this morning –

I would appreciate hearing what is on the market with a basement, main floor master and small yard under $400,000. in Zionsville or West Clay.
Our home in Northern Indiana is on the market, but as I am sure you know, things are not moving very quickly. You will not be able to reach us by phone as we are at our cottage in Maine and searching only by
internet.
We are already working with an agent in Zionsville.

She can stay and look at homes, but I won’t be giving her my expertise about the Zionsville market. Many agents don’t have a site for their clients and somehow, it sounds like this lady wants a second opinion.

As they say, sales is a numbers business so the first, best response to people you don’t want to do business with is to ignore them. Secondly, I agree with Erion that because we’re talking business here (not acquaintances/friendships) *value* is central to the relationship. Value is paid for. Prospects have to pay with their time and money to get something valuable. If they are unwilling, the businessperson should not waste their personal time. Signage, advertising, websites et al are there to encourage the interaction a true prospect will gladly engage in. This is called “qualifying” and is *the* critical component to justifying an agent’s personal time spent with a prospect.

> Capturing leads isn’t about how quickly or how often you respond.

Back in the day, there would be a 1,500-word missive in the works. Because capturing leads generally has everything to do with how quickly you respond.

I switched to registration-required in August. Altered it ever so slightly in April in an effort to pre-qualify folks (a set number of searches and/or views) and then went back to full registration about two weeks back.

Best success always has been in contacting those coming to the website immediately. If you don’t want an e-mail or a phone call from me, use a phony name. Mr. Jablowme has registered on my site four different times.

Because while the real estate transaction is about you (the consumer), my websites are about me. I’m not in the business of running an IDX service. I’m in the business of selling homes and I will do whatever I believe is effective to help me with that goal.

When I was at Schwab, people would call for stock quotes even though they didn’t have an account and get angry when we didn’t provide them. You know what? We were staffed to assist our customers. Feel free to call someone else if you have no interest in working with us.

The same goes for my IDX feeds on my site. You are not required to register to view the homes for sale in Phoenix. You’re only required to register if you want to view them on my site. Feel free to browse elsewhere is you choose, odds are we weren’t going to work together anyway.

Ines – There’s a few things at play here (in my opinion). First, I’m not so sure if their intention was to scream. I agree with Joe that they seemed like they might just be staring down at the keyboard and not looking at their screen. I think it’s a case of errant caps-lock. Why? Look at what isn’t capitalized. First letter in the sentence as well as the word “I.” Looks like someone at least tried to use capitals, but with caps-lock on instead reversed the use.

Of course, that doesn’t change what’s happening here (other than making it seem a little less aggressive). I think that you’re right – it’s your house, that you built, and spent countless hours on creating for the public’s use, but you still have the right to choose how to interact with anyone visiting your site.

One of the things I’ve noticed as the internet has grown is a demand for everything the way the user wants it and nothing more. It happened with music, it happened with software, and I see it happen on websites. People have become demanding in what they want, how they want it, and the rules that govern what happens once they get what they want out of a site. And thanks to the sites that will email someone to death in order to “get the sale” (real estate or not), there is a perception that any website that requires registration is nothing more than a spam machine.

Knowing you, I know that your drip campaigns are probably interesting, insightful, and probably flavored with a little fun too. Had this person seen that first, they may have said “what the heck, the worst that can happen is I’ll have to hit delete once or twice.” Since they didn’t, they let their perception of what registration means interfere with some good interaction between themselves and you.

I agree with everyone in the thought that if this is their initial reaction, they probably wouldn’t wind up working with you in the first place. People have learned to take what they want from websites and move on. Not everyone, but many have. Before the internet, these were the same people that would call 100 listings to get info, then call their friend in the real estate business (who was too busy to help them right now) and sign a contract.

Good luck and let us know how it plays out.

If you begin a relationship with antagonism – it’s a sure sign to see where that relationship will end up. I’m tired of dealing with people on the defensive.