My long time friend Mary posted on her Facebook that she was holding her home open and was "hoping" for some traffic.
I know that my friend Mary is a hairdresser, not a real estate agent! I just had to call her and find out why she was holding an open house knowing that her home was listed with a licensed agent.
Mary told me that she was excited to find out that in her small town the houses on either side of her property were scheduled to be auctioned off on the upcoming Saturday from 10-12:00, and she had called her real estate agent to cash in on the free traffic by proposing the agent hold an open house on that designated Saturday.
The auction companies had blasted the media with the date, time and place and she really wanted to "take advantage" of the free traffic in hopes of snagging a prospect to look at her property while in the area. So Mary scrubbed, staged and manicured her home to be ready for this onslaught of buying prospects in time for the 10-12:00 appointed time for both auctions to occur.
She patiently waited for her agent to drop off the open house signs. The clock hit 10:00, 10:30, 11:00 and 12:00, and FINALLY the agent arrived -- after the auctions had occurred and any interested buyers were long gone! The agent had no timeline in her daily or listing schedule of activities to be appropriately on time to maximize this rare opportunity in a rural marketplace, nor did she seem to share Mary's desire to be visible during this rare event in their small town! The agent had completely missed the opportunity.
This lack of service is frustrating and downright rude, and it creates the question: Why should a seller pay you a fee when you aren't pro-active about marketing their property?
As a Realtor® professional and as a friend of the seller, it frankly disappointed me that Mary has employed an agent who doesn't understand the principles of service! Nor does this agent have a clue about what it takes to orchestrate today's marketing strategy that gets a property sold.
If you are interested in pumping up your service model to exceed the expectations of your seller and create true differentiation in your service model when compared to your competition, you might want to ask yourself these questions:
1. Have you developed a timeline of activities you follow when you take a property listing?
2. Do you share this timeline of marketing activities with your seller?
3. Have you discussed with your seller the average marketing time and number of showings a properly priced property historically can expect in your area before going under contract?
4. Do you ask your Sellers what communication medium they prefer for their updates and showing feedback information? Do they prefer phone? Fax? Email? Traditional printed mail? Too many agents simply use email and assume this will suffice when your seller may prefer to connect by phone at least once a week -- or they may prefer both. How will you know if you don't ask?
5. Do you follow that timeline and communicate with your sellers what will happen on a daily basis from the first week through the fourth week of the month so they are actually engaged in the marketing process and can see how you are working to effectively market their property?
6. Do you provide a communication to that seller on a consistent weekly basis of what has been orchestrated in the plan you discussed at your listing meeting, one that shows accountability for your marketing actions?
7. Do you have a proposed revised marketing strategy after the first 30-45 days that might include a price revision, changing or adding photos, revising MLS copy to reflect any changes on the premises?
8. Do you counsel your sellers in advance about overpricing a property and how it can damage the initial marketing debut in their marketplace?
9. What plan do you have in place to adjust the marketing price if the property shows more than "x" amount of times but gets no offers? Do you explain that having a ton of showings can simply mean the other agents are using your seller's overpriced property to sell other homes that have more to offer at a better price?
10. Do you also counsel your seller about offers that might occur in the first few days on the market so they don't feel they have "underpriced" the property?
Many of these questions and concerns can be addressed when you first take the listing when expectations are high and communication with your seller may not be totally clear. Having a timeline of activities not only provides a framework for the seller to follow, but provides a structure for your services that they can monitor and help you show accountability for your efforts. When you can show that your marketing efforts have been executed, it may be their pricing in the marketplace that is the real problem.
No one wants to pay for service they don't get! My friend Mary is already angry and disappointed at her agent's lack of service that she expected -- and the listing has just begun. Like any successful relationship, clear communication and expectations for services that we pay for makes for higher satisfaction from our consumer.
Consider using a timeline of marketing activities, get the sellers approval, suggestions and concerns, and then deliver what you promise on time -- every time. Bad reviews travel faster than ever before, so focus on making every transaction end by creating another raving fan!
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