Monday, 4th of January 2010 at 09:04:03 AMThis is a very common search phrase that lands a lot of visitors on my website. It’s truly sad. So you have an agent, either for buying of selling and you’ve called, left messages, sent them eMails and nada. Well, let’s go through the excuse they have for doing that. It’s very good, you will be so understanding and forgiving that the world will be at peace.
Yea, right. I’ve heard lots of excuses and none of them are real (or real good). My favorite is I’m too busy to return every call. Okay, so stop talking to me get on the phone and hirer an assistant.
Next excuse, I don’t have anything to report. Okay, well at least tell them that. That in itself is something to report. If there are no showings on the house, then let’s talk about why that is. If you have no properties to show them, then let’s talk about why that is.
The more honest excuse, I don’t want to give them bad news. Okay, so when I go see a doctor or other professional, I want them to withhold bad news? Not likely, I want the truth, however difficult it might be to take as a client, I deserve to know the truth and work through it.
The victim excuse, They are so difficult to work with. Oh, and not returning their calls is going to make everything better. If they are difficult to work with, than chances are you are lossing money on the relationship (not to mention good will), it’s time to correct the relationship or end it. Either way, call them and deal with it.
The quiting excuse, I’m getting out of the business. Okay, so that’s an excuse to leave your clients hanging out there. I’ve gotten the call on how to get lockboxes, signs off of the property after the agent has left the business (and area), it’s really sad, at least let them know and try to suggest an agent (like me) to take over.
Okay, so what do you do when you are the client and the agent won’t return your call? Well, you should let them know that you are prepared to escalate it. Leave them a message that if they don’t return your call by a certain time, you will be contacting their broker (person in charge of the company that they work for). Do give them at least 4 hours to get back to you. If you don’t hear from them call the main number of the Company on the sign and ask for the broker. 90% of the time this will resolve the issue or give you an opportunity to move on.
Just like anything else, if I find a bad (attorney, doctor, painter), I just don’t use them anymore and move on to someone else. You can do the same with real estate agents as well.
Check out my other post Signs you have a bad Realtor.
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