Dolan Media Newswire Story
Subject: Before Realtors sell a piece of property, they first have to sell themselves
Pub: Daily Record, The (Rochester, NY)
Author: Colleen M. Farrell
Category:
Sub-Category:
Issue Date: 11/03/2009 Word Count: 56
Before Realtors sell a piece of property, they first have to sell themselves
by Colleen M. Farrell
Dolan Media Newswires
© Dolan Media Newswires 2009.ROCHESTER, NY -- Before they can even sell a piece of property, Realtors have to sell themselves.
Making an all-important connection with a future or current client and seeing the transaction through successfully has taken on a new urgency as technology advancements have made real estate professionals available pretty much 24/7.
It’s not an unusual scenario for a Realtor to be readying a home for an open house while sending pictures of another property to potential buyers and texting a 20-something who’s searching high and low for a new home.
The need to be accessible and easy to reach, particularly on a prospective client’s terms, is critical.
“You hate to say it, but sometimes the days were simpler when you didn’t have cell phones or pagers and stuff because we’re all kind of slaves to technology,” said Keith Hiscock, a Realtor at Nothnagle Realtors’ Irondequoit office. “But if you want to be part of it and get in on the action, you’ve got to just do it.”
Alan Wood, a Realtor with Re/Max Realty Group, said there’s “no excuse” not to be reachable. Letting even a few minutes go by before replying to an inquiry can mean the difference on whether a Realtor makes the sale or gets a listing.
“I think [technology has] allowed people to contact us much easier, but I find a lot of agents aren’t always good at getting back to people,” Wood said. “When I e-mail people back … they’re like, ‘Wow, we’ve e-mailed five agents and you’re the only one who’s gotten back to us.’”
The changes have meant a learning curve for Hiscock, 53, who entered the field before the age of fax machines.
“I’ve had to adapt to those [technological] changes because communication now is paramount,” he said.
When cell phones came out, he bought one. Later he learned how to text on his Palm Centro. He still has a lot of his business conversations over it, he said, particularly with younger clients.
It’s important to do what the customer prefers, and that extends to modes of communication, Hiscock said. “You try to be responsive to people’s needs and kind of play on their field, you know?”
Wood, 44, said he fields a lot of texts, but most of them are from clients who are 35 and younger. Not only can he provide information within seconds on his Blackberry — through texts, a phone call or an e-mail — he also allow said the device overall makes him more productive, he said.
“You used to have to go back and respond to e-mails at home or at the office or things like that, or even return calls,” Wood said. Now that everything comes through texts or e-mails “it allows us to have a little more free time.”
The downside to all of the technological capability? some people expect responses “instantaneously” Wood, a Blackberry user, said.
“I think agents feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to get back to them.’ They’re at dinner responding, or at a movie, or it’s 11 o’clock at night,” Wood said. “You need to have your sanity time, too.”
Realtor Mark Siwiec, who said he texts “constantly,” relies so much on his Palm USA Treo that he has been known to carry a spare battery — even though he has stashed chargers in his office, home, car and insurance office.
“If you’re truly living, eating, breathing your profession, you’re always going to feel as though you’re overconnected,” Siwiec said. “Fifteen years ago, it was having the time and the ability to connect more meaningfully with your clients face-to-face in meetings over coffee, over dinner.”
Clients today, particularly Gen Xers or Y, “demand a greater level of sophistication,” he said.
Siwiec said he recently sent images of a lake property to a client, who responded with a request for another view of the home. Siwiec complied and, in real time, the client had his questions answered immediately.
“If you really want to flourish in this business, you’ve got to get on the technology bandwagon ASAP,” he said. “It ain’t stopping. It’s going to become more necessary.”
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