In the world of real estate, reputation is everything. Our entire industry is based on referrals and what kind of job we do to please our customers. There is a lot we do that you see and don’t see that contribute to the overall customer satisfaction of any real estate agent; from keeping in touch with the Realtor of the other side, to talking with the title and mortgage companies, and keeping in touch with you- our customer.
I don’t expect most people to know all that goes in to being a real estate professional. It sometimes seems to look so easy outwardly, but the fact is that being a real estate professional is tough work. We have a set of standards and ethics that we have to follow along with our daily business of phone calls and contacts and communication. We cannot be lacking in any of these areas or we could possibly lose our reputation.
It only takes one upset customer to spread the word to ten of their friends. It’s not as common to find the satisfied customer who will talk about how great their Realtor was to ten of their friends. We push for quality service surveys so we know where we excel and where we need improvement. We ask for referrals and keep in touch with past customers with the hopes that when they or someone they know are ready to move again, they will remember us and use our services again.
So, it irks me when you have a customer who you step out for, you go beyond the regular Realtor call of duty, and they cause a bad part to be placed on your reputation. Whether it’s done knowingly or not, it still tarnishes a once impecable reputation. How do you recover from that? That is the trick question that is hard to answer and the solution is unique for each scenario.
In my scenario, my solution is to ask the potential seller that I contacted about having a ready, willing and able buyer for her land for a chance to market her property before having her list it with me. If I can gather interest from the neighbors on this piece of land, then I will ask for her listing and trust in me as a professional to sell the land. If, on the other hand, I can’t generate interest from the neighbors to buy this land, then no harm no foul and we all go about our business.
Unfortunately for the person who was originally interested in this land and was ready, willing and able to buy the parcel, that means he might lose out. But if he were still truely interested in the land, then he would have returned my calls and messages sooner and wouldn’t have put my reputation on the line.
I hope for those of you reading this, that you will realize that real estate professionals do work very hard for you. We put our reputations out there all the time knowing that the majority of the time, we are building on our good nature and good ethics. I hope you see that there is a lot we do that is beyond the job description and a lot we do behind the scenes that you don’t hear about. So next time you talk to your Realtor, please let them know that you appreciate them and thank them for all they do.
Valerie Barber 