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Lack of trust and poor work processes have been blamed for giving real estate “one of the worst reputations for staying in touch of any profession”.
REMAX’s Western Australia managing director, Geoff Baldwin, said one reason consumers don’t receive call-backs is because many agents refuse to share their contacts with their colleagues.
“It is a sad indictment on our industry that to many of us it is one thing to work together, but another altogether to trust one another with client contacts – yet most of these contacts are wasted,” Mr Baldwin said.
“So very few real estate people maintain a quality client database or even keep in touch with people who enquire to them, with the result that real estate has one of the worst reputations for staying in touch of any profession.”
Mr Baldwin said another reason some agents fail to return calls is because they prefer tasks that deliver “instant gratification” over methodical work processes.
"Of course, most salespeople and agents intend to keep great records, maintain a perfect database, provide regular follow-up and always get back to people,” he said. "But the cold, hard facts are, very few meet their own best-intended standards.”
However, Mr Baldwin said it can be a mistake for agents to feel like they have to answer their mobile phone every time it rings.
“By answering a call when you are with a client, friend or family you are disrespecting their presence – and, just as importantly, because you are already preoccupied you are unlikely to provide the best-quality response to the caller,” he said.
"Other professions and trades would always complete the task at hand, let the call go to message, listen and record the call into a well-maintained database, then respond with a clear head knowing what the call is about.”
[Related: ‘There is never a good reason to rubbish a fellow agent’]
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