Are You Contactable 24 Hours a Day?
Private sellers much like real estate agents need to be contactable by telephone 24 hours a day during the marketing campaign for their property. If a private seller neglects to answer a telephone enquiry from a potential buyer or does not return an enquiry message then often that lead will forget about the property.
If you have ever seen a good real estate agent working you will notice they are always on the telephone. This is because there business is about creating and generating leads. Every new enquiry an agent receives could be a buyer for not only the property the person is enquiring about but perhaps another property the agent has listed.
We have a database of property owners (generated from the internet) we use to contact and inform about Privatepoint. We have attempted to contact some of these property owners up to 5 times with no success on their mobile or landline and often they have no facility for a message to be left. This is simply unacceptable as the property owner has displayed these contact numbers for people to contact them about a property. If potential buyers can’t get in contact with an agent or property owner what hope is there that the property will sell!
Before any property owner decides to sell privately they should ask themselves whether they want, will and are contactable 24 hours a day. If they are not then perhaps they should be looking at using a real estate agent who will be committed to answer enquiries.
If the property owner knows they won’t be contactable all the time then they need to make sure they have a message bank activated on all the telephone numbers they have displayed on the internet. If an owner decides they do not want to display a telephone number then they need to make sure they check their email account at least twice a day.
Last point to remember is that the more information you provide potential buyers about your property the more likely they will be interested in purchasing it. Make sure you answer enquiries or return calls the same day and provide all information the lead has requested.
Comments
Rodney,
Good article on being contactable to receive phone calls. I wonder why some private sellers bother selling their property themselves if they are not committed to the sale!!!!!!
Micky
16.06.08
3:54 pm
Micky: Most private sellers intentions are good but I think sometimes they underestimate the work and planing involved in selling a property. It isn’t as easy as just throwing your property details and a photo on a few websites, answering your phone when it is convenient and showing your property when you feel like it.
Private sellers need to think as what they are doing as a business (like a real estate agency) and the clients are potential buyers. This doesn’t mean you need to put your job or life on hold but you need to make sure all the potential buyers questions are answered and they are not put out by anything. Remember, most properties are listed through real estate agents so as a private seller you are competing with a heap of agents who are trying to steal your potential buyers and sell them a similar property.
Rodney Munch
17.06.08
9:27 am
What you are saying here does come as a surprise to me. I have my property advertised on the internet (including Privatepoint) and I make sure i always answer my telephone even when i get calls from private numbers. I check my email account everyday and always return inquiries.
The real problem for me is that I’ve only had one email inquiry and one telephone inquiry!
JaneH
18.06.08
1:37 pm
Jane: Obviously this is not the case for all private sellers and is limited to only a small minority.
My point is that private sellers should think carefully about what contact details they have displayed next to their property listing.
If you are hardly spend any time at home and don’t have an answering machine then don’t put your home landline number in the listing. If you can’t answer your mobile phone at work then maybe in the property advertisement the private seller should include “call after hours or after 6.00pm”. If you don’t feel comfortable answering the telephone then don’t include a telephone number at all, just make sure you check your email.
It is good to see you are doing things correctly. Out of interest what contact details did you include?
Rodney Munch
19.06.08
12:04 pm
I have my email, home number and mobile included. I don’t have an answering machine at home so perhaps I should remove the home phone number. Cheers!
JaneH
20.06.08
10:07 pm