Crackberries

I am a recent owner of a Blackberry phone, and with ownership has come much harassment from friends/clients and even co-workers in my real estate office. I have been known to be a bit slower at utilizing technology. One friend and client pointed to a simple “social text’’ I was unaware of on my cell phone for over two months (this was 2 years ago). I updated my approach, because my clients and their referrals were communicating more and more using text messages and emails, and I needed to adapt to what was expected, hence the Blackberry.

Many other Realtors that I know are slow to jump on the technology bandwagon for good reason. Some of the latest communicating technology is not always the best for what we do as real estate agents.

In relationship sales, where a service is offered to aid in buying and selling, I firmly believe there will always be a need for face to face OR voice to voice contact – in other words relationship sales is a contact business. This is why many innovative ideas in the real estate business that have attempted to remove the Realtor have come and failed.

There are times that a simple text is useful – “…inspection has begun”, “…got your message, working on the information”, “…here is the data your requested”. However, the initial meeting between a Realtor and Principal (Buyer & Seller) establishes the foundation to reach goals of Selling / Buying and should be face to face.

A ‘face to face’ is critical, because it allows both parties to assure themselves comfort in working together for an extended period of time (finding or selling property can be 50 to unlimited days long). Face to face meetings allow Sellers to witness the environment of the office their property will be listed and marketed from (the other Realtors in the office are very useful).

The Face to face meeting also allows non-verbal communication, which is not available through texting and emails. Through the non-verbal cues, a good sales person who listens can gain better insight to what is truly comfortable for their client, then proceed to ask further question. The non-verbal cues and questions can result in far more options to achieve the desired goal of the principal – something a text or email just won’t cover. Since all Realtors should operate under a fiduciary role, listening and watching for non-verbal behavior aids in better representing the interest of their client.

Too many emails or texts in a service based business leads the principals to wonder where the value in the business is. The value for a service based business is in listening, not talking, and too many times a sales person believes they will just talk their client into buying the service or the product. I have been very enthusiastic with the benefits of my new phone (a.k.a. “Crackberry” due to its addictive sides of checking) and the ability to text from a keyboard has been wonderful. In addition, having emails arrive to my cell phone when I have spent hours away from the computer aids in quicker response (plus I am not arriving home after a day in the “field” to just sit in front of the computer for an hour with my family in the other room).

No doubt technology is a must, but technology is a tool and not and end to a service based business handling emotional decisions.