Ask the agent - agent response to inquiries
I received an interesting email yesterday about how I respond to inquiries from potential clients and thought I would share my response.
The most important thing is to follow up in some way, the next most important is timeliness and finally, who is actually responding.
You would be surprised as to how many real estate agents in the Charleston South Carolina real estate market don't bother to reply to inquiries on their website or other leads. I've been told that by a number of people that the reason they chose me to help them with their real estate needs was that I was the only agent to respond.
You have to think that if someone is asking for you to be in touch with them, that they are also asking others and in my opinion, the race goes to the swift. Some real estate agents use assistants for follow up but my preference is to personally respond.
A couple of quick stories. I remember going out of town for a long weekend with my wife and of course I always bring my computer and cell phone with me wherever I go. Upon arriving, I checked my emails and took care of a few things. The next morning I noticed an inquiry from someone interested in relocating to the Charleston area. I sent off a quick email thanking them for visiting my website and asking how I could be of further assistance.
They ultimately became a client who purchased a home in the Charleston area so imagine if you will whether they would have wanted to have me represent them in the purchase of a home had I not bothered to get back to them if I waited until my little vacation was over. It's one of the reasons that I don't want to take a cruise or go to Europe on vacation, I just don't want to be that out of touch and while I am a firm believer in "having a life", one of the prices you must pay to be a real estate agent is that you must be available.
I was contacted by someone recently who wanted to purchase a home in the Charleston area and planned to be here over the Thanksgiving holiday. My wife and I had firm plans to spend the holiday week at the beach with our family who were joining us from across the country. In the spirit of "having a life", I told that person that I would be unavailable but would be very happy to have a trusted associate help them. That is what happened and from what I understand, everything went just great.
What do you say, have you contacted a number of real estate agents and how did you choose the one you eventually decided to work with. Was responsiveness an important factor in your decision and what else made you decide to use that agent.