Real Estate Agents have a reputation of being a little bit like Noah from The Notebook: persistent, relentless, and a bit arrogant at first, even when you’re constantly telling them “no.” Underneath, they really are probably just a nice person who wants to help you sell or buy your house, but it’s time we leave this persistence in the past. Maybe it was cute in the 1940s, but if a man pursues a woman like that in 2021, it’s anything but charming, even for a Ryan Gosling type. It’s a different time now, and in the Real Estate business, Realtors® need to adapt to how people want to be communicated with.
Have you ever bought something online, then gotten an email from them the very next day saying “Buy our product,” and thought, “Uhm… I just did.” And then another email the next day and another email the day after that. Or you buy a product and all of a sudden ads for that product are on your social media feeds? You’re thinking, “Go away, I already bought you!” And then all of a sudden you’re kind of wishing you didn’t buy that thing because now you’re annoyed? You’re hitting unsubscribe, you’re saying to hide the ads because you see them too often. This is how I feel Realtors® can be. They get your contact information and suddenly you’re being emailed, texted, called, and mailed multiple times a month. It’s happened to me, and I’m a Realtor®! Look, I’m someone who sees my parents once a month if I’m lucky; I don’t want to hear from a Realtor® 30+ times a year. But this is something I feel hasn’t changed yet in this industry. It’s a new world out there; people don’t want to be constantly contacted about anything they didn’t specifically ask for. I get the idea, this constant contact keeps the Realtor® “top of mind,” but I want to be top of mind because I don’t act like all those other “salespeople.” I want to be the Realtor® you choose because I’m not a salesperson; I’m a consultant and an advisor, a marketer and a researcher.
I’m lucky to be part of one of the new-age brokerages - TrilliumWest - who don’t believe you have to harass people for them to work with you. We believe social media and online presence are probably the best ways to get our name and face out there as Realtors®. It feels more personal because you, the client, have the opportunity to see more into my life, and most importantly, you choose when and how much you see my online content. And when do people do anything these days without reading reviews? Even if you met me right now, in person, and I gave you my business card, you’re probably going home to Google me, right? So it’s important for me to have a strong online presence that showcases who I am and how I work without continually asking for your business.
Too many people want to try to make this job easier by automating it, but why should we cut corners when the reason we are able to do what we do is because of the relationships we build with people? I know if I see an automated message, I delete it — most likely without even reading it — and then after a while of getting these auto-emails I finally decide to unsubscribe. So why would I want to send those types of things to my clients? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be able to contact our clients before, during, or after a sale, I’m just saying we need to rethink the way we do so. In a world that has run so far away with social media and the ways in which we can limit human interaction, I want to be the one who stands out by continuing to prioritize personal emails, texts, and letters that convey information relevant to the person receiving it: information about their home, their community, their neighbourhood, and personalized invitations to brokerage events and fundraisers. Sure, this might take longer, but I’ve always believed in quality over quantity, and I want that to be the reason I stay top of mind with my clients.
We know now that people no longer need to be persistent, relentless, or arrogant to get that hot date. Heck, I was the one who asked my fiancé on our first one; in 2021 our mindset has shifted. As my fiancé always says, he was playing the long game, and it worked! He got the girl. That’s what Realtors® need to do: we need to be open and available, so that when you’re ready, we’re there for you. So if you want to work with someone who cares more about creating a relationship that can continue after closing but without the harassment, give me a call. I’m sure we’ll get along great!
Alexandra Visosky - Realtors - Buying/Selling
Comments