In the real estate industry everyone has a different way of doing business. Some are great and others are not so much. With so much technology available to us it can be easy to get wrapped up in apps and new services without thinking about how you represent yourself. For this reason I’ve complied a list of pet peeves I have of some agents in their use (or lack thereof) of technology.
Your Gmail Address
I have nothing against using Google, Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL for the really old school types.
suzysells5213@gmail.com however is not a professional email address. Could you imagine getting an email from your doctor, attorney, or financial adviser with email addresses such as: Doc2Know@gmail.com; YourLawyer4Life@Yahoo.com and MoneyWhatIdo@hotmail.com. This is what many real estate professionals do and quite frankly looks ridiculous.
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Most real estate brokerages provide their agents with a free company branded email. (ie. DanielDiMatteo@CENTURY21Award.com) The reluctance of some agents might be the long term commitment. What if I change companies? That’s a valid concern. Once you leave a brokerage, all your company sponsored tools are turned off such as websites and email so the idea of having the same email no matter where you go is a good one. Do it right. Buy a domain and set up an email with it. You can easily buy a domain for about $10/year and will likely come with a free email account. Suzy can buy SuzySellsSD.com and set up an email account such as Suzy@SuzySellsSD.com which comes across much more professional than the previous suzysells5213@gmail.com. $10/year no excuses!
Unnecessary QR Codes
I use QR Codes. When I see QR Codes online however, the agent clearly hasn’t thought it through. QR Codes are meant to direct users to a desired website from their mobile phone. If I am online such as on Facebook or Your website what would compel me to take my phone out and scan my computer screen!!! We are already online so a link will do.
Facebook in the 3rd Person
When managing a Facebook Business Page it can be a delicate balance to self-promote without over doing it. Posting in the 3rd person is a sure way to seem unrelatable. For instance, Sally posting: “Sally was awarded top agent for the month”. My feeling is comments like that should not be coming from the individual but from others or a business page. May I suggest “I am honored to receive top agent award for this month”. Speaking in the 3rd person makes it clear you are not the one behind the computer so why would we be friends on Facebook if I am not getting the real you? UNFRIEND.
Incomplete Purchase Contracts
What I’m referring to here is mainly the listing agent info on page 8 of the California Residential Purchase agreement. For nearly a year now we’ve all had access to Zipforms’ MLS Connect feature which automatically pulls all of the MLS data such as property address, APN, and listing agent info and populates it directly into your contracts. This saves you time! Why wouldn’t you use it? When I receive contracts with the Listing Broker fields blank I question your overall knowledge of the industry and wonder what other technology tools you are neglecting that could otherwise help your clients.
An Outdated Website
By no means do I think my site is perfect and have many things I could improve on but I take great pride in my website almost to a fault. So much so that I have to continually discourage myself from redesigning it every 2 weeks. Could you imagine going to the same site and it always be different? Not to mention the time investment. I do occasionally browse different agent sites just to compare and see what they are up to.
In terms of design, agent websites are typically the Cookie-Cutter-Company websites offered by their real estate brokerage which is fine. What is not OK is your last post dated July 11th, 2009. I may know you’re in the business but can you blame someone who questions it? If you’re going to post, blog or whatever you want to call it, do it consistently. Even if it’s just once a month, build that track record proving you are still alive and well.
About Daniel Di Matteo
THE REAL ESTATE BUSINESS HAS LESS TO DO ABOUT SELLING PROPERTIES AND EVERYTHING TO DO ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE.
