Internet not required to find a house!
Buyers, it’s okay to call an agent or office without looking at the Internet first!
This post relates to the loneliness of floor time. In many offices, agents still need to work “floor” time or “up” time .This means they make themselves available for a certain number of hours in the event that buyers call or stop by the office.
The Internet has seriously challenged the effectiveness of this process.
First, buyers don’t stop by the office in person. Why bother when they can send an email or make a phone call from the comfort of their home or the convenience of their office? So typically, any customer inquiries come in via one of two methods, the Internet, or the phone.
So what about the phone or Internet contacts?
- If a buyer calls the office via the phone, they’ve already seen a home they like. They either drove by one that looked interesting, or they saw one on the Internet. So they call and say, “I’d like more information about the house on 123 Smith Street.” Because they mention a specific home, the customer information is given to the listing agent for that specific home.
- If the inquiry comes in via the Internet, a buyer hits “I would like more information on this listing.” The request, in most cases, is routed directly to the listing agent via email. This happens regardless of which service the buyer is using, whether it’s Randrealty.com, Trulia, Homes.com, Realtor.com, Zillow or any other service.
What does the buyer agent actually do?
So the buyer agent has to spend three or four hours of their day in the office for the express purpose of assisting potential buyers. And that agent usually winds up spending all their time on other activities. For example, they might do research, get caught up on training or develop marketing. So while their time is definitely productive, buyer agents have been trained to assist buyers, and that’s what they stand by ready to do.
So buyers, it’s okay to call into an office, or to call a specific realtor, and say, “Hello, I’m interested in purchasing a home in the XYZ area, and I’d like to speak to a buyer agent to get started.”
I’m standing by ready to take your call!