Are your words and promises supported by follow up and follow through? Or as one expired seller related to me, "She promised the moon and the stars, but all she delivered was a bunch of broken promises." I did not defend or condemn the previous agent. After all, it was 2008 and sellers were not yet adjusted to the declining market after years of steady increases. Frankly, the change in the market required agents to change their ways too. Suddenly, the recession roared into town and removed all the steam from the market and left shriveling values in its wake. 
A slower market requres more communication with sellers and buyers. That is not necessarily a bad thing. A longer listing period allows you develop a relationship based on communication, and good communication builds trust.
I search for reasons to communicate with my sellers and buyers. I send written open house reports to sellers, I send emails with the number of showings and feedback, and I do the same with buyers. You can hear the delight in a buyer's voice when I tell them I just saw a "John and Mary house." It is a personal way of letting them know I recognize their wants and needs in a property. I want them to know they are always on my mind. I want them to know I preview houses specifically for them.
It is business, but real estate is also personal.
Norma Toering & Team RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty
(310) 493-8333 / Office Phone: (310) 831-0800
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Norma Toering & Team RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty
(310) 493-8333
PalosVerdesLifestyle- Norma's award winning site as the best Palos Verdes homes and real estate blog since 2007. Selected by Relocation.com as one of the top ten Los Angeles area real estate blogs. Chosen by MovingCost.com as one of the best Los Angeles realty blogs. Awarded 5 out of 5 stars by Lender411 blog review. Ranked by Technorati in the top 1% of all blogs. As seen in the Daily Breeze newspaper.
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Norma, very good words of wisdom! Promises must be followed thru, whether it is a good market or not.
Norma, we have seen listing agents do exactly this, and we end up getting listing when it expires or is cancelled.
Understandably, which is way many expireds get taken over by another office. A for sale sign is not enought in this market. We should treat our clients as we would want to be treated.
it is hard to call the sellers weekly when there isn't any activity on their homes, but 'gulp' I have to stay in touch or I'm not fulfilling my promise to the client. Follow up is one of the main reasons Realtors lose business..............hard to do, but rewarding! Thnaks for your post
Great idea about calling something a "John and Mary home" - shows personalization and effort on your part.
I'm more into under promising and over delivering. There's nothing worse than a Realtor bragging that they are all that and don't follow through with after all the hype.
Norma.....Keeping in touch with buyers and sellers is a must if we want to develop long term business relationships. Letting them know you are working on their behalf gives them comfort.
Featured In Cosmic Cow Pie
Joan - Keeping our word plays an important role in keeping our reputation in tact!
Edward & Celia - Not communicating is a wonderful way to lose a listing...
Carla - Yes, it certainly takes lots more than a sign in the front yard to sell a house in this market.
Hi Norma! GREAT WORDS OF WISDOM! Thanks for all of your help today!!
Norma ~ It's easy to let time get away and before you know it you've been sucked in to that black hole. Setting aside the time to provide consistent updates is definitely the best approach. I tell my sellers that I'll be sending weekly updates on web traffic, summarize any feedback from the week and update what's going on around them. Some weeks there's nothing to say...but it's better than them hearing nothing at all.
Elizabeth - Calling with no news is better than not calling at all.
Margaret - Clients will often open a conversation with, "Have you seen any John and Mary homes recently?" Everybody loves to hear their name!
Lizette - I think that's a winning formula!
Carra - You got that right!
Angelina - A blocked call came in while I was at a home inspection--I wondered if that was your buyer--did not leave a message.
Thanks for stopping by my post!
Chris - Sounds like you do an excellent job staying in touch--keep up the good work.
Oh, Carra, thanks for the feature!