These tips will help turn you into a better texter all around.
Here is a topic for every single agent out there: texting. I don’t know about you, but I find that texting in real estate takes a little finesse. Today I’ll talk about what most people don’t think about when they text. Hopefully, I’ll plant some ideas that will make you a better texter and also alleviate the frustration people feel on the other side.
For example, let’s say you received this text: “I have some buyers that are interested in your house.” Your reply should be something along the lines of “Who are you? Which house?” You may also get texts like these: “Did you get the offer I submitted?”, “Hey, can you give me a call?” Again, your reply should be: Who are you? What house? What do you want me to call you about?
“Alleviate the frustration people feel on the other side.”
I think you get the gist. Texting is a great tool. Some of us get more than two or three texts a day, while some get 20 to 50 texts daily. In my case, I delete texts because I don’t want to keep or maintain that many, and I’m trying to keep what’s important at the top of my text. So when you text, please take some time and put who you are, what you’re texting about, and a little bit more information so the person on the receiving side of that text can respond.
What’s the other issue that I find with texting? Texting at all hours of the day is fine. Not everybody expects you to answer at midnight, but it was on their mind, so they sent it at midnight. Don’t get irritated about it—Just know that they didn’t expect to either catch you or they didn’t expect to interrupt you. So timing is always an issue to think about. What’s the point for real estate agents? Too often, they expect people to text at all times of the night, and if they don’t get a response in 10 minutes, then they’re blowing up your phone. Not everyone’s sitting at a desk 24/7, and they’re actually in appointments and other things. Personally and professionally, being on your phone when you’re with another person is rude. Understand that text is not always instant. Don’t expect it to be.
Most importantly, put your information in that text. For any of you out there that don’t know how to do shortcuts or signature lines when you text, you’re supposed to do that with any client when you send a text the first time around, and some programs will do that for you. On your Apple phone, you can create a shortcut. We’ll be happy to help you do that. It’ll save both parties some annoyance.
If you followed a couple of simple text guidelines in your life, things would be a lot better. If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to reach out to me. I would be happy to help.
