Doesn’t anybody follow up any more?
ByRecently my parents decided to move across country to my city. To aid this process my dad’s newest hobby is checking out local real estate listings online then calling the real estate agents involved. Anything that looks promising, he has me go look at, armed with my digital camera.
What surprised me was how many agents don’t follow up. One agent had actually booked a showing with me and had to cancel at the last minute. She said she’d call to reschedule. That was six weeks ago and I’m still waiting. Eventually I looked at the property with another agent. Even worse, the property listed by the first agent recently lowered the price. All without a call to me or my father.
A couple of others are agents I know personally. They are not part time hobbyists selling real estate to fund foreign travel but full timers who market and promote themselves aggressively. And yet they didn’t follow up or return phone calls.
What gives?
As I started thinking about this I quickly realized that real estate agents are not the only industry afflicted with this problem. Lots of other small businesses suffer from no-follow-up-itis.
I think there’s a number of reasons why.
Too much to do, too little time.
First, many small business owners are doing it all themselves. They don’t have assistants to help
them with bookkeeping, phone calls, marketing, customer service or any of the daily activities of their business. They wear all the hats.
Whether it’s because their income is too low (or they think it is) to hire someone, or they’re afraid of giving up control, by not getting help, they have too much to do. With too much to do, some things fall through the cracks. And often those things are following up.
Following up ain’t sexy
Second, marketing is sexy. Following up is not. It can be exciting to design a new marketing campaign or send out a batch of press releases. It sounds impressive to say you were interviewed on a radio show. There’s a real wow factor to posting a video to your website.
Returning phone calls and emails is not sexy, exciting nor impressive to others. However, having someone to follow up with is the entire purpose of doing all these marketing activities. I suspect people who don’t follow up have mixed up their priorities a little bit. They’ve forgotten why they are marketing in the first place.
Don’t forget the systems
Third, people who don’t follow up probably don’t have any systems in place. Think about your calendar, planner, daytimer or whatever you use. You probably schedule in appointments, deadlines and even larger tasks. But do you actually write down specific times for returning emails, making phone calls or using social media?
If you’re like many people, you probably don’t. And yet all of these activities combined might take an hour or more a day. No wonder these tasks sometimes fall through the cracks. But if you actually put them into your calendar each day, they wouldn’t get forgotten. And for days where there are no follow ups required? Wahoo! That’s free time for getting a jump start on other tasks.
And if you don’t have anywhere to record phone numbers or names of people you want to follow up, odds are you won’t remember. I know if it isn’t written down, it doesn’t exist for me.
What does this all mean?
I recently read that the real key to success is following up. After some consideration, I think this is absolutely true. Think of how many really successful people you know. Often their products or services aren’t that much better (if at all) than their competitors. They’re not always smarter. But they consistently and habitually follow up with their leads.
Now I must confess, I have sometimes been guilty of this lack of follow through myself. In fact, before I sat down to write this post I quickly returned some emails I’ve neglected. Two quick emails resulted in almost $500 worth of revenue.
If you know (or suspect) that you’ve been letting some opportunities slip through your fingers, make the change today. Set up some systems, schedule regular times for following up, get some help or change your mindset.
An extra $500 won’t make me rich, but it will pay my mortgage.
So what if you could get an extra $500 every week? That would be amazing. And if you could get an extra $500 every day? Now wouldn’t that be worth taking the time to follow up?
Andrea J. Stenberg
What do you think? Have you been on the receiving end of a lack of follow through? And what do you do to ensure you don’t miss out on any opportunities? Please leave a comment and share your stories.
No, most people do not follow-up anymore. It is one of my biggest pet peeves so I try to make sure I follow-up as much as humanly possible.
Andrea, you are absolutely right!
We read so much that convinces us that the marketplace is absurdly competitive–it’s easy to feel as freelancers and consultants that we’ve lost before we have even started.
I see two lessons here. One is that we need to follow up conscientiously. Otherwise, we are spending time and money on marketing efforts that can never pay off.
The second lesson is as a competitor. We may be impressed–even intimidated–by a competitor’s marketing. But if they are not following up quickly and competently, the opportunity can be ours for the taking.
As a consumer of freelance services, speed and enthusiasm in follow-up are among the most important qualities I look for. If a provider is not gung-ho when they may be able to get a retainer payment in the next few days, how responsive will they be as the project drags on between payment points?
-Diana
Diana,
Excellent point! We can’t let ourselves get “psyched out” by flashy marketing campaigns of others. A so-so marketing campaign combined with fast response and excellent service will do any small business more good in the long run.
Andrea
Great article. Recently, I had an incredible experience with a University while searching for colleges for our son. First, I was shocked that I was transferred to an actual professor when I requested information be sent to us about a particular major. Usually, whomever answers the department’s phone just takes down my name, address and that’s it. No connection really, no real conversation.
The professor politely informed me he was with a student and asked if he could call me back. I stumbled and said, “yes! of course!” He said he’d call me back within an hour and took my name and number. I honestly didn’t think he would but he DID!! I was flabbergasted!! Now if my reaction doesn’t show how terrible businesses and people are about following-up, then I don’t know what does. I was highly impressed and that college moved right to the top of the list!
I’m very surprised to hear this about Realtors, however; that amazes me. You’d think, especially in this economy, they would be almost harassing you to reschedule or call you to show you something new or let you know about a price reduction! That is very bizarre to me. I used to work for a real estate company and the best Realtors DID follow up and were always busy, and to be honest, that was most of them! Curious. Hmmm, maybe they’ve had so few purchases or sales that they figure no one can afford to buy or the bank won’t loan them the monies needed, so why bother anymore? Just a thought.
I, for one, do my best to follow up, personally and professionally. I believe it’s called common courtesy and I have seen it on the decline for over 20 years (the extent depends upon the city/state). It’s good business to follow up, to make that contact, to be persistent, to be appreciative yet so many businesses and people just don’t do it. I think they’re missing out…not only on business but positive, helpful relationships. All of us just want to be acknowledged and appreciated and it’s so simple to do that. You’re right, it needs to be scheduled into your time. That’s all there is to it.
As the broker/owner of a real estate business this article does not surprise me at all. We have the same problem trying to schedule actual showings with many listing agents. They won’t even let us know that the homes are still for sale (and they usually are). I have always been good with follow up and clients who have worked with some of these guys act like I’m a messiah or something. Ironically, as the market declined, response has declined as well. I think agents become depressed about it and just get lazy. That’s fine with me…they should quit and many of them have!
Lisa,
I agree that it’s a sad state of affairs when we’re excited that some did what they said they would do. And yet it happens far too often.
Mike,
So true. Those who get lazy make the ones who follow through look good.
Guess the lesson here is you don’t have to be a rock star to succeed. Just follow up when you say you will. Success is in the details.
Andrea
It’s certainly true. So many people get caught up in the hype of marketing but never follow up and thus never REALLY make any money!
I am a real estate agent and agree that “following up” is a big deal…those who do not are “fouling up”, ha!
One suggestion I have for you is to help your Dad sign on with a real estate Buyer’s representative. You said, “To aid this process my dad’s newest hobby is checking out local real estate listings online then calling the real estate agents involved.”
What he has been doing is calling the Listing (ie Seller’s) agent, who legally represent the sellers of the home. He’s doing himself a disservice calling too many of the wrong people,…he will be better off working with one person who will get to know your Dad well. That one agent your Dad builds a relationship with will demonstrate loyalty, and share his knowledge of the community to do right by him. That agent would represent him exclusively via a Buyer Agency contract for a specified period of time.
I work with Prudential, and would be pleased to talk with your Dad and then interview the appropriate Brokers in that location to find him an exclusive buyer’s agent to refer him to. He should have one point of contact to represent him in front of Listing agents (including negotiate the best deal), and “school” (not meant disrepectfully…think “educate”) you and your Dad in how best to find the “perfect” home for him. His exclusive agent will ask questions about his goals and objectives and the type of home, location,amenities, etc. Your Dad will love having someone to go to bat for him! (By the way, one of those Seller’s agents might end up being someone who could become his Buyer’s agent…you just don’t want one to represent him on both sides of the deal unless you know going into that arrangement that a listing agent’s first loyalty is to their sellers:)
My goal, is to build trust and respect, and provide over and above what’s considered average…because I believe quality service leads to more referrals, and that’s the way to do business.
Hey Andrea,
Online marketing is an art. It takes time to get it mastered. Especially after the birth of social networks and micro-blogging sites, it seems even difficult to work.
But if done wisely, it can bring prosperity.
If this checks out, big reps and a thanks comin your way. Looks promising as hell, though! sincerly, Kristine, indianelite.com, 145 Bosepukur Purbapara, Kolkata, WB 700078, India 9748001647