Imagine you are searching for a residential apartment but don’t know who to call.
You flip through the Yellow Pages and talk to some friends and everyone suggests Matt at ABC Properties offers the best service.
You dial ABC and ask for Matt.
You: Hi, I’m moving to the area next month and looking to put a down payment today on a property. It needs to match such and such criteria. Can you help me?
Matt: I’m sorry. I have nothing in my listings that matches that criteria. Are you willing to live 5 miles away where I have a wonderful brownhouse?
You: Nope. I really need it in such and such location. Can you refer me to someone else to call?
Matt: I wish I could. Best of luck. Goodbye.
Maybe Matt does know other brokers in that area and refused to refer you to his competition. Or maybe Matt was sincere and couldn’t help. But keep in mind you called Matt specifically because your friends said he offered quality service.
Upon hanging up the phone, you recognize that word of mouth marketing has failed. Matt lost not only your business but any word of mouth you tell your friends. Instead of continuing the organic viral marketing of Matt and ABC Properties, you now talk about Charles at XYZ Properties who enabled you to spend your money.
As Joe Loong of domain registrar Network Solutions writes about promoting business to your competition:
Sure, you want to promote your own events. But by including what’s going on outside of your place, you’re showing that you know what’s going on outside your walls (and you should know what your competitors are doing, right, particularly so you don’t schedule against it?), and you’re being useful to people by providing a comprehensive list of resources. And as a bonus, you’re using your competitors for content.
If I was Matt, I’d refer you to my competition every day and twice on Sunday. I’d be confident that you would tell your friends about me BEFORE you tell them about your new landlord.
Maybe I’m mistaken, having no experience working in the cutthroat real estate industry.
What would you say if you were Matt?
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Well, I do work in the cutthroat real estate industry.
Matt obviously did something right as everyone mentioned his name.
Matt also blew it. Matt might be surprised how much potential business he just lost by not sending the caller to a competitor. That caller, even though he did not utilize Matt’s services directly, would remember him. And the caller undoubtedly has friends and family that he will now never send to Matt.
If Matt did know a broker in that area, why not give the caller a name? Then shoot that broker a quick email saying, “Hey, I just sent Joe Caller your way, he’s looking for such-and-such. Hope you can help him.”
I wouldn’t even ask for a referral fee. What goes around comes around. Who do you think that broker will remember if he has a prospect in your area?
If Matt truly didn’t know a broker in the area the caller was looking for, then why not respond with, “I don’t know anyone directly that covers that area. But let me check around and get back to you.” It would take 10 minutes.
Is that 10 minutes spent on some other agent’s client? Sure. But it’s also 10 minutes spent on solidifying YOUR customer service.
Trust me, people remember that sort of thing. And people talk.
Jay Thompson´s last blog post..Why Paid Blog Comments are a Waste of Your Money (and my time)
I get calls from both consumers and other agent pretty routinely asking about areas in east Tennessee that are out of my service area.
I have no problem giving both the names of any good Realtor I may know in those areas and recommending they call them.
I’m a long time believer in what goes around comes around.
Jim Lee´s last blog post..Whatta you mean it’s sold, I heard Knoxville homes weren’t selling!
Thanks Jay for referencing this blog post in twitter.
One of the biggest mistakes an agent makes is forgetting that their business, this business is universal and is easier when we take full advantage of our networking opportunities.
I cringe at the thought of a person wanting to become a customer and yet receives no customer service simply because an agent fails to see the benefit of referring.
Successful agents know this is a basis for continued success, new agents best learn quickly & the majority of agents will wash out wondering why.
Greg Staker´s last blog post..Where can I buy Florida holiday ornaments?
A marketing friend of mine sent me a copy of your post as I am in the apartment marketing business. I think you make a great point about how Matt failed. For any industry it’s the experience that creates value. Good word of mouth can only get someone to the door, but the experience and value that is created is in the hands of the associate. I know in our industry these experiences are critical, and the situation you shared is way too common unfortunately. There are SO many resources when looking for an apartment that there should be no reason not to send someone at least to Rent.com or Apartments.com. It’s not that you have to specify a competitor, but at least provide some additional resources and a direction in the event you can’t help the prospect.
I know for J.C. Hart it’s our goal to make sure you enjoy your experience with us and that we help you find the perfect apartment home. If that home happens to be at one of our communities great, but if you’re stumped on where to go next we’ll at least refer someone to the Apartment Guide, For Rent Magazine, or one of the websites I mentioned.
Good point Ari. Good point Mark J. Competitive intelligence is key. I advocate consultative selling based on unique advantages and vision as opposed to selling on fear or bashing the competition. Making sure you LISTEN and understand what someone needs, and then offering recommendations is key. Its basically service excellence. More and more firms are picking who they do business with based on service.
Jay and Greg: I think the key is in your comment that what goes around comes around. If Matt sends someone to Charles, regardless whether or not said person uses Charles, Charles would remember to send a new person to Matt.
Jim: If someone asked for a property in your territory but you didn’t have anything, would you suggest another firm in your territory?
Mark: I’d forgotten about rent.com and apartments.com. I haven’t used those sites in years; are they more helpful these days?
Duncan: Speaking of service excellence, is there a certification system similar to ISO-9001 that enables real estate firms (or other service industries) to show off their quality?
Love this post!
Honestly, how hard is it to look up another agent for a consumer???
While I am NOT the Matt in question, I had to laugh all the way through this while reading my name over and over.
I get A LOT of leads (ask Jay T), and I always find someone for them. Whether it is a referral, or a Web site lead (most cases), I will find someone for them to work with. You have no idea how many times I’ve received a lead only to find out it’s for a rental, or mobile home, or other area, etc that we do not service. So, I take a minute while on the phone w/them and look up the listing agent (in most cases) and then give them the L/A’s (good place for a footnote here, lol
) office, home and mobile number so they can get what they called about!
That’s it. Simple, to the point and very good karma IMO.
Again, nice to read this post (courtesy of Jay T on Twitter). I think we should all be looking out for the consumer AND each other!
Matt Pellerin – Realtor
Phoenix Homes Team Leader
Matt@Phoenix Homes´s last blog post..Arizona real estate auction boasts more than 150 properties
I’ve been in sales of some type or another for many years and it has always been my experience that offering your customer solutions, even if it means directing them to a competitor will always keep them coming back. Your advice is good advice and very well said.
Susan/Unique Business Opportunity´s last blog post..Will You Buy Into the Dream, But Not the Work?
“Jim: If someone asked for a property in your territory but you didn’t have anything, would you suggest another firm in your territory?”
Are you familiar with how the Multiple Listing Service works? They would not have anything I did not because we all have access to the same inventory.
I would suggest another Realtor in my firm if I were unable to work with them at the time.
Jim Lee´s last blog post..Whatta you mean it’s sold, I heard Knoxville homes weren’t selling!
Ari-
To answer you question, I think these sites depend on the market you are searching in and what type of rental property you are seeking. There are many others as well. Just do a Google search for “apartments” and see how competitive it is for placement.
In many areas Apartments.com is associated with the newspaper. This allows classified-like ads for single units to even be included. I know with Rent.com they have a pay-per-lease model that works well for all types of rentals as well. The way to search for an apartment has definitely gone online, and I didn’t even mention how huge Craigslist is for rentals as well. We don’t even consider the Yellowpages a legitimate marketing resource anymore.
Mj
I am actually looking for a place at the moment, and although in Tel Aviv, I can tell you that no one, no one refers me to competition and what bothers me even more, is that most of them don’t even bother to take my contact details and say: we will contact you if anything comes in. In any field, I, as a consumer, will always return to a place that referred me to competition because they didn’t have what i was looking for.