Cell phones are an everyday part of our world, and many of us simply can’t leave home without them much less function without them in our busy lives. Our reliance on technology and smartphones as a whole has created some problems, especially when dealing with potential clients, showing homes, and conducting business meetings.
Being deliberate and thoughtful about your cell phone use and focusing on improving your cell phone manners will make you a better agent all around. Here are some ways to mind your cell phone manners.
If You Don’t Need It, Put it Away
Business meetings are places where we should be distraction-free and able to give 100% of our attention to our meeting partners. The same goes for agents looking to get to know a client or show a home. The bottom line is, you don’t need your phone during these times. As a matter of fact, you can likely live without it for the duration of the meeting.
If you don’t need your phone to actively participate in what you’re doing, leave it in your car, put it in a drawer, and be sure to silence it or turn it off altogether.
Be Courteous When Taking Calls
Inevitably, you’ll be anxiously awaiting a call or need to step away for one reason or another to speak to someone. When that eventuality happens, make sure that you’re being courteous to whomever you’re around at that moment. Politely excuse yourself to take your call and walk away from any guests or clients you may be entertaining.
Remember that your voice will carry, and no matter what the topic of the conversation is, there’s no reason that anyone else should hear you. To that end, give yourself and your clients plenty of distance.
Think Through Your Texts
One place we all get a little bit lazy is with text messaging and emails. With emails, we treat them as texts, with texts, we treat them like short, thoughtless blips of ideas. Texting is a ubiquitous part of being a real estate agent, but it shouldn’t be a mechanism for forlorn thoughts. Instead, be deliberate and thoughtful with your texting.
Make sure you read your texts, correct any spelling or language errors, and make sure (to the best of your ability) that your message can’t take on more than one meaning. Many times, clients can get confused through texts because of careless, thoughtless senders. Proofread, use punctuation, and make your messages complete thoughts.
Don’t Use Your Phone While Driving
This should go without saying, but alas it tends to be something that we all fall victim to. As an agent, your busiest days involve lots of time traveling between your office, showing, client meetings, and other business activities, so it stands to reason that you can save a little time by conducting business while you drive.
Simply put, this is a dangerous and potentially deadly idea. There’s absolutely nothing important enough on your phone that can’t wait until you’ve stopped your vehicle or pulled off to the side of the road.
Be a Strong Communicator
One place we can all improve is the strength of our communication. Getting better about responding to messages, returning calls, and generally being a little more accessible is a major advantage for a successful realtor. One way to be a better communicator is to be as helpful and knowledgable as possible about the home buying process.
This is why it’s important to turn over your financial communication to the experts at Tidewater Mortgage Services, Inc. Don’t let sales fall through the cracks without getting in touch with our loan specialists first!
