{"id":2313,"date":"2007-12-04T12:33:19","date_gmt":"2007-12-04T19:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2313"},"modified":"2007-12-04T12:33:19","modified_gmt":"2007-12-04T19:33:19","slug":"the-call-center-and-real-estate-professional-phone-shuffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2313\/the-call-center-and-real-estate-professional-phone-shuffle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Call Center (and Real Estate Professional) Phone Shuffle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"kittehSeth Godin wrote this week about the customer service call centers set up with conflicting goals.\u00a0 Regarding his experience with PayPal:<\/p>\n

The desired outcome (I go away) doesn’t seem like it’s aligned with the corporate goals (I stick around).<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Most call centers reward employees for non-escalated calls and for shorter calls.\u00a0 I experience this primarily when I call Sprint or the cable company (especially tech support).\u00a0 The script doesn’t include actual help, it is designed to herd you off the phone or to a different department to boost their individual stats.<\/p>\n

What does this have to do with real estate?\u00a0 We’re in a customer service industry designed to retain clients, but I would say that most Realtors and lenders fail.<\/strong>\u00a0 [Disclaimer: I’m not a licensed Realtor and although I work in the industry, I maintain a client-like<\/em> perspective.]<\/p>\n

Just try calling a listing agent from your cell.\u00a0 Naturally, there is rarely an answer.\u00a0 Occassionally, you’ll get a call back, but if you’re a Realtor or an industry professional (and not an unrepresented buyer), the tone frequently changes and you’re shuffled off the phone.\u00a0 Try emailing a listing agent and perhaps within 36-48 months you’ll receive a reply, but chances are they’ll never open your message.\u00a0 The difficulty is that many readers are here to better their profession and this problem does not apply to them but we must all self-evaluate.\u00a0 As for our company<\/a>, agents have been let go for lack of communication (yes, you heard that correctly- agents are let go) and lenders (most notably processors) have been let go for lack of communication as well.<\/p>\n

Don’t be part of the “not my problem” problem- answer your phone even if you don’t recognize the number.\u00a0 Don’t ever make a caller feel as if they are unimportant, whether they are a buyer, seller or fellow agent.\u00a0 Return messages promptly, and if you say you’re going to call by 11am, call by 11am or be prepared at 12pm to call with an apology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let’s change this industry from one equivalent to Seth’s terrible experience with PayPal into the customer service beacon it should<\/strong> be.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seth Godin wrote this week about the customer service call centers set up with conflicting goals.\u00a0 Regarding his experience with PayPal: The desired outcome (I go away) doesn’t seem like it’s aligned with the corporate goals (I stick around). Most call centers reward employees for non-escalated calls and for shorter calls.\u00a0 I experience this primarily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-real-estate","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1888,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1888\/what-would-you-do-with-a-totally-free-mobile-phone\/","url_meta":{"origin":2313,"position":0},"title":"What would you do with a totally free mobile phone?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We haven't talked about the gPhone rumors, the possibly-apocryphal mobile phone alleged to be forthcoming from Google. I read about vaporware all the time, but I tend not to remark on it. Today is different. Consider these conjectures from Seth:My non-inside prediction of what the third-generation phone they ship will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1597,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1597\/iphone-may-herald-a-whole-new-way-to-shop-for-homes\/","url_meta":{"origin":2313,"position":1},"title":"iPhone may herald a whole new way to shop for homes","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"This is me in today's Arizona Republic (permanent link). \u00a0iPhone may herald a whole new way to shop for homes Could Apple's new iPhone have been more hyped? Maybe not, but a feature of the mobile phone announced last week could have an enduring impact on real estate marketing. Technology\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":505,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/505\/dont-shoot-the-messenger-shoot-the-editor-instead\/","url_meta":{"origin":2313,"position":2},"title":"Don’t shoot the messenger — shoot the editor instead . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a call from my editor at The Arizona Republic earlier today. To be honest, I thought it was The Goodbye Look. I'm utterly amazed that they've let me carry on like this for a year, and lately I'm pushing even more than my normal share of buttons. And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":119,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/119\/you-buy-something-you-pay-mkay\/","url_meta":{"origin":2313,"position":3},"title":"You buy something, you pay, m’kay?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Friday can be my dread day. I write a small real estate column for the West Valley sections of the Arizona Republic. That is not nearly as sexy as it sounds. They give me 350 words -- might you have guessed that I can go on at greater length? --\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5903,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/5903\/not-all-dinosaurs-are-extinct\/","url_meta":{"origin":2313,"position":4},"title":"Not\u00a0All Dinosaurs Are Extinct","author":"Thomas Hall","date":"December 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I know an agent with big hair - she used to drive a Cadillac - she traded it in for a Lexus. She likes to lunch - alot - with friends, clients and colleagues.\u00a0 She started selling real estate when I started high school - basically ALONG time ago. She's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":486,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/486\/my-friday-treat-the-telephonic-equivalent-of-midnight-vandalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":2313,"position":5},"title":"My Friday treat: The telephonic equivalent of midnight vandalism . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"So here comes the call, at 9:27 am. Blocked Caller ID. I don't normally take line-blocked calls, because they're almost always spam. But I was waiting for an important piece of information, so I took the call anyway. An irate Realtor, of course, angry about this morning's Arizona Republic column.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}