Texting is the New E-mail
Like all Gaul, my time is divided into three parts.
Like all Gaul, my time is divided into three parts.
One of the most important parts of my day involves the fulfillment of my customers' orders. That is first.
Production responsibility.
I put real estate listings into the Multiple Listing Service for those customers selling their own house For-Sale-By-Owner. The MLS gives them greater exposure, but they do not have to pay me the commission they normally would pay for an agent to list their house in the traditional way. They build their own deck, I just sell them a hammer to use.
The gathering of information is partially automated by one of my websites, but in the end, I still have to complete that process by hand, and it is pretty time-consuming.
It’s not a process that can be jumped into and out of easily.
Communication responsibility.
The second part of my time use is communication.
I provide the very most thorough and accurate instruction possible. After 38 years of doing this, I know to include written instructions, as well as video, as well as Q and A in prominent positions on my website.
More and more, it seems people think it a better use of their time to wait and ask me a question, rather than read the directions.
So they (along with some outside salespeople) send me hundreds of emails over dozens of channels, with more coming each week. They also call my telephone dozens of times, and although my outgoing voice asks them not to leave a message, most don't feel that applies to them.
Which leads us to text, a newer cousin of e-mail, which tends to present a more immediate need and response. If I can’t be reached by phone, people feel a text will cut right through the delay. If I can't come to the phone, this process will certainly remedy that.
Family/personal responsibility.
The third part of my life is family/personal. It's pretty self-explanatory.
Many of us, even if we have a business, also have a family, or grass to cut. The sense of immediacy involved in text messaging is felt to override other activities.
People who are involved in emergency services, and who are on-call benefit from this immediacy. People who just run a store or a website do not.
When I first started doing business as a flat-fee MLS entry-only broker, a couple of decades ago, a huge part of my job and my presentation was educational. Some people weren't even sure what I was doing was legal. So I had to teach some.
Now I have to teach again.
How do I respond to texts?
I cannot work on my clients' listings and chat with them at the same time. So I check my texts two or three times a day, at regular times and return the texts as needed. Like e-mail.
Many phones have an area for quick-text replies. Construct one that politely says that your text will be answered at such a time, and send it quickly after the original text, or simply wait ‘til your preferred time, and respond as if that is your normal response time.
I tell my customers that they paid me to list their property, so that was my priority since I couldn't do both.
It is slow sometimes, but people eventually get better with it. In the beginning, some of my customers think they are my only customers and should be taken care of immediately. This process lets them slow down without damage being done.
Some never get past that, but most do.
Then at noon or three or five, or even at eight Monday morning, their needs can always be dealt with, and much of the time the customers have gone back and read the directions and found the answer for themselves.
The line at the bottom.
The texting technology is still just new enough to have both sides enamored and intimidated. Half love being able to command someone’s attention immediately, and the other half seem afraid not to jump to.
I think with some practice, it could eventually become a useful tool, and with some discipline, it could even become a civilized one.
I absolutely love my customers. I make my living working for them. I like their business too much to let the telephone get in the way.
Thanks for your time.
Don’s a keen observer and prolific reporter of truth, common sense, humor, & life. He is a WRITER|CREATOR|HUMORIST — Don@DonMartinBooks.com — Follow him at twitter.com/DonMartinBooks — “BIG-TIME WRITER”- Insider Newsletter
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