FEEDBACK. THE LONG WAIT...
Here is the rough idea.
A Realtor shows 22 Main Street at 3:00 pm today. It is now 4:30 pm, and you, the owner, are eager to hear how things went. Then it's 6:00 pm... 7:00 pm...
You text your Realtor. "How did the showing go?" It is quite possible your Realtor has heard nothing.
Most homes these days are on a system called Broker Bay with a small number using another program called Showing Time. Within 30 minutes of us showing a property, we receive a text and/or an email asking us how things went. Included in that are 2 or 3 multiple choice questions.
How did your showing go? Great. Pretty good. Not great.
Do your clients have any interest in the home? Yes. No. Maybe.
What did you think of the price? Too high. Just right. Too low.
Will your clients be making an offer? Yes. Maybe. No.
If the end of the night arrives and your Realtor has yet to hear anything, there are a few things possibly happening.
- The buyer's Realtor was run off their feet today and simply hasn't had a chance to respond to the feedback requests.
- Some Realtors who have been around for longer, respond better to the way things used to get done. A call may get a better response from them.
- Some Realtors simply don't make the effort to respond. It's easier to delete the feedback request than it is to take the 30 seconds to complete it. Unfortunate but true.
Meanwhile, the home seller is twisted in knots at the silence. Afterall, some news is better than no news right? And that is part of the collateral damage that we listing Realtors experience. With nowhere else to turn, the home seller may take out frustrations or disappointments on their Realtor. And we have all been there. Showing after showing, we hear crickets when trying to gather feedback.
What is the point of feedback?
When a restaurant has a 'soft opening', they are looking to see how the market responds to what they're offering. Is the menu sufficient? How is the ambience? What about the prices? The service? That feedback is invaluable. It allows you to assess whether you've hit the market or not.
With a home, we are looking for real intel.
- How is it priced in relation to other homes they've seen?
- Is there enough interest that the buyers want to be kept in the loop with regards to other activity?
- Did they notice something that we didn't think about? Can we fix it or improve it for future showings?
Then there is the frustrating feedback that most sellers will not enjoy.
- The clients really want a bungalow, even though the home is a 2 storey - why book the showing then?
- They didn't like the colours on the wall - paint is the easiest renovation
- They didn't like that it backed onto a school - even though that was in the photos
But as a seller, you have to be prepared for any and all feedback. Think of the restaurant owner. For every 4 or 5 pieces of feedback, 2 or 3 may be useful insight. Take it was a few grains of salt. Accept what can be changed and what is ridiculous and then move on.
CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR
We have seen plenty of sellers over the years who stress while waiting for the feedback and then become enraged when they receive it. As Realtors, we try to filter the feedback in an effort to reduce the roller coaster that our sellers may already be on. So, with feedback, it's no different.
Just remember. When you serve a meal in your new restaurant and then ask what the customer thought of it, be prepared for all feedback, for better or for worse.