Providing feedback to sellers

So... What did they think

By Lisa Wellman
RE/MAX Achievers

You know the moment - the moment your Seller asks "What did they think?" You know the feeling when you have no answer. You haven't received any feedback from the showing agent! You make a mad scramble to the phone or the computer to track down the showing agent to try to get feedback.

We are in a unique situation. We are competitors, yet we need to help each other. It's a satisfying feeling to work together for the best interests of both parties. In our current market situation we need to accommodate Sellers as much as possible -- after all, they are paying us. With more inventory in our market, we can't justify why the house isn't selling unless we get feedback.

Sellers live for feedback! No matter how long you've been in the business, each of us knows how important it is for Sellers to hear any information from a showing -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- and getting nothing is worse. Sellers want to hear every detail?even if the showing agent isn't going to write an offer - they want to hear Buyer's reactions to their home.

As the showing agent, you are the one who can offer useful, quality feedback on condition and price and any suggestions for improvements. Most likely, you have seen the other homes in the area so you are the best source of information. You are able to give detailed, specific information on how one particular home compares to another.

Not only is it important to be able to provide our sellers with feedback, its common courtesy. We need to put ourselves in the Seller's shoes. A seller wants to know what people think of their home. Sellers don't understand why they do not hear anything. We know that if you don't get an offer after a showing, it's obvious the Buyers aren't interested - but Sellers still want to know why.

For those of you who like technology, www.homefeedback.com is a web-based automated service that requests and enters feedback from showing agents. It allows Buyer's agents to communicate with you via email and www.homefeedback.com compiles all of the responses into reports for your Seller. However, the key to making this an effective tool is that showing agents need to respond and answer questions you provide.

There are numerous ways we have to communicate with each other. Let's communicate! Leave a midnight voice mail if necessary or send an E-mail or fax! It's one of the important elements of our service to our clients and to our colleagues.