Today I have had an email hit my inbox, which has really been a little confronting.  It’s not like I don’t have that happen from time to time – I am a property manager after all and dealing with confrontation is just a part of the job.  The reason that this one set me down so hard, is that one of our clients told me what he really thought about me… and what he really thought about my staff and the way that we do business….  And to say that I was shocked would be a bit of an understatement to say the least.
His email informs me that “I came to you distrustful and thinking that all real estate agents are complete lying scum…..”   Yep he went there!
I have been dealing with this particular person since he purchased a property through our agency back in 2015 – so not really a very long time, and we were his managing agents from this time, up until this week, when his property was sold again, through the same sales team that he purchased it from.
During my dealings with this particular landlord, I had no idea that this was the perception that he had come to our agency with.  He was a very pleasant person and he received no out of the ordinary treatment from our office in any way.  He was treated in exactly the same way that every other landlord with our agency is treated.
His email got me thinking… would I have treated him differently had I known that he thought this of me?  Would I have gotten defensive each time that he was on the phone, or he sent me an email, as I tried valiantly to ensure that I changed his perception and showed him that I was actually not what he thought?  Or would I have treated him with kid gloves, being overly officious, or speaking in a manner that was not truly my own, to ensure that I went the extra mile for this person, to show him how ‘’amazing’’ my service was?
The thing is, that there was more to his email…  much more.
Thanks so much for all of your help and good work over the last couple of years or so.
‘I came to you distrustful and thinking that all real estate agents are complete lying scum, but all of you in your office have made me change my mind.    I’ve gone online and given you guys a good review.  Next time I buy a house in Lithgow, you guys will be the ones looking after it, and I’ll refer any friend and family to you to manage their properties.  “
I am so pleased that I had the opportunity to turn this landlord around and that what we do in our office, from the front desk, the property management department and the sales department, has left this person with a new perception of what a real estate agent can be.
The online review that he left from our sales department went in a very similar vein…