If you’re on time you’re late.
AM 570 Podcast
Column from The Wave
Ask any successful businessperson what’s their most valuable asset and they’ll surely tell you that it’s their time. Ask any responsible and respectful person what bothers them most when meeting with someone and they’ll surely tell you it’s tardiness from the other person. Respect for people’s time is not only a hallmark of good character, it’s also a great barometer of one’s professionalism. That’s why, as a broker, it’s of the highest importance to always arrive on time, or even a few minutes early, to a scheduled appointment.
We’re living in a time when there’s more information in the palm of our hands than ever before. Not only can we get a live and accurate ETA for a destination near or far from one’s current location, and at a moment’s notice, but we can also ask our preferred mapping application for an ETA from point A to point B at a future date and time as well. With all of this technology at our fingertips, how can anyone fail to properly plan their schedule or arrive on time nowadays? Well people and circumstances are not perfect. Can the app get it wrong at times? Absolutely. Can there be an unforeseen event like an automobile breakdown or accident to slow us down along the way? Absolutely. But that’s why people should plan to arrive a little early and always phone the other party, apologetically, as soon as it’s suspected that the promise to arrive on time will likely be broken. Phoning someone a few minutes before the scheduled appointment time to say that you’re going to be more than a few minutes late is disrespectful and very unprofessional. In essence, if you’re a buyer or seller, and a broker calls 10 minutes before an appointment to say that they’re going to be 20 minutes late, you should cancel, not reschedule, that appointment on the spot.
As a real estate professional I do my absolute best to never arrive late when meeting with anyone. Clients and customers need to always know that I respect them. They also need to understand that I know how to manage my very busy schedule. Being on time for one appointment also assures that my next appointment will be kept as well. I take nothing for granted and consider myself as constantly being interviewed, by everyone, at all times. Trust is built when respect is offered. Good business and stress-free transactions happen when there’s a reciprocal respect between brokers, sellers and buyers. It’s my opinion that without trust and respect sellers may not hire you to represent them and buyers will not feel comfortable enough to give their best offer on your listing. I know this might sound very basic, but I cannot tell you how often real estate professionals (brokers, agents, appraisers, etc.) are unapologetically late to appointments and ignorant of the many ways in which this simply prohibits trust.
As a professional, I often have to suck it up when buyers and other professionals are late to my listings because, as a seller’s broker, it’s my fiduciary obligation to my client to insure a smooth and successful transaction without letting personal feelings or emotions get in the way. On the other hand, if you are interviewing a broker to bring your property to market, or are meeting an agent to visit a house listed for sale, you should be on high alert if they’re more than a few minutes late, especially without giving you proper notice. Based on my experience, they’re immediately showing you that they don’t respect you and that the unprofessionalism will only get worse from there.
