People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care ...

Sounds like a tongue twister, doesn't it?

The title is one of those expressions I've heard for years that I never got the full impact of the statement until a certain event "slammed" the point right at me.

I "get it" now..

I referred a client I work with over to a mortgage lender that I previously never worked with. Normally I don't do that and there has to be a very good reason for this. I don't like my clients being "guinea pigs" for untested service, but in this case I had NO choice. There was a bank owned property that my client wanted to make an offer on; one of the conditions of making an offer with this REO was that any prospective purchasers HAVE TO be pre approved by the bank that owns the property. After jumping through a few hoops, I found a mortgage officer from this lender and set the thing up.

I should have known from the beginning. I called the mortgage guy up on Thursday mid morning and Saturday afternoon rolls around and still no answer. I tried to find another mortgage officer from the same lender and found someone with an attitude problem (as far as I'm concerned) that she didn't want to waste her time on my client if he ONLY wanted to "use" her for a pre approval and then go somewhere else. "Lady, I can't guarantee I'll get up out of bed tomorrow and you want me to PROMISE my client will use you for the mortgage?" It's not enough for me to provide a lead to someone untested; I now also have to GUARANTEE my leads! Ah, if I could only live THAT "charmed" a life LOL..

Nope, I'll stick with the first guy, the one who doesn't return calls in a timely fashion. Finally I got ahold of him, some bull excuse about his cell phone not working. Get a Blackberry or IPhone, my friend.. LOL.. Anyways, I shrug it off and hope for the best.

From what I understand, my client rightfully starts verbalizing his frustration with this guy; how he never calls back and sometimes has to wait for days, at times OVER 3 days, for a callback. I understand the business and I personally don't make it a habit to call my clients and customers with meaningless wasted breath, but if I am called, I CALL BACK. And I try to call within minutes if possible. The only times I can't call imediately are either if I am at a class where I am NOT ABLE OR ALLOWED to call, or if I am at an appointment. Usually I am able to call back within two hours. Rarely will I let a call go to the next day unless the circumstances demand it. I also use text messaging and/or email, but the point is I DO GET BACK...

For me to deal with someone who doesn't operate like that puts me WAY OUT of my comfort zone. I consciously avoid people like that. I just can't handle it. If I refer someone to a service provider, whether it be a mortgage lender, home inspector, even another agent for a buyer agent, I insist out of them the same level of follow up service I provide myself.

So, getting back to my story, the loans (two properties for this lender) roll along, and I suppose everything's going through, except for the fact the mortgage guy is eternally unreachable by email or phone. I personally am getting frustrated by having to deal with someone who seems to work on their beat, not mine. Meanwhile, my client, rightfully so, is "bitching" at me left and right. He starts asking me for names of other mortgage lenders. I explain that may not be his best option but HE IS MY CLIENT AND I WORK FOR HIS BEST INTERESTS... One thing leads to another, to make a long story shorter, he dumps the first mortgage lender and changes lenders and mortgage officers.

The problem I think service providers have who are extremely competent but lack client service skills is they forget the ole' tagline, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care ..."

They forget people are people. Of course they want competent and knowledgeable people BUT if someone is truly THAT good they understand excellent client service is an integral part of the whole picture. "Communication is the universal solvent:, said L. Ron Hubbard. He was right. All someone needs sometimes is just an acknowledgment that they've been heard, that's all. Of course, an extremist that wants a phone call 8 times a day for no reason other than just to get attention also needs help that a real estate agent nor a mortgage lender is able to professionally provide, but aside from the joking around, any REASONABLE inquiry and phone call should NEVER be ignored. That is akin, in my opinion, to being insulted. Ignorance of any nature can be constituted as an insult, That's not the right thing to do.

Years ago, I made it an issue to return calls. None of this lame "I normally return calls at 11 am and 4:17 pm" crap that I sometimes hear. When I get a voice recording like that, I hang up and move on if I can help it. I honestly don't know who came up with that idea and I know it's even being taught by a couple of real estate coaching companies and trainers, but I personally think it's insulting and demeaning. What if MY times are 10:18 am and 3:24 pm? What do we do now? Never communicate?

Please don't get me wrong. I have no problem with emails and text messaging, but I also have a Blackberry so I can get these communication forms when I'm away from my computer. This problem doesn't apply for just mortgage lenders, so I'm not "singling" them out. I can't understand the agent that I call two, three, or more times to make an appointment and they never call back. If I persist and finally succeed, they have that famous excuse; "I never got any of your 68 messages .. I guess something's wrong with my phone"...

Buddy, I'm going to let you in on a secret. You know why a lot of real estate agents lately have suffered in their earnings? It isn't the economy. It's because they never answer their phones! Jeez!

My answer will probably be from now on, "No ... I think something's wrong with YOU.. " You may have "missed the boat"...