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I'm an app developer, exploring pain points around phone usage within the real estate industry. Do you think voicemail is the optimal solution to a missed call?
Alternative solutions solutions I can think of...
- presenting caller with option to see your current location you are when you can't take the call
- an automated service that lets callers browse for gaps in your online calendar to schedule a viewing
Are you satisfied with the current solutions around voicemail and missed calls?
FWIW, voicemail works just fine for me and I never thought of it as anything that needed improvement. In my message, I tell callers that they can text me as an alternative to leaving a message.
Voicemail sucks. I had a realtor who, every time I called, I got the "voice mail inbox" full message. Honestly I think she was just passive aggressive, and I finally got rid of her.
I exclusively use email or texting, to have that "paper" trail. Email is more reliable than texting.
No way do I want callers to know where I am. It's none of their business. If I tell someone I'm on "an appointment", I don't need them to see my appt might be coaching my son's t-ball team. And I don't keep a calendar as each day is different, and it's no one's business what my day looks like except my own.
He!l to the NO would I use an app like you're suggesting.
willem, this may already exist...don't know...but I think I might find an app that would work like this useful: I get a voicemail or I finish a phone call. I touch one icon next to the call or VM record and I can then dictate a note that goes to their file or alternatively create a calendar event...all by talking. Then, when I sync, I'd like all of that to sync to my Outlook, or the Cloud, or Google, etc. This is just off the top of my head. I use iPhone, btw.
No way do I want callers to know where I am. It's none of their business. If I tell someone I'm on "an appointment", I don't need them to see my appt might be coaching my son's t-ball team. And I don't keep a calendar as each day is different, and it's no one's business what my day looks like except my own.
He!l to the NO would I use an app like you're suggesting.
This. Voice mail is fine, and yes, I advise that they can text me. But I'm not crazy about anyone who calls me being able to see where I am (who on earth ever thought that kind of thing is a good idea?), not just for the reason that FalconheadWest gave but for security reasons.
And my calendar can change from minute to minute - I might have on there that I'm showing houses and suddenly be back in the office writing a contract because one of the houses was "the one".
Person to person contact, even via voicemail/email/text, is much better and fits in more with our business which is, after all, a "people business".
I use Google voice for my real estate business, and I really like that when a voice mail is left, it is dictated and emailed to me. So I can see who called and what the message was without having to listen to the voice mail message. Very convenient.
I wouldn't use an app like that. Real estate isn't like getting a haircut. It is extremely fluid, and I can't have clients booking time on their own because I might need to go run a HUD document somewhere and I don't book that time on my calendar. I just mentally do it after such and such appointment. It would be insanely time consuming to have to create appointments for all of those errands, like removing a lockbox, dropping off an earnest money check, etc, to avoid having a client book that time online.
No caller needs to see where I am. That's creepy.
My clients know that text and email is the best way to get a hold of me so I get few phone calls. Ring Central emails me any messages from my business line so everything is on my cell. It's just not that complicated.
Security is a huge thing. That's also why I won't use FourSquare or "check in" on facebook. People don't need to know when I'm not home as I don't need them thinking they can come break into my house and help themselves to whatever because they know I'm 30 minutes away showing houses...
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