An Open Letter to the Applicant Who Emailed Me Recently

Dear Potential Applicant,

I was excited when I received your resume and email that day.  You had the right kind of experience, although you were new to real estate.  You had years of sales, great references (although I didn't get a chance to call them), and you offered something special that I was looking for on our team: you were bilingual.  All in all, I was really looking forward to meeting with you.

So what went wrong?

It's simple really.  I called you within minutes of reviewing your credentials.  I followed my call with a quick and friendly email to make sure you knew I was trying to reach you.  Then, my mental clock started to tick....and tick.....and tick. 

My initial enthusiasm waned after the first 24 hours passed, then the first 48 hours, then 72.  After FOUR days, you left me a voice mail, letting me know that you just got my message. 

In this case, it was too little, too late. 

On the voice mail you left, you sounded more than a little hesitant.  "Afraid" or "skittish" might be a better description.  However, I could have overlooked that.  I could also have overlooked the fact that you repeated the word "and" at least five times near the end, stating "and...and....and....and...and....talk about real estate."

Sincerely, I have seen past small errors in the past, even hiring agents that seemed a little nervous, because they seemed to have a lot of raw potential.

In your case, you committed the cardinal sin, so to speak.  If you can't manage to return calls to the BROKER in a timely manner, how would you treat your clients?  I fear that I already know this answer. 

My attitude may seem unforgiving to you, or to anyone else reading this note.  I would like to point out that you didn't offer any excuse to back up why you didn't check your voice mail or email for four days running.  Of course, I am not encouraging you to lie.  I have a pretty good meter for that kind of thing, too.

Anyway, no hard feelings (from me, at least).  Just know that I was really anxious to meet you, but it wasn't a productive use of my time after you handled things so poorly on your end. 

I would wish you luck at another company, but I have a strong feeling that you would be better served working in an employee capacity, rather than being self-employed.  It takes a good deal of discipline to make it in this business, especially during tough economic times.  Why not leave a spot open in the industry for someone else, someone who tries a bit harder?

Sincerely,

Jason Crouch, Broker/Owner

Austin Texas Homes, LLC