I received an interesting comment from a long time REALTOR® friend of mine. He said, “Rich, a good friend and client that I have sold homes to and to their children recently referred one of his daughters to me.  I called the daughter on the phone, sent her a bunch of listings and put her on automatic e-mails.  She called me a few days later to say that she was going to make an offer on a home she saw and her dad told her to call me first.  I almost lost the sale.  The Internet seems to lead to more disloyalty.”

I told him he was wrong.  It doesn’t lead to disloyalty.  In the old days, five or ten years ago the same thing would have happened.  And then as now it is completely preventable. 

I asked him if he ever did buyer appointments with his buyers.  He said no.  I wasn’t surprised.  You see in a buyer appointment you both determine that it is worth your time to spend with the buyer and you show the buyer that they are much safer and will make a much better decision if they work with you exclusively.  Then you show them exactly what you will do, what you expect of them and what they expect of you.

I never and I mean never had disloyal buyers.  It’s simple to understand why.  Despite the fact that I never used an exclusive buyer contract, I explained to the buyer the advantages of working with me, the dangers of buying without me, the absence of any cost to them, and I asked them for their loyalty.  I said, “As long as I do all the things we discussed and I do all the work to get you into the best home at the best price I only ask one thing from you, that is that you work exclusively with me.  If I disappoint you, call me and dump me, I won’t even object.  But as long as I am keeping my commitment to you, I simply ask that you remain committed to me.  Can we agree on that?

It worked in the 80’s for over a decade and it works today.  It saves you time and lots of frustration.  Have a great buyer’s appointment and keep you promises