Don't let email mistake puzzle your clients.
Here at Tuesday Tactics and Oakley Signs & Graphics, we see thousands of emails every week. From your basic text message to over-the-top HTML email newsletters, we see a huge cross-section of how real estate agents communicate.
Now, we’re not pointing any fingers, but we’ve noticed a variety of common mistakes and faux pas when it comes to email techniques. Below our My Real Helper team has put together a checklist of common email mistakes to avoid. Read these through and see if you can use any of the recommendations to tune-up your communication!
13 Common Professional Email Mistakes from My Real Helper
1. Never automatically email your entire contact list with property/listing information without express permission. Use a professional list management tool like MailChimp to segment your lists.
2. When requesting people update your email address, always include your OLD email address so they can quickly find the old address in their system.
3. Never send email newsletters only using images. If your recipient doesn’t have “images on by default” you’ll end up sending them an annoying, blank email.
4. Avoid excessive font changes within a single email. (Script for “signatures,” multiple font faces, giant & tiny font sizing). Fonts have a direct impact on how professional your message looks.
5. Never, ever send white text on a black or dark background. Many times background colors will not be displayed, thus making your message completely invisible.
6. Do you need massive signatures attached to every message? If you have a one word response, does it merit a 60k signature? Use short signatures for short messages– just the essential contact info.
7. Don’t set an email autoresponder to automatically reply to every message that comes in. It’s no longer necessary to robotically confirm your message “was received.” In fact, it’s not really received until you read and understand it.
8. Beware of contextually inappropriate autoresponders, for example: “Thank you for searching for a home with us!” when in fact, someone has just emailed you a question.
9. Careful about over-sharing personal/private information in an autoresponder: i.e. “We will be out of the country for three weeks for experimental medical treatments.” etc.
10. Avoid short, abstract responses when the original message has been deleted. I.e. “I will.” as a response without previous email messages in the chain. Will what? People need context & reminders.
11. This is a big one: Don’t CC:everyone in your contact list when you send out a message. It exposes others’ in your list to spam and the dreaded “Reply to all:” when someone replies “LOL!” If you don’t use a list management software, send the email to yourself and BCC: your contact list.
12. Hey, when was the last time you verified the accuracy of the contact information in your signature? It’s very easy to overlook this, especially when it’s automatically appended to your messages.
13. Forgetting to include social media contact methods. But only list the ones you actually use / respond to!
There are others, but these are the big offenders. Sometimes the decision to choose one agent over the other is made in the tiniest details. Don’t let questionable communication habits knock you off the top of the list.
Photo credit: Horia Varlan
