Those readers under a certain age will not have heard of a movie called Cool Hand Luke. Some of you might not have heard of its lead actor, Paul Newman, which is a shame because the film and the actor are worth seeing.
For those not in the know, Paul Newman was a superstar and fine actor who looked a bit like me except he had more hair, piercing blue eyes, a chiselled chin, a slim athletic build, a smile that women would swoon over and a natural charm and charisma that meant women wanted him, and men wanted to be him.
Cool Hand Luke was set in a Florida prison that was a statement in brutality and punishment and the key theme was the defiance of Luke, played by Newman.
There are several excellent scenes; I watched the film on TV as a teenager and I quite enjoyed the car washing scene involving the prison governor’s daughter.
And there is a scene where the prison governor hits and prepares to punish rebellious Luke.
In the scene he says: “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
The line became part of the lexicon of the 1970s and 1980s and if there was a mix-up over something someone might say, “what we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
In real estate, communication is everything, but it comes in many forms. How I communicate with clients is largely determined by what they prefer.
Often someone’s age is the key determinant. It is stating the bleeding obvious that people in their 20s and early 30s generally prefer texting. Other clients are happy with the occasional text but prefer important conversations to be verbal, which is what I like.
I have an older client who doesn’t have a mobile phone so the only way I can contact him is on his landline. He lives in a fairly big house and his hearing isn’t fantastic so sometimes he doesn’t hear the phone. I used to leave a message on his answering machine but he doesn’t know how to retrieve the messages … or, perhaps he just doesn’t want to bother with it.
So now, when he doesn’t answer the phone I set aside a bit of time later in the day and drop around and see him. He lives near me so if he isn’t home when I swing by I go back later in the day when I am home.
It means that we plan the upcoming sale of his house face to face. We chat about other things as well but the time is spent productively moving things forward.
When the property goes on the market I will no doubt be dropping around to discuss feedback from buyers and any offers we get. We’ll be doing it face to face.
In a world where everything has been changed by technology it is crucial that an agent works out what the client wants and that what we have is never a failure to communicate.
