Although real estate agents are expected to work 40 hours a week, the most successful agents tend to log in many extra hours.
Real estate agents like to be available for their clients seven days a week, which is why they take plenty of calls on their mobile phones. However, many of them cannot separate their professional life from their personal, having only one mobile phone.
If you’re dealing with this problem, you came to the right place. Read on to learn why business mobiles for realtors are a must.
Work-Life Balance
As a real estate agent, your work doesn’t stop when the clock hits 5 pm. Clients can call at any time of the day, and you often have to do showings on the weekends.
Even though it might seem like you have to be on-call 24/7, you still need to maintain your personal and business life separate. If your personal and business phone are combined, you will have a more difficult time putting it away.
While you might be tempted to put your phone away for the night, you also want to be available for your friends and family members.
However, if you have a personal business and personal phone, you will be able to turn off your business phone for the night and focus on your family.
Added Privacy
It’s no secret people live glued to their smartphones. In fact, the average person has over 80 apps downloaded on their smartphones.
Oftentimes, when you download a new app, they will ask for your personal information to create a new account. If you use social media, you might have noticed you will see ads relating to all of your personal searches.
Also, having real estate apps next to your game of solitaire can get tiresome after a while.
If you mix personal with business, you could end up mixing your personal and business information. As a real estate agent, you owe to your clients to keep a certain level of privacy.
You also want to protect your privacy, and having your business phone registered to your personal address can put you at risk for security issues. The best way to keep your business and personal information private is by having separate phones.
Filter Marketing Calls
As a real estate agent, you want potential clients to get a hold of you, so your information will be out in the open. Real estate agents have their number displayed on bus benches, newspapers, Zillow, RedFin, and more.
Although they usually list their office number, it is not uncommon for them to also list their mobile phone. If you use your mobile phone to conduct business, expect to get phone calls all day, and not only from clients.
Once a marketing agency, SEO companies, web design companies, and others get a hold of your phone number, the calls won’t stop. While receiving phone calls is part of a real estate agent’s daily work, no one wants to get dozens of marketing calls on their personal phone.
If you want to avoid having marketing calls on your personal phone, it’s important you get a phone for business.
Also, you’re more likely to screen calls on your personal phone. Most of us let phone calls from unknown numbers go to voicemail if they come from an unknown number.
However, if you screen too many calls, you could miss out on opportunities from potential clients. You’re more likely to pick up more calls on your business phone than your personal.
Keep Personal Interactions Separate
Real estate agents need to act professionally whenever they answer a work call. However, they also have personal lives, and they enjoy having a more relaxed attitude.
If you’re a real estate agent and use your mobile phone for personal and business calls, you will have to act professionally 100 percent of the time. You can’t answer the phone thinking its a childhood friend, and it turns out its a client.
There are many things that can go wrong when you use your personal phone to conduct business. The best way to keep your personal interactions is by having two separate lines.
Voicemail Can Get Too Crowded
Unless all you do is answer phone calls all day, there’s no way you will be able to pick up every call you get. Using your mobile phone for business and personal means you will get double the voicemails.
If a potential client seller or buyer calls and your voicemail is full, you could miss out on your commission. As a real estate agent, it is important you get back to those clients right away, and you cannot do that if they can’t leave a voicemail.
Having two separate voicemail inboxes is the best way to prevent getting too many calls.
Added Professionalism
Having a dedicated mobile phone will add an extra level that professionalism to your brand. Having a business phone tells your clients you’re a true professional and adds credibility.
Clients and other vendors will take you seriously if you have a dedicated mobile phone for your real estate business.
Business Phone Solutions
If you are ready to transition to having a business and personal line as a real estate agent, you have several options.
The most obvious way to fix the issue is by carrying two phones. Separate phones will ensure you keep business and personal calls separate, but you will have to pay two separate bills. Also, make sure you’re able to tell them apart.
If you don’t want to carry two physical phones, you can add a VOIP line or virtual phone system for business usage.
There are many online service providers that provide cloud phone services, so you have a separate line come through directly through your phone. View more info here on adding a business line to your phone.
Time to Embrace Business Mobiles as a Realtor
Now that you know why realtors need to use business mobiles to conduct business, you’re ready to take the next step.
Business mobiles help you filter marketing calls, add a level of privacy, help you have a work-life balance, and more.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more business tips, check out the rest of our blog.