Posted by Stacy (AZ) on April 09, 1999 at 14:40:35:
Ray,
I use it as another indication of motivation. If a caller has called two or three times before leaving a message, this may indicate a more motivated seller.
I use it to look-up their property information on the web…the recorder’s and assessor’s data bases are online here, and it just takes me about ten minutes to get a quick idea about the property. I do this only for those callers I wish to call back. And sometimes I’ve looked up their private residence info, but they were interested in selling a different property. But, since it only takes a few minutes, it doesn’t hurt. I can ask “general” questions about anything I see in public records…such as, “do you have any liens or judgements on the house?” when I’ve seen them in the records. If their reply isn’t honest, I don’t challenge them. I just know better what I’m dealing with.
There are some on this site who use caller ID and some who don’t. I’m curious about what those who do use it DO with that information.
Seems to me the problem is that there is something inherently creepy about caller ID. People know it’s out there, but not many folks encounter it with any regularity. There’s something just a bit big brotherish about it- “we KNOW you called, even if you don’t know we know!”
So, you’ve got the number of someone who called your voice mail and didn’t leave a message. Now what? Call 'em?
A mailing might be a little gentler, but in a way it compounds the problem- “We don’t just KNOW you called, we KNOW where you live!” (most folks have no clue about reverse directories either).
Anyway, after listening to one more hang-up on my voice mail, I thought I’d inquire. Thanks.