It always happens. Nearly every single time. 4 – 6 days before my upcoming, oh-so looking forward to it vacation, its quiet. Strangely quiet. And then Day 1-3 before take off, my business gets very busy - the phone starts ringing, the fax starts beeping, emails chime – all at the same time – you get the picture. I get busy. And I love it. Not sure why my karma makes this happen, but its all ok. So, yes I am very busy the last few days before I leave Denver, and yes, my wife generally has to pack for me – but I can still take a deep breath and relax as I go away as I know that I have left all of you, my clients, in good hands. So even though I am briefly stepping out to re-charge my batteries with my family, business goes on day by day and there are deadlines to meet, out of town clients to show homes to, closings to attend to, contracts that come in, and the list goes on. I know that and understand that you have anxieties about my vacation. There are some real estate agents where the agent simply goes somewhere else and works from there. With technology, email, faxes, cell phones, pdf’s, laptops, etc… there often is little an agent can’t do while on vacation. I’ve known many, many agents that take the files with them and work from wherever they are. This is one way a real estate agent goes on vacation, and it works for some. I just don’t operate this way and neither do many of my colleagues. I realize that life really can and does go on without me, as long as I have done my job well and communicated with everyone. We all need time off to completely re-charge our batteries, and I am no exception. And my family deserves my undivided attention when I am on vacation, just as you do while I am working. I have a very talented and capable colleague that handles all of my business for me while I am on vacation. I am picky about this, I don’t trust this task to just anyone. The small list of people that I will allow someone the opportunity to cover my business are highly respected real estate agents that I absolutely trust and know will treat you as if they were your own. This agent is brought up to speed on all the details of pending transactions. Your file already has detailed notes in it to follow and lists of all the parties to contact. Any potential customers will also know to call this collegue in the event they want to go see homes or list their own home and cannot wait until I return. By the time I leave, I have contacted each of my current clients and let them know exactly who will be helping them, how to reach them, and answered any questions they have. Their numbers are always on my voice mail as well. And my colleague always knows how to reach me in case of a true emergency. I do have everything I would need with me if there was truly something I needed to handle (laptop, access to fax, etc). So far, that has never happened. And yes, I still do check my messages several times just to be certain there isn’t someone that has slipped through and is awaiting assistance. Again, that has never happened but I do make sure of it. So turn the clocks forward 5 or 7 days – Steve returns from vacation, relaxed and rested & ready to be back in the game! And then it will be my turn to hold down the fort for someone else. www.stevescheer.com Denver Area Real Estate RE/MAX Masters, Inc.
