Jessica Hickok

By Jessica Hickok

Our profession is one of the most mispronounced professions of all time.  Those of us who know that we are REAL-TORS just roll our eyes when someone calls us a Reel-A-Tore.

I remember a story that my broker’s wife told me once when I first got into the business.  Her husband (obviously a REALTOR®) took a business call while attending a birthday party.  Although he was polite and went outside to handle the call, he was gone for quite some time leaving the wife alone at the party.  While he was gone, another party-goer asked the wife where the broker had disappeared to.  She casually mentioned that her husband was a REALTOR® and that he had an important contract he was working on, therefore stepping away from the party.  The party-goer nodded his head and changed the subject.  However, after 10 minutes of conversation, he turned to the broker’s wife and said to her “Your husband should be here enjoying the party not working.  You are right, he is a real turd.”  Although she understood her husband’s job, she couldn’t help but agree that he was being a real turd for leaving her at the party alone for so long.

I started this post off by writing about how hard it can be to spend quality time with your family, friends and loved ones when being a REALTOR® is often being on-call 24/7.  So here are some things to ponder in order to avoid the “real turd” label:

1)     Consider how loud you are talking on that fancy Bluetooth headset of yours in a quiet restaurant.

2)     Stop updating your Facebook status with some version of “call me for all your real estate needs!”  Your friends already know you are a REALTOR®.

3)     Practice using the phrase of “I’m sorry I have another appointment at that time” for when a buyer client wants to go see a house at the same time as your kid’s first soccer game.

4)     Put your phone on vibrate when you’re “off work.”  And give those around you a break from hearing your moneyline ring off the hook.

In other words, take a break and go enjoy the party.

Jessica Hickok, a self-proclaimed blogging- and Twittering-fanatic, is with Dizmang Properties in Springfield, Mo. Visit Jessica’s blog: www.jessicahickok.com.