Realtor-to-Realtor Spam: Enough Already!

One of my biggest challenges in real estate is not the actual business of real estate, but sifting and deleting the large amounts of spam that I receive.  Much of this involves companies that want to hawk their latest tools and leads that will ‘boost’ Realtor sales, ya da ya da.  Some of this is the pure-phishing spam that comes through (who knows how I could ever stop it). 

The other spam I receive is unsolicited emails from other Realtors operating across the Phoenix area.  These Realtors usually are shopping their listing across the 40,000+ Realtors in the Phoenix area or a broker looking to recruit new members with the promise of leads. 

My Inbox is large enough without having to manage this inflow.  The fact is that hassling with these emails takes valuable time away from my clients.  I am 99.9% cetain that the listing that a Realtor sends to me will not trigger me to look and send to a client.  I rely on the searches in MLS (that I perform and create for clients) based on the client’s individual needs and desires, not on the generic listing that comes through in an email.

As such, it seems to me that this kind of activity really is inappropriate.  It is taxing to servers and inboxes and incurs a ‘charge’ on those servers and in the time it takes for someone to review and delete these emails. 

This isn’t a new argument.  It’s been around for at least 10 years!  There is a reason that spam is looked at for the nasty thing that it is.  So, why is the Realtor community essentially contributing to this, all in the name of ‘marketing their listing’ or recruiting agents? 

I Unsubscribed, But I Didn’t Really

Often times, Realtors will use email distribution companies that allow a ‘SafeUnsubscribe” or similar function.  However, when another Realtor goes to unsubscribe from the email list, that Realtor is not given a choice to unsubscribe from the master list that that company may hold but unsubscribe from future emails from the individual Realtor.  So, the company that facilitates this email will likely keep sending other email when other Realtors use their services. 

Case in point today and yesterday.  I received two emails from Kristin Armbruster and Joe Monnig from Prudential Arizona Properties marketing listings they have.  When I opted out of their emails, I am asked only to opt out of Prudential Arizona Properties’ emails, not the master list that this email provider may have possession of.  I can tell you that I have ‘opted out’ of many emails being hosted/served by this company, ConstantContact. 

I am sure it won’t take long to experience deja vu all over again based on this.

What If Every Realtor Spammed Every Other Realtor

Here’s some math.  Imagine if 40,000 Realtors in the Valley emailed everyone else 1 email a day.  That would be 40,000 emails for each Realtor’s inbox.  In total, that would be 1.6 billion emails sent out (40,000 x 40,000).  That’s not including the other emails that are received from companies hawking products and the more nefarious types of spam. 

The Recruiting Email

Here’s an example of a Recruiting Email with Promises of Fortune from Curtis Johnson.  The subject is, “(Open Me) Only If You Need More Real Estate Sales in the Valley.”  I tend to find this kind of subject description with the ‘Open Me’ a bit on the irritating side.   

Here’s the message…

“I wanted to catch up with you and see if you can help me out …

“Here’s the deal … we are swamped right now with too many leads from our latest marketing launch … both ready to act buyers and sellers who just need help. Next Tuesday I’m set to launch another one, and instead of shutting it down, I just figured I’d see if you could help me out.

Can you sell homes if you had a stack of hot buyers and sellers?
 
We offer amazing training all week long, and you even get access to a $2,500 training program from day one.
Splits are competitive going all the way to 70% and did I mention the leads?

go take a look right now before you forget … www.YourArizonaRealEstateCareer.com

Look forward to hearing from you … make it great and rock it to the top!

Curtis Johnson”

By the way, my Outlook spam filter automatically caught this one and put it in the spam folder. 

Personally, I think hard data should be included in the email to support claims made here.  I would say this for any email that talks to all the leads new agents can get if they join if that is the primary reason an agent joins the office. 

What Information is Passed On When a Realtor Sends Unsolicited Email?

RE/MAX Achievers in Scottsdale sent me a recruiting message a while back.  As such, when I went to opt out, the server/host of the unsubscribe service actually showed my personal address information.  I called the email distributing company to complain about their having my personal address information and they said it was the individual broker that must have provided it as they don’t maintain that information on their servers. 

I called the broker in question and asked him and he said that he didn’t have it either.  I told him that I wanted to know where the information was obtained.  Despite a few attempts, this broker has not responded at all with the information on where my personal address information was farmed.

My point here is that there should be a distinction between my professional information and my personal information and that this information should not be readily available for abuse by other people in the profession.  There is no viable and justifiable reason for why this information should be listed.  My office address would be acceptable in this regard.   

It May Be Industry-specific, But It Still Could Be Called Spam

The fact is that if it is unsolicited, it should be considered spam.  If I don’t know the Realtor in question who is sending the email and have any level of relationship, it’s unsolicited and I consider it spam.  I wouldn’t take such a harsh tone but when my Inbox and Blackberry begins to get out of control with various unsolicited solicitations and the like and the management of it takes away time from my clients, then it is spam in my mind. 

It’s Time that the Industry Regulated an “Opt-in” Mentality

Let’s create a standard in the industry that says that a Realtor or Broker has to opt-in in order to be sent unsolicited emails.  Of course, I imagine hundreds of thousands would not opt-in (heaven forbid that our voices be heard here).  Perhaps a national registry much like the do-not-call list would suffice but be based on Real estate professionals. 

I’m all for it.  I’m tired of the emails coming in and deluging my Inbox for no good of my own and taking up my time.    

So, enough already!

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Tagged as: realtor spam, realtor to realtor spam