Does your email address turn off clients?

photo credit: marketingwithmiles

I had lunch recently with a real estate agent who was pitching me to hire him as a buyer’s agent for investment properties.  He presented himself as a having a solid work ethic and excellent knowledge of the market.  But when he handed me his card, he had a firstname86 at hotmail dot com account as his email address.  This turned me off to working with him because of my impression that he was not technologically savvy. 

This may sound silly to some, but I assure you than many of your potential customers are evaluating your professionalism and business by your email address (and your website or blog, but that’s another post).  The good news is that getting and using a more professional email address is very easy.  Below is a review of the different types, and instructions to move toward a more professional image.

Best

Purchase a domain address for your business name and/or your personal name.  Your email address should be as short and memorable as possible.  firstname@mycompany.com ,  firstlast@myfullname.com are both excellent.  You can also purchase a catchy domain like billsellsfast.com.  To do this visit www.Godaddy.com and register a domain.  During the sign-up process you will be coached on how to set-up pop3 email hosting which can be accessed through any email client like Outlook or on the web through a Gmail account.  If you are a computer novice and configuring your own domain through Godaddy seems too much, you can perform similar domain set-up through Google Aps.  Go to www.google.com/a and “get the details.”  This option gives you less control over the domain, but the email address will be the same.

Very Good

If you hang your license and a recognized brand in the industry like Coldwell Banker or Remax or otherwise and you have the ability to use yourname@yourbrokerage.com this is a solid choice.

Good and Acceptable

Finally, if this still seems like too much tech, a Gmail address is the most “acceptable” free email account you can have.  Many internet savvy people understand the power of Gmail and will view this address as novice, but less so that any other web based email.  Even if you do get a domain, getting a Google account and Gmail address should be on your list for reasons I’ll address in another post.  If any variation of yourname@gmail.com is available grab it now before its gone!

Poor

An email address with yourname@someinternetservice.com, which usually comes with cable or DSL service, advertises that you operate your business out of your home and should be avoided.  It is one step up from other web based free email accounts, but having name@comcast.com or name@qwest.com as your domain is not professional enough in today’s market.    If you are using the dreaded @aol.com I can assure you that you are losing almost all internet savvy clients!  It screams “rookie.”  The most common email addresses, like name9876@hotmail, something@msn, and kindofname@yahoo.com are fine for personal addresses but should not be used as your professional email address.

Agents:  Please don’t advertise on your card that you are behind the technology curve by using a free web based email address.   It is fairly simple only costs $10-$20 to purchase a domain name and the accompanying email address. I guarantee it will help portray a better image to your prospects!  Do it today!

Tagged as: agent training, email address, internet marketing, internet technology, investment property, Real estate, real estate blogging, real estate professional, Realtor