Safety First: How to Ensure Your Safety at Property Showings
It's common to be concerned for your safety when you have a property showing. After all, your clients are complete strangers until you enter a professional relationship with them. There have been cases where property agents were attacked between the years of 2012 and 2016. It your duty to ensure you do not become the next victim and you should always be prepared for your own safety and not wait until the unthinkable occurs.
The following 5 tips should help to ensure your safety and enhance your confidence as a sales professional:
Stranger Danger
Avoid organizing a private property showing if you are meeting your client for the first time. Unless your client is someone you know, you should always meet them at a public place like your office or a coffee shop for the first time. Make a record of your client, which can include making a copy of the driver’s licence, their names, and contact details.
Situational Awareness
Inspect your surroundings when driving to the location of your property showing. Before your client arrives, be sure to know where all the exits of the property are and that they are unlocked. Avoid leading your client through the property if you are alone with them. Let them enter the room first while you stay by the door, allowing for a quick exit if anything happens.
Work in Pairs
For some agents, it might make sense to bring a colleague from your office with you when doing private showings after-hours or in isolated areas. Don’t be shy about asking someone to accompany you. If you have felt insecure with a client before, now is the chance to be prepared if you know you will be in a vulnerable situation again or in a part of town with a high crime rate.
Have a Way to Call For Help
Avoid attending a property showing without a full-charged phone and 911 on speed dial. If you are working in a team, agree with your teammates on a distress word to use whenever you want to make clear that something is wrong. If you are an app-savvy individual, you can even consider installing an alert app, such as the BSafe app on your smartphone.
Carry Protective Devices
According to a 2011 survey by Moby, a mobile app company, 90% of men and women carried mobile phones as a safety device, 25.2% of women used pepper sprays and no less than 14.8% of men had a handgun while on the job. Whatever you decide to use, make sure you know how to handle it, it is legal to possess and use, and its presence does not intimidate your potential clients.
Although many consider being a real estate agent to be among the safest professions, it will pay off if you took the proper measures to maintain your personal safety and security. It's a mindset that could save you from becoming victim to a crime, be it a snatch theft, car-jacking, robbery or worse.