Shannon Murray-Corsale

I believe the easiest, most polite and professional way to divert a "non-client" is to cite "agency relationship"; simply let them know that since they have already chosen to be represented by another agent, and since you have not been retained to represent them for a fee, it would be improper for you to offer any opinion or guidance on the matter. The non-client will not be able to respond to that, and you aren't tempted to expend energy "reacting" to their request. If they persist, restate their request to them slowly, repeatedly and with sarcastic emphasis on the unreasonableness of it. Eventually they will understand that they have asked you for something ridiculous and something that they themselves would not be willing to agree to, if they were in your position. "Let me make sure I understand what you are asking of me: You would like me to do 'x' for you, on my own time and at my own expense and liability, even though you are not my client..." In our chosen profession, it is extremely important to be assertive. If you find yourself often feeling anxious to the point where you believe you need to fake an illness in order to keep someone from blatantly imposing upon you, then it is your issue, not theirs. Your knowledge, kindness and willingness to help others is a great asset, however if you don't firmly establish boundaries with your business contacts, it can cause you to be a magnet for people like your non-client. Take some time to objectively fine tune yourself and what you radiate out to the world. You will find that these "non-clients" will fade away effortlessly and you won't have to spend time and energy creating "excuses" to protect yourself. Know who your "ideal clients" are, and work only with those who are deserving of, and appreciate, your time and expertise. Shannon Murray-Corsale www.shannoncorsale.com www.facebook.com/shannoncorsale

Beautiful blog, Kris! Thank you for capturing the market of the moment so poignantly yet with so much levity. Keep up the good work! - Shannon Murray-Corsale www.shannoncorsale.com www.facebook.com/shannoncorsale www.linkedin.com/in/shannoncorsale

Teresa, I read your article and was excited to see that you were able to make contact with numerous prospects who otherwise might not have found you through more traditional means. Regardless of how contact is made, once you have made contact, it is up to you to employ your agent skills in sorting through those propects to find the motivated, and to determine the level of service you are truly able to provide. You may have had success referring those prospects out to other real estate agents, which would have protected your own time, energy and emotions. Don't ever hesitate to refer out or say to a potential client "I am not the best person to help you, but here's someone who is...", especially since it would have prevented these frustrating experiences for both you...and your clients. With the real estate profession being one of the early adopters of the social networking medium as a business application, we should be thrilled about the success we have had and the reach it has given us. There are many positive reasons to keep using the SN sites to grow your business. I hope the intention behind your article was not to try to discourage fellow agents from building an online presence, based upon your own subjective personal experiences which do not seem to be the fault of the sites themselves. I think when you have an audience as large as you do here on Inman, you need to respect our time as well by providing useful, thought-provoking material from a place of positive contribution. I think what you have shared with us today is more of a rough draft of what could have been a very useful learning experience for you...one that has little to do with social networking sites. I hope the quality of your posts, and the quality of your beliefs about the service you provide as a real estate agent and the value of your time, improve dramatically as a result of all the comments you have received on this article. Sincerely, Shannon Shannon Murray-Corsale www.shannoncorsale.com