We’re so often imprisoned by technology which is designed to do just the opposite. I’ve turned down lunch meetings with other pros who make the meeting meaningless because of their irrational need to stay in touch. There’s been a term going around for quite awhile, describing some of the worst of this ‘syndrome’. Crackberry.
Are You Addicted To Your Blackberry? lends credence to what many of us have wondered about — often about ourselves. Are we addicted to technology? Does it adversely affect our relationships with family and friends? No?
Are we in denial?
After reading the post, I double checked my normal business day. Returning an email promptly is cool, but my life isn’t altered if it takes longer than a few minutes, even a few hours. I’ve refused to own a Blackberry, though my future may include an iPhone.
Living our lives under our control — not dictatorial hi-tech tools — should be jealously guarded. Though my refusal to meet professionally with clearly addicted peers has raised a few eyebrows, I literally couldn’t care less.
Nobody’s that damn important. And that includes all of us. Nobody.
David Patterson, Broker CRS ABR says:
Jeff Brown…..What’s a Blackberry? Just Kidding!
I haven’t came to the Blackberry Darkside.
However…It’s only a matter of time.
April 8, 2008 — 2:26 pm
Jeff Brown says:
David — Step away from the Blackberry. 🙂
April 8, 2008 — 2:32 pm
The Mortgage Cicerone says:
Jeff – I have fought getting a Blackberry for many of the reasons you noted. While there have been many times I have wished I had one, I know me and it would develop into a crackberry. Has it hurt me, I don’t think so.
FYI – The iPhone users I have been around are just as bad or even worse that the Blackberry users…SOLEY based on my limited perspective.
April 8, 2008 — 3:02 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Tony — Though an iPhone may be in my future, I didn’t mean to imply it wasn’t in the exact same class as a Blackberry.
i travel so much the iPhone will make life easier. That said, it’s my intention to make use of it for travel. I have no desire to attach an unnatural umbilical cord. 🙂
Even though we do business in several states, with clients coming from literally all over the nation/world, their lives don’t cease to have value because I didn’t reply to them in 34.6 seconds. 🙂
April 8, 2008 — 3:12 pm
Trace says:
I still refuse to get a blackberry….I’m not convinced that it will waste more time than is will save….. perhaps it depends on who you let in your “circle”. I don’t IM for the same reason….everybody just wants to chat….
April 8, 2008 — 3:30 pm
Mike Farmer says:
It’s too late, I have a Blackberry. I’m sinking fast.
April 8, 2008 — 3:47 pm
Craig Tone says:
I’m not sure th..
April 8, 2008 — 4:07 pm
Craig Tone says:
Sorry Blackberry called.
April 8, 2008 — 4:08 pm
The Mortgage Cicerone says:
Jeff – Makes total sense.
April 8, 2008 — 4:14 pm
Brian Brady says:
Craig’s on a roll, today. That was hilarious
April 8, 2008 — 4:35 pm
iamutahrealestate-Marty says:
Wow! I am very happy with my Blackberry. That said I understand some peoples frustration and addiction to the Blackberry and Iphone. For me if someone sends me a text message, I will reply, but when e-mail comes through, I have my scheduled times for replying. It’s all about time management.
It is not just a business tool either, my wife and children enjoy being able to communicate with me without disturbing money making time.
April 8, 2008 — 5:06 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Trace — That’s what I’ve observed — hard working folks turn into 16 year old cheerleaders. Text text text — IM IM IM. Whole bunch of back and forth for not much.
April 8, 2008 — 5:33 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Mike — I’m having trouble imagining a philosopher IMing his afternoon away. 🙂
April 8, 2008 — 5:34 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Craig — Absolutely perfect. I’m with brian, hilarious.
April 8, 2008 — 5:35 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Marty — Sounds to me like you’ve tamed the tiger. Just make sure you’re watchin’ out for the monkey, before he jumps on your back. 🙂
April 8, 2008 — 5:39 pm
iamutahrealestate-Marty says:
It’s the drunk monkey that screws things up!
April 8, 2008 — 6:24 pm
Mike Farmer says:
You’re right, Jeff, I’m too self-absorbed to let the outside world mess with me too much. 🙂
April 8, 2008 — 6:28 pm
Steve Trimboli says:
“A Blackberry is a tool, Jeff, no better or no worse than any other tool, an axe, a shovel or
anything. A Blackberry is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that”.
With that said, common courtesy in using these gadgets is what is needed today.
April 8, 2008 — 6:37 pm
David Stejkowski says:
P.S. Just to reconfirm my addiction, I am getting ready to buy my seventh or eighth BlackBerry (yes, I lost count) so I can stay in touch more easily while I am in Asia this coming Christmas.
In my biz, people demand accessibility. They want me now and if they don’t get me they’ll call someone else. At my billing rates maybe they should. And sometimes I even tell them I am answering them from the 12th tee and charing them for the privilege. 🙂
But I do agree that I’m not that important; I’m just a maniac about getting the job done.
April 8, 2008 — 7:12 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Steve — You’ve hit on the central point — it’s a tool. So why have so many apparently fallen into the black abyss with it? It’s a total mystery to me.
Thanks for the sanity injection. 🙂
April 8, 2008 — 7:27 pm
Jeff Brown says:
David — Wow, seven OR eight. I’m not sure whether to emulate your commitment to client satisfaction, or call in an intervention. 🙂
You and I lead much the same life, in that we run our own shops — folks need to talk to us, not others. That’s where the Blackberry seems to be to be a real effective tool.
Do you find yourself anxious when apart from it? 🙂
April 8, 2008 — 7:33 pm
Sue says:
David? Seven or 8 BB’s? These are all working or replacements… One for every room in the house and each car maybe. That is funny. You certainly are accessible and maybe just a little addicted to techy toys. 🙂
I have resisted so far, but its close.
April 8, 2008 — 8:35 pm
David Stejkowski says:
Jeff, I used to feel nervous without the BB. Now I almost feel naked, probably because the BB is also the cell phone.
Sue: my first two or three BBs were pager style devices provided by my old law firm. (Remember, I’ve had one since 2000.) Then I had a “new” style phone without a working cell phone, also from the firm.
When I started my own business I went without BB for six months. My wife bought me one for Valentines Day. It broke within a year and I got a replacement. I have since had two of my current model phone, which has the mini-keyboard that I hate. Yes, I pay a few dollars a month for insurance!
That was almost cathartic, if not 12-stepish. Thanks for letting me tell me story. 🙂
April 9, 2008 — 4:48 am
Glenn says:
Jeff, congratulations to you for being strong enough to standup and start controlling your life. Too many real estate agents make themselves available 24/7/365 – so far, I have not seen a life-threatening situation in real estate, not even doctors are connected like real estate agents.
We do have to remember in life we have choices – we can chose to be a crackberry or not.
April 9, 2008 — 5:11 am
Robert Kerr says:
Fully agree with the “it’s a tool” sentiment but also with Jeff’s complaint that some people think that every phone call must preempt whatever is happening at that time.
Obviously, some calls *must* be taken, right then, right there, no matter what, but those can usually be screened with Caller ID and judicious use of the page feature.
If someone takes a personal call in the middle of business, even a business lunch, that’s usually the end of our business.
Professionals give respect and full attention and also demand it in return.
April 9, 2008 — 8:12 am
Bawldguy Talking says:
Glen — I’ve become convinced much of this, at least in real estate, has something to do with the ‘great service’ aspect as it relates to creating client expectations.
My clients know they can call my cell almost any time. They also know, ‘cuz I’ve told them, that if I’m unavailable, I’ll get back to them. It’s turned out to be a great balance.
Brian Brady is very busy, and there are more times than not, I don’t get him when calling. Well duh — I’m not the only one with whom he’s dealing. He always gets back, or I can talk to his right hand lady.
Once the expectation is created that you’ll answer the phone, IM, email in the middle of your own vasectomy, you’re doomed.
April 9, 2008 — 9:56 am
geno petro says:
I like to listen to VMs through my ear piece when someone is boring me with idle chit chat or during sales meetings I’m required to attend. I practice nodding and smiling to whoever is jabbering away in front of me while really listening to my messages.
There. I feel better now getting that off my chest. We are only as sick as our secrets.
April 9, 2008 — 9:56 am
Bawldguy Talking says:
Geno — I’ve done the same thing. I’ll bet most of us have.
April 9, 2008 — 10:12 am
Matthew Hardy says:
I believe the answer is to (in order):
1. Establish and perfect you own human protocols.
2. Select technology that supports those protocols in the most fundamental manner.
3. Evaluate features that may go beyond the fundamentals and determine if they facilitate doing more business or draw your attention away from customers.
Many of us were successful before technology became de rigueur. Now, I see many who are losing business at the expense of constantly trying to configure some non-existent solution. I even had one man come up to me after an event I conducted who said he was looking for a solution that would “conform itself to the way I work”. This illustrates a clear misunderstanding of the way technology functions. These devices and their software are engineering products. It’s like asking a bridge or highway to “conform to the the way I drive”. A culture has developed where people think technology is going to do their work for them. Agents who rarely will pick up the phone and use words of sufficient caliber to gain an appointment blindly believe that the latest “automatic thing” will bring them business.
Of all the highly successful real estate professionals I’ve spoken with, their predominant skills are in dealing with other humans and they are careful not to think technology is an end to itself. In the large corporations I’ve worked with, senior management often has to remind IT folks about the need to remain focused on satisfying shareholders, not the tech-junkies in their department. Members of their sales force gain advantage from technology precisely because their corporation is pushing the content they deem important to the person in the field by virtue of having a technical staff to perform this function. As was written by Barry Cunningham recently, there is no top-down organization in the real estate industry. Agents are on their own to develop their mix of technology while, in most cases, being wholly uninformed to the task. Many technological neanderthals make more money than the guy/gal with every Star Trek-like device clasped to their person. They look cool, but show me the money.
A final word: the best combination is a notebook computer with wi-fi AND cellular connectivity along with a simple phone. The idea of cramming your entire business into a smartphone is, at this point, ridiculous. When your iPhone is pressed to the side of your face, how are you making notes on the virtual keyboard or viewing relevant data for the conversation? It’s difficult to imagine three people huddled around a smartphone to view a presentation, virtual tour, etc. Don’t get me wrong – I love the new stuff as much as anybody, but I’d like to see more people learn to write a cogent email before they perfect instant communication with little to say.
April 9, 2008 — 10:27 am
Phil Hoover says:
I tried the iPhone and returned it.
No stylus and the screen works with finger touch only.
I have large hands/fingers and couldn’t manage to accurately enter phone numbers or letters.
The gal @ the AT&T store said it didn’t work for her either because she had long fingernails.
I ended up sticking with my Treo despite being frustrated wtih it too.
I am awaiting someone to bring out a SmartPhone with a 24″ flat panel monitor that folds up and fits into my pocket 🙂
April 9, 2008 — 11:30 am
Bawldguy Talking says:
Phil — When recently in a Verizon store for something, I checked out the smart phones. Who types on those things? My Flintstone fingers didn’t have a prayer.
I’ve often wondered by they didn’t make the keyboard buttons way more pronounced by making them like ‘old fashioned’ buttons?
I like your idea much better though.
April 9, 2008 — 11:48 am
Matthew Hardy says:
> Nobody’s that damn important. And that includes all of us. Nobody.
Oh and by the way… I agree emphatically especially in regard to using communication devices during a scheduled meeting. To me, a meeting implies knowing who will be attending. It is not appropriate to crash a meeting in person. Why should a call or instant message “crash” be allowed? A party to a meeting should inform other members of the possibility that another may be joining. To announce at the start that one might have to take an important call but otherwise give full attention seems not too large an act of graciousness and respect.
April 9, 2008 — 4:10 pm
JeffX says:
Im on the drip, addicted, cant live without my Crackberry…*sigh*
One clear bene is that it allows me the mobility to conduct biz on the golf course…doing neither very well, but well enough 🙂
April 9, 2008 — 4:42 pm
Sandy says:
This is really just a question of manners. It’s not that the technology is a problem it’s that some people were raised in a barn. They would have been raised in the same barn even if the most high-tech tool they owned was a princess rotary phone.
The heirarchy is like this: the person in front of your face is more important than the person on the phone. The person on the phone is more important than the person you’re emailing. The person you’re emailing is more important than your kids….
Oh wait. Scratch that last one!
April 9, 2008 — 5:30 pm
Bawldguy Talking says:
Sandy — makes total sense.
Oh wait. Scratch that last one!
Not always. 🙂
April 9, 2008 — 6:54 pm
Thomas Johnson says:
Face to face meeting: The phone is in the glove box. I want nothing to distract me from all the communication that is inherent in a face to face meeting. This is money time. The phone can wait. I tell folks up front that if I do not answer the phone during business hours, it is because the most important person in the world is in front of me. They can expect the same treatment. If I am fiddling around with a phone while the buyer is telling me that they need an 19 foot game room for their state champion ping pong playing son, I may have missed the most important requirement in the home purchase.
I have also noted that when there is no cell phone around when completing contractual agreements, I make fewer mistakes and the client understands what they are signing because I am flowing with the document as it is written. Some things in our job require great care and attention in execution without distraction.
April 9, 2008 — 8:10 pm
Doug Quance says:
I, too, have not succumbed to the Crackberry habit.
I’m not into texting, either. Takes too damn long.
The day will come, I am sure… but I am savoring NOT being a slave to such a device.
😆
April 10, 2008 — 11:03 am