Because you are often out and about showing property, meeting clients at remote locations and running errands, it is not uncommon that you are in and out of the office. If something were to happen to you, being ‘missed’ might take a day, or even a few days. That's too long, if you have been in some kind of accident or had an encounter with a predator.

In the hustle-bustle of daily activities, it’s easy to forget about safety. However the solutions and strategies offered here should tie in easily to things you already do and tools you already have.

The best way to stay safe is to stay well connected with your office. But to use your office as a safety net, you have to be willing to adopt safety habits.

The Real Estate Safety Council says it best. Always “Tell someone whom you are with, where you are going, and when you will be back.” Sounds simple, and it is. Office itinerary forms, sign in and sign out sheets should be available and made a part of your everyday habits. If someone in the office says “Where’s Joan?” and nobody knows, that could alert people that there is a problem.

It all starts with you. Begin taking preventive measures with meeting your client at the office. Properly identify them by checking all forms of ID, introducing your prospect to colleagues, looking for red flags that the client might not really have buying real estate in mind, and trusting your intuition.

This technique is useful when qualifying clients before viewing homes or going on a listing presentation. But as diligent as you may be in qualifying your client, you might still be taken by surprise. If you are overcome and find yourself in the control of a predator, sometimes your only means of survival might be being ‘missed’ by colleagues, friends, or family. Being missed after three hours as opposed to six hours can often mean the difference between life and death.

Someone in the office should be able to walk over to a designated location and check the in-out file. Each office can create their own way of documenting where everyone is. You use your cell phone, e-mail and head in to the office at least once a day. This can be done in paper form-a clipboard on a desk or hanging on a wall, a corkboard with a sign in-out sheet with designated time and locations, a designated e-mail address that everyone signs in with, or even a voice-mail box that is specifically used by agents to check in.

Your cell phone number should be easily accessible to everyone in the office.

All this takes is a little effort on your part. What makes safety work is not only your ability to make it a habit, but making sure that your prospect knows that you are signed in with the office. If the prospect knows you have shared your itinerary with the office, they are less likely to target you to rob or to hurt. They should be aware that they have been identified as the person that you documented you would be with at this time.

If something happens to you and you are missed your office will have information to pass onto investigators to help find you. Even if the worst thing that happens to you is that your car is stuck in the mud and your cell phone ran out of batteries, at least you will know that someone missed you and that help is on the way.

Published: April 22, 2002

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