When I was with Coldwell Banker and Century 21 at the start of my career.

    At 6:00PM on a Friday, when it was time to call it a day, the phone rang.  Buyer.

    I left the Big Company that weekend (proper notice, left on good terms, etc.).  I took that Buyer with me (Listings belong to the Broker; Buyers do not). 

    I sold him a lot, and introduced him to a builder.  Total commission to me for the lot and from the builder was north of $15K. 

I haven't done floor time since 1997. My company doesn't even offer that option.

Have not done it in 13 years. It did work once. Literally once in the 4 years I worked it. Mostly it was answering calls for other agents.

Years ago I had many good leads come in and even some walk ins. It became unproductive and mostly rentals which I don't like to work. I took a few weeks off from floor duty about 10 years ago. I found my time was better used elsewhere.

It has been a long time Jeff. I remember there was a crazy person who came in and talked about expensive homes and was all talk.

No inspiring stories but I did get business. I really resented the fact that I was unpaid admin help.

Required floor time was one reason I left my first brokerage back in 2004.  The company I work for now has a full-time receptionist at each office, thank you.

I do it on occasion, but it's really just an opportunity to be in the actual office for a few hours and get things done. The way my company routes leads means the floor time person rarely gets a lead.

But it does sometimes happen! I'm going to be doing it this afternoon for a few hours so we'll see....

Jeff Dowler - At my first company, I did it for 3 months, not knowing what (not) to do - and kept on waiting for the call, even though I hated it.

Obviously, since then - no floor-time!

When we did; we did capture client buyers and sellers. Days have changed since 30 years ago though!

It was required when I was at C21 - can you say "against the IRS rules for a contractor?"!

Never worked for me, got nothing from it - now I am all floor duty, all day LOL but it's my own!

When I first moved here I tried it out, but soon found out that it was just a good way to get things done in the office. Years ago floor time was lucrative before agents advertised their listings with their own phone numbers on them and not the office number.

Prior to 1995 , if an agent did 2-3 (3hr.) shifts per week , they would get a lead . Starting in the second half of the 1990's most offices in our area started bypassing the duty person and sent all incoming calls directly to the listing agent . Over time this sucked most of the ROI away from Floor Time !

I think it has been about 20 years since I did that. Oklahoma City is not a walk in market type.

My first closing came via floor time.  I no longer do it though... business has expanded and tactics to more effectively capture leads has too.  ;)

Our office does not have floor time. The phone is answered by a staff member.

Our clients are too spread out to stop by the often, but those days when I am covering the phones are often productive days.

in my day I did and yes it still happens in my office and yes it works. The duty agent of the day gets all the internet leads.  They love taking floor duty for the leads

I do it and have had some great floor calls over the years. My first year in real estate I had two floor calls that resulted in almost $2 million in sales.

The agents in my brokerage fight over floor time.  It is an amazing opportunity to connect with potential clients and get a deal together.

I was always the sales manager, and in a traditional office environment everyone did uptime.... I did the marketing and I made sure the phones rang...and they did....that was good business for each of them...and they wanted to participate.... if someone is making the phone ring, why not do it!!

My first sale ever was from floor time.  I use to do it all the time but don't any longer as most Brokers aren't doing print advertising and not in a place to get walk ins.   

yes I have done floor time and I did come across people who wanted to buy but more so rental seekers.

No more floor time for me.

Not for many years.  When I first started you bet I did.

I did in the early days when I was affiliated with a big box brokerage. Never closed any business from it.  These days I do my own floor time ... all day every day. 

I can't stand floor time - and if it's required it's against the IRS rules for a contractor.

That's how I got out of it at one of our brokers - he didn't want to be reported to the IRS ;)

I have done it in the past, in different ways. Most of the time, it was a waste of time unless I used it for admin catch up. Must say I had a few transactions from floor time and a lot of chasing around.

Decades ago, it was all the rage as you would never know who would call and why and it was a great source of leads. Today, your cell phone makes it portable so why sit in one place unless you are in foot traffic heaven

Not in over 30 years! It is, in my opinion, a waste of time!

I haven't done it in many years.  The world of real estate has changed but I can share a success story:

I was new to the business and was taking floor time on December 26. A relocating couple who had been "abandoned" by their agent who was going out of town for the holidays without a replacement walked into the office.  I was a bit suspicious that I would also be dumped but we went to the conference room to discuss their needs.    Later that afternoon, I was showing them property.  Nearly every agent in the office told me I was being naive.  

That week two offers were written and submitted.  Neither offer was accepted but they did eventually(although it was a few months) purchase a property through me.  Times were different.   

As I read the posts, looks like a recurring theme - been there, done that.  Was required at my prior brokerage and early on it was more productive than later as the liklihood of someone "walking in" to the office became more and more remote. Also, the move to online searching and a well developed lead network system dealt it the final blow. 

Not since 2006 when I opened my own doors but it worked well for me before that.

Yes, Yes and Yes.

Mostly to get away from the honey do list but we do have people drop by.

A very timely question - I wrote this yesterday!

Our First Time - When Someone Failed To Show Up!

Floor time used to be the main way to get new clients. Many clients no longer call but email. We no longer do up time. 

Good day Jeff Dowler,

When I first started with another company, we were assigned floor duty. I felt like I was babysitting a chair for the Broker. I requested to be removed from that list. I saw it as a waste of time, travel and money.

I do not do it now.

Back in the days before cell phone it was a gold mine. My entire career took off because of one fateful call while on duty. It does not happen today and is dreaded by most. I no longer do it.

!0+ years ago, but then brokers started hiring secreterys, and most agents became moblie and don't go to the office much anymore.

Hello Jeff,  when I first started I did Sundays.  No one else in my office or most others were.  I thought I would rule the roost shortly.  1 year of solid 4 to 6 hour Sundays and one client.  I no longer do it and still not seeing other offices doing Sundays.  Still odd in my mind yet obviously does not work in our area.  Mark  (at least Sundays)

I stared with a local Coldwell Banker office and we truly had floor time.  They still do today in fact.  The agents actually answer the phones and take the up call in real time.  This is a great way to to floor time.  We could actually work with the caller.  In our RE/MAX office now, all calls are routed to the listing agent so to me, it's a waste of time.

When a duty call comes in, there is an announcement from the reception desk, and the call goes to the fastest to the phone.  And sometimes it's really interesting stuff.  

Way back when in the 80's and 90's it was popular and it worked well. No we don't have any such thing as floor time and haven't for well over 15 years.

My office still has floor time. It works. I got my best investor buyer, because he walked in while I was on floor. 

I haven't done office floor duties in years, only my home office:) 

No, never did. 

I did with my first Broker and did well but things have changed

Our office have 128 agents in it and no floor time,  All calls go to the people on the sign.

FLOOR TIME:

1. Assigned intervals where one is obligated to be physically present in the office to answer phone and greet visitors and do clerical work a broker does not want to pay another to do.

2. Assigned intervals where one is AVAILABLE by phone to receive calls from citizens and respond to inquires.

3. Assigned intervals where one is AVAILABLE to received QUALIFIED calls from citizens with real estate concerns.

I do #3 floor time. Did it work? If any of the 165 agents in my office is not available to fulfill their floor time opportunity I WILL DO IT. I have had NO opportunity to fill in for another agent. 165 agents at REMAX Realtec make themselves available for Floor Time.