VERO BEACH — Bill Baysura knows real estate is a service-oriented business in which agents who take care of their clients succeed.
So when Hurricane Irene looked like it might be headed for the barrier island early last week, he sent out an e-mail blast warning current and former customers of the storm’s approach.
He also offered to help get their homes ready to withstand high winds and pelting rain.
“Many people who have listed property with me are out of town and while they probably know something about the storm they may not be on top of tracking it the way we are,” Baysura says.
“If you have property managers or someone who looks after your home, I would at least check in with them to get an update or status,” he wrote. “Some people are taking precautions already just to be on the safe side. Let me know if any of you need any assistance or help.”
“I had a really good response to the e-mail,” says Basra, an agent with Dale Sorensen Real Estate. “It is something Dale Junior suggested as a way to stay in touch and serve our customers. A lot of people wrote back to just to say, ‘thanks for thinking of me.'”
“A client in Grand Harbor who is up north wrote that he had contacted his housekeeper to have her bring patio furniture in off the balcony overlooking the harbor and put down his shutters.”
Another out-of-town client took Baysura up on his offer of help and asked him to go by a home in Sea Quay and put the hurricane shutters down.
“They are electric shutters so it took me just a few minutes and it saved him a trip down from Orlando,” Baysura says. “I was glad to be of assistance and I know he appreciated it.”