Partner Article

How to maintain strong Customer Service during the Christmas period.

For most industrial enterprises, whether it be a global conglomerate, large business or the independent retailer, Christmas is the time of year that sticks out on the calendar. Real Estate Agencies are no different. With consumers willing to loosen the purse strings and spend a few extra pounds over the festive period, businesses need to ensure their customer service is at its optimum level to ensure people keep coming back. In this article, we’ll lay out five ways your business can ensure the highest standards of customer service are met on a consistent basis.

1. Experience. There is no substitute for experience in any industry, or indeed any walk of life. If you know what to expect you are one up in the battle for customer service excellence. Draw upon your experiences, particularly in the local market, to put yourself in an excellent position to ensure your staff are faced up and ready to provide 10/10 customer service this Christmas period. You don’t necessarily need to push sales or apply pressure. The tried and trusted methods can prove to be successful.
2. Innovation. One essential of modern business is moving with the times and, to cite one example, at Newton & Co Sales we have managed to combine traditional, honest values with forward-thinking. Social media plays a key role in this. By being accessible on social media platforms, we have opened ourselves up to an enormous potential consumer base which we take pride in updating regularly.
3. Relationship building. By encouraging staff to be honest, open and courteous, you go a long way to establishing relationships with clients and buyers which will stand the test of time. The recent times of austerity have led us down a path where trust has never been more important. People are worried about buying, they are worried about the cost, and by being honest and transparent you can settle those nerves by building strong relationships. The stereotypical estate agent is a person not to be trusted. Buck this stereotype through your customer-focused approach.
4. Courtesy. Estate agency has veered away from what it is intended to be; a service which helps people. The focus from many has been on profits and not people. If you look after your people, the profits will look after themselves. Put the needs and happiness of the customer first, and a huge part of this is through simple courtesy. If you say you will call somebody back, make sure you do. If you quote a price, guarantee that price against 24 hour call backs. The small, simple things like being on time, being friendly and keeping our word are the values we should hold close to our hearts.
5. Offering true value. The property market has seen more booms and busts recently than almost any other industry. It is hard to decipher what actually represents value if you are bogged down in price wars and territorial battles between rival companies. Give your properties a true, fair value. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will always be the cheapest option. However, you will always provide true value and this is crucial to the buyer.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Newton and Co .