6 Reasons to Use Customer Service Surveys As Part of Your Real Estate Marketing

Customer service is an essential part of your real estate marketing effort. While the market was lightning fast, some agents could get away without much emphasis on customer service since properties seemed to sell overnight and if your buyer could breathe there was a good chance you someone would give him a mortgage. A slowing market leads to more time with clients which necessitates better customer service. Also, good customer service just makes sense in our business which thrives on referrals.

The number one complaint I heard from the public was "my agent never called me." Good customer service means communicating with your client every step of the way. I would suggest a minimum of once a week contact of some kind. It can be by email, by phone or in person. Let the client know how and when you are going to be in touch and make sure you do what you said you were going to do.

Use a password protected part of your web site or a transaction management platform to communicate with your clients and keep them up to date. Post showing feedback, advertising, web site visits, any other real estate marketing effort or events that happen after the contract is signed on a daily basis. This eliminates the he said/she said problems that occasionally rear their ugly head. Clients are clear on what you are doing and what is happening. This is good!

I highly recommend using a customer service survey. Have one for buyers and one for sellers. Hand it out at closing. Put it on your web site.

The survey doesn't have to be complex. Five or six questions plus space for comments will do in most cases. If you want to go into more detail, that is fine too. Make sure you ask for permission to use it in your real estate marketing. Also get permission to use their whole name not just initials. (Do you trust that JS from Chicago is real?) While you are at it, ask if it is OK for potential clients to call them.

The reasons to use a survey:

• It is a great way to find out what your clients feel is important.
• You can feel good about what you are doing-if you get a good one.
• You find out what where you can improve.
• You gather a large amount of testimonials rather easily.
• You gain credibility with both potential buyers and sellers.
• Your concern for customer service and a way to back it up may be the one additional factor that makes the difference in a clients choosing you.

Need more convincing? Here are a couple of real life incidents to illustrate how important the use of surveys and testimonials can be. I recently finished doing a web site for an agent who I hadn't always heard great things about. I asked for testimonials to put on the web site. I received well over 100 of them from the agent. My opinion of the agent is totally different now. I was impressed and my view of the agent was swayed by the surveys. Most clients would feel the same way after reading them.

I started in real estate when I was 23 years old. Clients use to come in the office to meet me for the first time and they kept looking around for my father. Terror would be in their eyes. I asked my boss what to do because it wasn't all that comfortable for me seeing them look at me that way. His answer-testimonials. I got them from everyone I knew, especially clients but there is nothing wrong with getting them from people who have dealt with you in other places. When first timers came in, I had testimonials posted all over my office. I would leave to get them coffee and would take my time coming back-I figured they would be bored and would have to read them. It worked and 33 years later I'm still asking for testimonials and still getting referrals.