Our practice is to send every customer a service evaluation survey immediately after their closing. We want to know among other things, what prompted them to contact our company and our associate and what did they think of the service they received.

Each new evaluation received offers insight on what it truly takes to succeed in this business. Without a doubt the answer can be found in providing great customer service. I am confident that providing great customer service will result in more business during your career than good marketing or prospecting.

A majority of the great comments received are the same with each returned evaluation; the agent is very professional, efficient, courteous, and friendly. Their agent was there for them and made sure the customer was provided continuous updates. They were shown the homes they wanted to see, and the process was explained to them in detail. Taking into account all of those great observations and compliments the best thing the customer does just before sending the evaluation back to us is when they circle “yes” next to a question that asks” Would you recommend the agent and our company to a friend?  Answering yes is the result of great customer service and is invaluable. Great customer service builds successful real estate careers.

You should set aside time daily to evaluate the type of customer service you provide. Perhaps your time management has room for improvement so that you never keep a customer waiting for you or your follow up skills and systems could be tweaked so customers are never left in the dark.

Our customers will tell us what we do well and what we need to improve on. They will also tell us what they want and expect from us, we just need to listen.

You need to stand, smile and extend your hand in greeting whenever someone walks into your office. This will give the customer a warm, welcome feeling. Once you have determined that they are interested in buying or selling a home, take them away from the reception area and back into an office where they can feel comfortable to discuss their situation in private.

You should avoid; answering a ringing phone while they are with you or trying to conduct business with them at the front desk.

Customers who walk in are usually potential home buyers. Their expectation is that you will help them find a house. Take your time and work on building a relationship with them before you start hammering them for financial information. Make small talk first, why did they stop into your office? Do they live in the area? Have they lived here long? What do they think about the amazing weather, the local sports team? Let them get comfortable with you and you with them. Keep an eye on their body language and adjust your conversation accordingly. Ask them what type of house they are interested in and then listen. Find out if they are first time home buyers or repeat buyers and ask them if they have questions about the process; listen and answer . Once they feel you care and that you will listen, they will be more inclined to talk about the personal stuff like financing and getting qualified.

A great first impression followed up by great customer service will result in a customer who will turn to you for real estate assistance throughout your career.

Listen

• What is their motivation for buying/selling?
• What is the time frame they expect this to happen?
• What have they heard about current market conditions and how does this influence their thought process?
• What has been their experience with buying/selling a home in the past?  What did they like? Dislike?
• What don’t they want to hear?
• Who makes the decision?  Who do they need to consult with before signing a contract?
• Why did they contact you or decide to use your services?

Give the customer what they want

• As a buyer they want the best value available.
• As a seller they want the most money in the fastest amount of time.
• They want your patience and understanding when they are nervous, confused, or seeking more information.
• They want to know up front what buying a house will cost them or how much they can expect to receive from selling their home.
• They expect you to update them continuously during the transaction.
• They expect you to be more concerned with their complete satisfaction than you are about getting paid.
• They want you to speak politely and professional to them even when they are upset or tense.

Ask yourself, if you are successfully meeting people but not closing transactions are you failing to listen or provide the customer what they want?  There are steps you can take to improve your listening and customer service skills.

•  Shadow an agent in your office who is doing well and pay close attention to their manner and style when discussing real estate with a potential customer. 
• Ask your manager of another agent to listen and observe you when you are on floor, at an open house of in front of a customer.  Then ask them to give you an honest review of how you did and have them include helpful critique and suggestions.

The customer will tell you what it is they want in order to work with you; you just need to hear them.

At the end of the day it is up to you to determine how the public views you as a professional real estate agent or broker.  Their view of you will most likely be how they view the real estate industry.  An honest, professional, polite, courteous, prompt, dedicated, knowledgeable, listening, friendly, confident but not cocky, and kind real estate agent will usually be viewed in a favorable light by his or her customers and serve as a shining example of our industry.  Those agents who act in a manner opposite of the qualities I just described will continue to add to the negative perception of real estate agent.

If you listen to what the buying and selling customers tell you, you will enjoy a successful real estate career.  In order to be in a position to hear the secrets to success that the customer has to offer, you must first ask them.  One of the ways you can be in a position to listen is to provide them with a customer service survey asking them what they liked or disliked about the real estate transaction they just completed and the service they received. 

These surveys are revealing to what matters most to a home buyer or home seller.  Agents who spend thousands of dollars on the latest marketing tools, Internet exposure, training and coaching in order to find and obtain customers, need not forget to build relationships with the customer.  If the goal is a successful, low-stress transaction, you may want to spend a little more time finding out what it is your customers feels is most important and then make sure you deliver each and every time you are involved in a deal. 

What are the secrets of our trade that the public feels are so important that they would take the time to praise their real estate agent on a survey for possessing these qualities and skills?

• Agents who are dependable
• Agents who are hard workers
• Agents who are determined
• Agents who are pleasant and likable
• Agents who are accountable
• Agents who are responsible
• Agents who are professional
• Agents who are courteous
• Agents who are efficient
• Agents who exceed the customer’s expectations
• Agents who go out of their way to help
• Agents who make sure the property they are showing is what the customer is looking for
• Agents who are attentative to every detail
• Agents who help ease the stress
• Agents who listen

All of proceeding were written compliments paid to agents who helped a buyer buy or a seller sell.  The secret to this business is not so secret really.  The difference between understanding and implementing these secrets in the transactions of our career is the difference between no success and a very successful real estate career.

Common sense tells us to be on our best behavior when conducting business with our customers or clients. I seriously doubt that you will find a successful agent who offers up off color jokes, curses, bad mouths the competition or criticizes the real estate industry in front of a customer or client. And yet you will occasionally come across a seemingly intelligent real estate agent doing just that online.

Think about who might be reading your blogs, tweets and other social network posts and comments before you hit the submit button. If you would not say it with the customer right in front of you, don’t say it online either.

• I need this customer to buy today.
• I refuse to show short sales or bank owned homes.
• If they refuse to meet me in office I will not deal with them.
• They want me to hold their home open but I refuse.
• They have left me several messages but they only want to complain, I am not calling them back.
• They need to use my mortage company, my title company.
• They better sign this offer/counter offer, I really need this sale.

Learning to accommodate our customers, understanding what true customer service is and is not should be one of the first things and agent learns or is trained on.  Real estate agents who never learn to consider the customer’s needs and wants first spend their entire career searching for new customers and business because their past customers rarely come back.

Our goal is to provide our customers with the very best customer experience possible. As floor agents we are often the first impression the customer will have of our real estate firm. A customer that calls or walks in to visit us should rightfully expect to be treated and viewed as the number one priority to us at that moment in time. We would expect no less when seeking professional services for ourselves.

Imagine how we might feel if our lawyer of physician decided to visit with us in the waiting room or at the front desk instead of taking us back to the privacy of their office or examination room where we could discuss our personal situation with them, enjoying the privacy and one on one attention we expect. 

The same holds true for us when a customer walks in on our floor shift. As professionals, we should invite them to join us in one of our conference rooms before qualifying and providing them with listing information. I understand there might be times when you are alone on floor and this simply will not be possible, however when we have staff available to attend to the front desk a floor agent should never be at the front desk with a customer standing/sitting for any length of time.