Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
The ability of a brand to create a “positive” and “emotional” experience that “drives customer loyalty” is directly correlated to repeat business, concludes a recent report from NewVoiceMedia.
However, bad service results in the loss of an estimated $75 billion each year for U.S. businesses. “Customers want and expect more than ever before – because that’s what we have taught them,” said customer service expert and business coach Shep Hyken.
The bad news for realtors is that real estate is not immune to providing “bad business”. According to the National Association of Realtor’s Profile of Buyers and Sellers 2017 report, which surveyed 8,000 homeowners who’d bought or sold a home in the previous year, just 12 percent of respondents used an agent they’d previously worked with.
That’s an awful lot of repeat business that’s been lost, and while practicalities suggest that clients can’t always use their old agent, the main reason is that consumers are becoming “serial switchers” who’re always looking for a better service, NewVoiceMedia said.
“We promise our customers that we will deliver amazing service, and we may,” Hyken said. “But, whether or not we do is for the customer to judge. And, here is where that judging gets interesting. They are no longer comparing us to our competitors. They are comparing us to the best service they ever received from anyone.”
Hyken said of the main reasons consumers like to change is that they feel underappreciated following their dealings. As such, he recommends that agents strive to make an emotional connection with their clients and stay in touch even after the deal is done. He reckons this is the best way to ensure clients remain happy and more likely to use their services again in the future.
That’s evidenced by one of the most important findings in NewVoiceMedia’s study, which found that 86 percent of consumers who had an emotional connection with a company or customer service agent would be willing to use their services again.
