I wrote a post on my experience at a realtor.com seminar last week. I did not realize I would elicit such a reaction from the readers on AR. What a shock when I woke up the next morning and had 100's of comments in my email and the comments continue to pour in.
[This post is not meant to focus on realtor.com, but to point out the value of great customer service. ]
I have read all 280 comments and the overwhelming majority, at least 95%, believe that realtor.com enhancements are not worth the exorbitant rates, but it doesn't stop there. Many responses told of horror stories of trying to get automatic credit card charges to stop when the contract had expired and other such examples of really bad customer service.
A small minority of agents had nothing but wonderful comments regarding realtor.com, it's customer service, and their products.
I contemplated the passion of so many of the responses and asked myself why so many agents took the time to read and respond to my post. 20-30 agents took the time to contact me directly through email, all saying how vociferously they agreed with my opinion that realtor.com enhancements are not worth the money.
I know what annoyed me about the realtor.com seminar and I think it is what has elicited passionate responses from so many agents. Realtor.com is not giving the value one expects for the amount of the investment.
A pastor once said that less than 10% of the members of his church do all the work that is required to keep it running smoothly. I don't know how consistent that may be in most professions, but in real estate, in my market anyway, less than 10% of the agents do most of the business.
Why? Top producers take customer service seriously. They are honest, ethical, return phone calls promptly, don't make excuses for their mistakes, aren't afraid to say, "I don't know, but I'll find out," generally work full time and have their clients as their top priority. It is a way of life that isn't for everyone and not every agent has the will to do what it takes to rise to the top.
People who give great customer service are repelled when they see bad customer service. We wonder why someone who is taking my money would be rude, not say hello, where's the smile, how about a thank you, doing what you say you will do would be nice, and so it goes.
I work with a great group of people in my market. The professionals who give great customer service have my trust, my confidence that they will follow through on what they say, and my loyalty. The vendors I work with who give great customer service, Top Producer, my website provider is a good example, have my loyalty and I don't mind paying them one bit.
I would like to think that my clients feel this way about me because it is what I work toward each and every day. Our clients should believe that we bring value to each transaction and that the commission they pay, was money well spent because we brought value to their transaction.
My website brings me leads, my internet presence brings me leads, my signs brings me leads, some say realtor.com brings them leads as well, but what converts those leads to clients is the value you bring to that clients life.
Matthew Dollinger wrote an excellent post on "Client Love." If you haven't read it you really need to and subscribe to Matthew's blog while you're at it. He is awesome.
If you want to be a top performing agent in your market, then be someone other people talk about in a positive light. Bring value to the lives of the people you touch and the word will spread. If I were to write a post about you and it received 280 comments, would 95% be positive or negative. Think about that.
Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
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