As a real estate broker, it’s important to keep your team motivated to provide exceptional customer service to your clients. COVID-19 has brought some unexpected challenges this year, so it’s essential now more than ever to ensure your team has the support they need to do their job effectively.
Here are 8 ways your agents can improve the customer service experience for home sales in this new COVID world.
- Follow Up Leads Fast
Whether you’re a small or large brokerage, your team must follow up leads fast in this competitive real estate industry. You have the opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition with exceptional customer service from the outset.
Consider using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to keep track of all your leads and customer contact history, to ensure your agents provide what every client needs when they need it. A CRM will:
- Make it easier to access client and prospect information
- Enable your team to respond quickly to inquiries without searching through old emails or outdated spreadsheets
- Allow you to automate some of your processes along the customer journey
- Identify those clients and prospects who’ve clicked on your emails so you can focus your efforts on ‘warm’ leads
- Assist you and your team to manage your sales pipeline and follow up procedure
- Anticipate Client Needs
Exceptional real estate professionals are proactive and anticipate client needs and questions. It’s an uncertain time and purchasing a house is a big financial investment. Encourage your team to get to know clients, to find out what’s important to them and to strive to deliver above their expectations. Going above and beyond shows a client they’re important and valued – and this drives loyalty, referrals and agent/client relationships that can last a lifetime.
- Be Upfront and Honest
Clients appreciate an upfront and honest real estate agent. If there are going to be delays in closing due to COVID-19, ensure clients know so they can prepare for that. If the property requires attention to get the best possible selling price, be honest about what improvements would help to expedite the sale.
Help your clients understand what’s required for showings in a COVID world, so you can ensure compliance with government regulations at this challenging time. Ensure your team is regularly briefed on pertinent changes to COVID-related regulations and best practices.
- Focus on the Customer Journey
A person in the US will move approximately 11 times in his or her lifetime, according to the United States Census Bureau. Buying and selling a home can be an incredibly stressful time, especially now when many Americans have lost jobs, experienced illness or have had a family member with COVID-19.
Ensure your team takes the time to go through the selling process in detail with clients, especially first-time buyers. To maximize efficiency, you can work with your agents to prepare resources which can be distributed to clients at different stages of the customer journey. You might create informative videos, which can be emailed to clients and viewed at their leisure. FAQ documents or other written guides can also be effective.
Remember that duringthis time of COVID-19, emailing information is a better way to communicate than handing out printed information. The coronavirus can survive on surfaces for hours to days, depending on the material.
- Be Available
Remind your team to answer the phone fast. If they can’t, they should return calls quickly, so that clients feel valued. Real estate isn’t a 9 to 5 job, so ensure your agents are prepared for some after-hours inquiries to make the sale. You might also consider offering flexible work practices to your team, including working-from-home arrangements, rotating days off or other incentives.
- Get Creative
Look for opportunities to set your brokerage apart from your competitors. Encourage your real estate team to come up with new and innovative ideas to ensure your clients are well looked after. Whether it’s a thoughtful gift, sponsorship of a local sports team, or providing the client’s family dog with a special treat, encourage your agents to create positive and long-lasting memories for clients.
- Update All Your Information, Pamphlets and Marketing
There’s nothing worse for a client than being given outdated information. Now is a great time to review all of your documentation and marketing materials to ensure that you have the most current information available. With COVID-19, requirements and guidelines are changing fairly rapidly in some states, so watch for new information coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, your state government, and your state real estate association. Make sure your team has the latest information so clients always receive relevant and current information.
- Ensure You Have Appropriate Coverage for Your Team
Ensure you have appropriate Errors and Omissions insurance coverage for your team, so they can focus on delivering exceptional service and results to your valued clients. Call CRES today at 800-880-2747 to find out more about Real Estate E&O + ClaimPrevent® to cover yourself and your team. CRES offers protection specific to real estate, including Business Owner’s Policies.
As part of one of the largest insurance brokers in the world, we have unparalleled access to more insurance options for real estate professionals than anyone else. Let us find you the best policy at the best price.
