It should be a key goal to improve customer services in a real estate agency. It is the decisive difference between an agency committed to both the buyer and the seller, and those that simply “market” properties. Thus, in order to be one of the first, we must have professional staff who can also make use of tools that facilitate the process. What are these resources?
INDEX:
1. Why we must improve customer services in a real estate agency
2. The 3 tools for the best customer service in a real estate agency
2.1. A complete online real estate manager
2.3. Online and/or telephone support
1. Why we must improve customer services in a real estate agency
The first reason is that every business has in the satisfaction of its customers the best asset and the best engine for its profitability. The “marketing” we referred to at the beginning of this article may work in times when the sector is in good health, but we must not forget that for better or worse, real estate is a very cyclical activity, and houses are not always sold every five minutes.
In an era, a technological one, in which we all turn to Google Maps, forums and opinion portals in search of good or bad reviews that tell us how a business works, those who constantly improve their attention to the public are the most likely to “pass this test”.
On the other hand, the benefits of good customer service in a real estate company are not only visible in terms of reputation but are also fully noticeable with regards to streamlining processes and improving the level of sales. The more information and the greater agility with which the client can decide whether or not he is in front of the property he needs, the more time is available to improve services.
2. The 3 tools for the best customer services in a real estate agency
2.1. A complete online real estate manager
Information regarding both properties and clients must be available at all times and properly managed so that no opportunity or time is lost in the process.
To achieve this, online project management must work perfectly, so that each agent can access the information they need from anywhere. A task that falls to a powerful online property manager.
And how do you know that you are dealing with a powerful online property manager? The characteristics that determine that “the brain” of an agency is the right one are based on the following parameters:
Number of active users: it must be able to communicate with multiple users at the same time.
Disk storage capacity: it must be able to facilitate the management of the entire present and future property portfolio.
Email accounts: it must be able to permit user management according to their rank and location.
Real estate CRM: it must be its own manager, personalised, and one that meets the needs that each real estate company faces on a daily basis.
Online document management: it must allow modification or management from any device at any time.
Private corporate blog: as an internal training and communication tool.
Private discussion forums: as a space for the resolution of internal doubts and conflicts.
Security systems with encryption: the information must be available only to employees according to their rank and needs.
2.2. Virtual tour software
Appointments to view properties may seem to us to be the closest and most appropriate way to show a house, but the reality is that, nowadays, balancing the agenda of agents and clients is an impossibility. It can also prove difficult to ensure that clients are able to manage the right times so that the task of finding a house does not become a whirlwind of trips, with visits done in 15 minutes and doubts remaining unresolved.
Therefore, offering them the possibility that they themselves, from any place and at any time, can make a visit with total realism and with total information available about the distribution of the space in the house, is the definitive solution. In a matter of minutes they know if the visit is necessary and if the property has potential. This is something possible through 360º virtual tours for real estate agencies.
This applies not only from the client’s computer or mobile phone, but can also be offered from the same office so that in case of any doubts, they can be solved. Something that is also possible online using the Open House tool are virtual tours that are given by videoconference to the client or to a group of clients who can ask in real time about what they see.
2.3. Online and/or telephone support
For the same reason that virtual tour software is recommended when it comes to speeding up processes and resolving clients’ doubts swiftly, 24/7 online and/or telephone support is presented as the best solution when the answer does not involve visiting the property as many times as we want.
In this way, at any time the client can receive automated answers through online support or can wait for their answer to be offered through the telephone service. Having the agent’s Whatsapp can be a good solution as long as the agent has a company telephone and the means to inform clients about the opening hours. Solutions such as chats and support ticketing systems with automated responses are the most suitable to ensuring clients receive constant 24/7 attention.
