When customer service is in question, your client expects you to give them a superior experience throughout. However, meeting their expectations of excellence at every turn isn’t always easy.
10 years ago, business would have been done in one of three ways – face-to-face, email, or over the phone. Now, the list of communication tools we use is endless, so it’s understandable for it to get a little overwhelming at times.
Our clients are connected to us 24/7 and there’s very little delay between thought and communication. As a result, clients are much more likely to speak their minds and will wait to hear from you with increased urgency. Taking 24 hours to get back to someone is no longer an acceptable time-frame to work around. Other industries have set the bar, and even if they’re miles apart from you, clients expect you to measure up.
Quick, personal replies have become the benchmark, which puts the client firmly in control, and makes it much harder to build their loyalty, as they expect more for less.
However, it’s still controllable. The only thing that stands between you and your client satisfaction is punctual, relevant and responsive communication.
1) Match Your Client’s Communication
How they’re speaking with you is how they’d like to be communicated with. Even if you keep everything in writing, make sure you use the same channel they use to reach out to you. Work out what their preference is and stick to it, as not everyone is hot on email anymore.
2) Help them to Solve their Own Problems
Customers hate wasting time and want the height of convenience from your service. As a result, landlord and tenant portals will allow them to communicate with you at their pace. Creating educational blog posts, FAQs, knowledge bases and user-friendly websites will help your clients find the information they’re chasing you for themselves.
3) Be Completely Transparent
Half the time, your clients will be chasing you for an update and that means telling them what’s happening as it’s unfolding, not a day after. Showing your clients what you’re doing behind the scenes will help to build your relationships and cultivate trust. Remember – you do this every day, but they don’t, so don’t assume they know what you’re doing.
4) Every Client is Unique
You need to realise that every one of your clients is an individual, so you need to ensure your communication with them is personal and shows that you know what they need from you. Everyone has different reasons for getting into the property market.
5) Automation isn’t Just About Saving You Time
Sure, improving your processes can help save you time, but you need to work on how automating your communication can provide a better experience for your clients.
6) Be Authentic and Show You Care
The key to remaining in control of any client relationship is communication and building relationships with both landlords and tenants. Be authentic with everything that you do and you’ll show them that you care about them and value their business.