Establishing Awesome Service
A service encounter happens any time that a consumer interacts with a servicing organization. Every Website hit or incoming ad or sign call is a service encounter. When a prospect talks to you, your staff, your company receptionist, your closing coordinator, or your broker, owner, lender, escrow or title attorney, or anyone on your service team, that person is having a service encounter. If one person in the long chain of people who help you get your job done says or does anything negative, it affects the impression of the nature of the service you provide. There's no way to separate yourself from your colleagues if they mess up. It's even possible for your service to be tainted by those outside your service team. For example, say that a buyer uses a lender other than the one you recommend. If the transaction closes late and with a higher interest rate than originally quoted, that client will leave with a bad impression about the whole transaction and everyone involved in it. Your future business and referral opportunities will be affected by the actions of someone entirely outside your influence. To direct your service toward superb outcomes, follow these steps: 1. Control service encounters by using your own people to conduct transactions. Direct and drive as much business as possible to the best providers. Work hard to convince the client to use people on your team when securing a mortgage or closing the deal. Some might call this "steering", but I view it as taking care of your clients. 2. Make sure that your client works with lenders who know their stuff and are responsive. Be aware that the lender triggers the choke point in most transactions. Take time to counsel your client toward a resource you know will perform. 3. Have a plan for recovering from service disasters if necessary. If your client is reasonable, no situation is too far-gone to salvage. In fact, handle the problem well and you're apt to turn a disgruntled client into one of your most vocal supporters. Take these steps: |
