How your customer service skills can be helping or hurting your real estate career

“You are not selling a car, you are selling the setting for intimacy and security, the most expensive purchase most customers make,” said customer loyalty expert Chip Bell.

How can you take your customer service to the next level? Bell has some tips for agents.

Bell said you must stay on top of changes in homebuying technology. “Photos on a website are old-fashioned,” he said. “How about a narrated, toured video? Be a wizard on the latest home building enhancements.”

As a Realtor®, Bell said you must be able to tell homebuyers how much it would cost to convert a home to solar power, as well as how they can turn the house into a smart home. “Renovating kitchens and baths is elementary,” he added. “Your customers now care about technology in their home.”

Don’t keep your focus on the house instead of your client, said Bell. It’s about the process, not the outcome, he stressed. “There is the angst of mortgage lending, closing and the anxiety of making a smart economic decision. Taking as much worry out of that process can be far more important than showings, open houses and fancy photos,” he said.

Bell said what sets the best Realtors® apart from the rest is their attention to details. “If Cirque du Soleil or Disney was in charge of the experience you created for your client or customer, how would it change? It means superb detail management. Everyone gets a new homebuyer a giant goodie basket with a bottle of wine. How about two tickets to the opera because you learned your clients were opera buffs?” he suggested.

“Make your customer the smartest home buyer or seller on the planet. Make sure you nurture a relationship as important to your customers as their physician or minister. Take time to get to know your customers at a deep level. They should believe they are your only customer and that you are thinking of their welfare every waking moment. Belief only comes with proof and evidence,” he advised.