Savvy Consumers Are Asking For Apple in Real Estate

Written by Adam Gallegos
Published on September 1st, 2011
Categorized under: Consumer Advice, Home Buying Advice, Home Selling Advice

No other company has influenced the way I measure customer service more than Apple. I now expect phenomenal service from the places I shop, the places I eat and from the people I hire. If you are hiring someone to advise you on one of the largest transactions you will ever make – like the purchase or sale of real estate – do you think they should provide top notch service?

We are going to talk about how customer service has changed and how it can affect costly decisions you are likely to make.

Apple earned another advocate

I explained to the young gentleman working at the Apple store that I shattered the glass on the front of my iPhone when I dropped it on the sidewalk. He sensed my frustration and offered to replace it for free this time. I walked out with a brand new phone. They gained a strong advocate that started by posting the story on his facebook page.

Did I just leave the spa?

I usually arrive at the Apple store with questions and needs. I usually leave feeling like I just had a spa treatment. This is coming from someone who hates shopping and customer service people.

I spoke to a human being that cared and had fun

In the past I have learned to put up with outsourced call centers and experiences that stressed me out rather than solved my issues. Wouldn’t it be nice if the people you do business with possessed the following qualities?

Eager to help
Human
Knowledgeable
Empowered
Sometimes a little bit fun

This is not an anti-PC article

Like choosing Pepsi or Coke, a new divide has formed behind electronic devices. This article is about what one of the companies does right, not which company is better.

Average service gets the black list

I’ve been conditioned to expect average service from places like:

Best Buy
Comcast
Jeep
My Accountant
My Financial Adviser

Now that I have seen the light, I am holding them all to new standards. Even the sandwich shop I frequent. I want to feel like my dollar counts and returns its just reward. I don’t want to be pressured or poorly advised, resulting in a costly decision.

It goes way beyond touchy-feely

It’s one things when we are talking about buying a newspaper. It’s another thing when your hard earned savings is on the line. Below are some criteria by which I am measuring professionals I hire.

Smiles are nice, but results are crucial.
Create the right environment for me to become a better consumer
Put your expertise to work
Always make me feel like the big fish in the pond
Show me I can trust you

Do these things and I will preach your praises to everyone that will listen or read my tweets and facebook posts.

The snowball affect

Why should businesses develop this type of relationship? I’ll give you three reason:

Word of mouth = free marketing
Word of mouth = exponential growth
Word of mouth = positive exposure that your competition can’t buy

100 calls a day

One of the big real estate firms, teaches agents to set a goal for the number of deals they want to close this year, then backtrack how many leads they will need to get to that goal, and how many people they need to harass in order to get that many leads.

Borrowing this thought from Jennifer Allan; wouldn’t it be better to create an amazing experience for one person each day rather than turn-off 100?

Insider advice

Things that don’t matter:

Advertisements from the National Association of Realtors will have you believe that being a Realtor ensures a quality agent. The reality is that every active real estate agent is forced to join this association. There is no quality control in place.
The size of the real estate firm doesn’t matter. Managers of the big firms are highly recruiting focused. They will bring just about anyone aboard to meet their goals. Quantity usually trumps quality.
Be careful of the agent that leads the conversation with their 25+ years of experience. There are plenty of burnt out real estate agents still working in the business.
The biggest names in real estate tend to be the farthest removed from helping you buy or sell a home. Don’t assume that the most real estate signs means this person is an awesome agent.

Things that do matter:

Understand the optional continuing education this person has received. Ask questions about their honors and personal designations.
Ask for a written (preferably signed) outline of the service and services you can expect to receive.
Interview as many real estate agents as you need to before finding one you feel comfortable with. This could mean 1 or 25.
Teams can be good or bad. Understand exactly who you will be working with. If more than one person, you need to be sold on all of them.
Ask for references. You can do your own checking around on sites like Yelp and you can ask for references of past clients. Ask them to include past clients that had obstacles that the agent helped overcome.
Ask for a resume. You are hiring this person so it makes sens that you understand their professional background.

Click here for a look at what we put in writing for all our home buyers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 1st, 2011 at 7:17 am and is filed under Consumer Advice, Home Buying Advice, Home Selling Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Nathan said at October 4th, 2011 at 9:44 am
Adam, great article and I agree 100%! Too many people in sales/services professions put too little value on great customer service. It makes such a huge difference and is so nice when you experience an enjoyable interaction with another human being during a business transaction, however small or large it may be. Glad to hear you are instilling these values in your team. Hopefully you inspire more businesses to follow suit.

Nathan

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