Think your property management business is already delivering great customer care? You may want to think again. In fact, The New Yorker found that while 80% of big companies described themselves as delivering “superior” service, only a mere 8% of customers say they’ve actually experienced “superior” service from these companies.
So, before moving into what constitutes exceptional customer service, it’s important to conduct a self-assessment of your business to determine if there are any areas that might be hindering your success. To begin, you must understand what matters to customers. According to Accenture’s Global Consumer Pulse Research, there are a number of common frustrations that lead to a customer switching brands.
These include the following, in order of importance:
- Contacting a company multiple times for the same reason (91%)
- Being put on hold for a long time (90%)
- Repeating your issue to several company reps (89%)
- Not being easy to do business with (85%)
- Not delivering on promises (84%)
- Inconsistencies in multichannel experiences (58%)
Related Post: The Real Cost of Bad Customer Service in Property Management
What constitutes extraordinary customer service?
Now that you know what not to do, let’s explore 7 key steps to getting it right.
- Hire the right personnel (choose individuals who have the right attitude first and then train for skills if need be)
- Make customer service the key principle of your company; incorporate it into the day to day practices for every employee, regardless of role
- Coach upper management to embrace and embody a culture of outstanding customer service (when they go above and beyond, those they lead will naturally want to do the same)
- Define service as true engagement, or authentic interactions with your customers (humanize the experience)
- Define, communicate and reinforce standards and expectations
- Align employee incentives with customer engagement metrics
- Always listen to complaints and address them promptly (let customers know their experiences truly matter – go above and beyond)
The customer’s perception is your reality. — Kate Zabriskie
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