Creating a costumer-centric culture

Customer-centricity, or being customer-centric, is to put your customers at the heart of everything you do. Making sure every interaction, online and in-person, benefits the customer. A seamless experience can impress customers and give you the edge to outshine the competition. Delivering not just a good, but an exceptional customer experience can turn new customers into loyal ones, and even brand advocates – boosting your profitability and brand awareness with every interaction.

Be a property partner for life

Most people think that the real estate market consists of a single transaction, but that’s not the case. There are so many opportunities for real estate agencies along the entire lifespan of a customer – students rent a room, after that they rent an apartment, later they buy a house, then buy a bigger house and they might even inherit a house they want to sell. All this means just one customer has not one but five or more possible opportunities for a real estate agency.

Get a boost in profitability

Delivering a seamless and perfect experience for the customer the first time means you’re more likely to gain a loyal and long-term customer, and this can have a particular profit on profitability – even a 5% increase in customer retention can boost profitability 25% to 75% (Harvard Business Review, 2014)

When people experience outstanding service, they’ll often tell friends and family about it – this is called earned advertising. Word-of-mouth and personal recommendations are so valuable as customers see this as the best way to find a business. In fact, 84% of people think word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family are the most trustworthy (Nielsen, 2013). So by providing outstanding service, you get advertising, leads and build brand trust completely free.

Print isn’t dead and neither is the estate agent. The biggest advantage of being an agent is the ability to have an omnichannel approach. We talked about going to where the customers are (instead of having them come to you) and this is the perfect example. Buying a house is often the biggest purchase people make in their entire lifetime – it’s often a complicated and time consuming process and consumers need your help. Combine impressive digital features like quality images and virtual tours with that in-person human touch that carries through to customer service for the ultimate experience.

When creating an omnichannel strategy, use targeted channels to provide value to your customers. If younger customers are looking for property inspiration on Instagram, make an account and show off your best images and listings. There’s no one size fits all.