ESTATE AGENTS are still missing too many tricks when it comes to one of the most important elements of their business jigsaw.
Only last week I saw yet more `research' decrying the efforts of the profession when it comes to answering telephone calls; suggesting that a staggering 80% of people calling agents are not satisfied with the way their call is handled.
Smart agents know the value of all their telephone calls and work hard to answer them professionally and consistently, to make sure they never miss a call and deliver great service. Indeed over the past quarter at Moneypenny, we have handled over 300,000 individual calls for agents - calls that would have otherwise gone unanswered or to an impersonal machine. In far too many cases though, answering the telephone is still a remarkably undervalued part of day-to-day business, with its potential for good massively underestimated.
How often have you heard someone say `oh they're only answering the phone' or `I'm just on the phone' Well there's no `only' or `just' about it.
No business can afford to miss, or mishandle a telephone call, but when a single call can result in a new instruction or a sale and could be worth several hundreds or thousands of pounds, there's absolutely no room for complacency or a casual approach. There's a real person on the end of that line waiting for you to `wow' them - in the same way a customer in your office expects the red carpet treatment.
Let me give you a real example from another sector, as this is a problem that can - and does - strike any industry. Just recently, one of our staff was in the market for a new car. She had her heart set on a particular make and model and excitedly called the local dealer for a test drive. No answer. She left three messages - no call-back. What did she do In her annoyance at the total disregard for her value as a customer - she trotted off to another dealer down the road and bought a completely different brand new car - one that hadn't even been on her radar.
And so it is when customers are looking for an agent. If you're instilling confidence with your efficiency, your manner and the professional way you deal with each and every enquiry, they will have no need to take their business elsewhere.
People ultimately buy from people and base decisions on trust (or distrust) on the way you look after them. Not only that; people talk to each other about their experiences, especially amid the social media frenzy we're all now a part of. So never underestimate the power of a phone call. The way you answer your telephone has a direct impact, not only on the first impression and subsequent image you present, but critically on your ability to generate new business, the overall client experience and ultimately the bottom line.
*Nicola Jackson is a Property Team Manager at telephone answering specialist, Moneypenny.
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Comments
Nicola and her team have provided us with a first-class service for over five years now - never a missed call!
I totally agree with Nicola's comments as working in the same industry, with Paperclip Admin, and supplying telephone answering services to a variety of market sectors, we constantly come across business's who still underestimate the power of professional call answering and provision of good customer service.
We have made converts of a number of clients, who initially didn't attribute a real value to the service we could provide.
Improved customer retention and an increase in new business for them, that has been directly attributed to our services, has allowed them to see the light!