The biggest brands in the world know they are only as good as their customers think they are, and while many an agency claim to have satisfied customers- how do they really know what their customers actually think of them?
Being in the service industry it’s a question we’ve often pondered, and in 2013 Ray White adopted and rolled out our own Customer Satisfaction Program. “Out vision is to put the customer at the heart of everything we do by embedding the Customer Satisfaction Program into the culture of the Group” Sam White, Chairman of LoanMarket and Director of the Ray White Group, explains. The program also helps our members identify areas for improvement and growth within their businesses, as well as celebrating their successes.
Recognising the importance of customer feedback, and well received by the group, the program has now been adopted to our regional and national awards programs. In the first of our Ray White New Zealand Quarterly Zone Awards for 2014 Susa Guhl from Ray White Nelson has been awarded the Customer Satisfaction Salesperson Award, and Ray White Richmond have taken out the Customer Satisfaction Office Award.
Susa Guhl has been described by her customers as: “fast, professional, effective, friendly”. Other feedback we received on Susa commented on how well she knew her market, her “professional, honest service backed up by a great team: and dedication to working for the vendor. Once vendor writes: Susa “was excellent at communicating with us throughout the process. There were some complexities in this sale beyond the norm and she handled these with exemplary professionalism.” It was pleasing for us to hear similar feedback on the Ray White Richmond team who were described by their customers as: “Very helpful and knowledgeable about the current market”. Other customer comments received through the survey included: “We were happy the way the [Ray White Richmond] team worked for us especially over the holiday period.”; our agent was “always professional and approachable and this largely contributed to making the sale of our property an easy stress less exercise.”, similarly: [our agent] “kept us informed about even the smallest things – ie power information in letterbox, letting him know power was being cut off, which may have made showing the house difficult. Sometimes it is the little things that make a difference.”
According to NOP World 2011 research, 93% of customers identify word of mouth as the best, most reliable and trustworthy source for ideas and information on products and services. People share their thoughts about our business every day – knowing what makes our customers happy, and unhappy, allows us to maximise positive experiences by providing us information on how we can improve our services. Julie Ryan, South Island Business Performance Manager for Ray White New Zealand comments “We’re committed to learning and improving, and believe our customer satisfaction is one of the key reasons we continue to pick up market share from our competitors… the information we receive is vital to the group – allowing us to not only identify new opportunities but also go so far as helping us develop our training programs.”
Ray White’s Customer Satisfaction program works whereby customers are contacted electronically after an unconditional sale inviting them to take part in the survey. Through a series of structured metrics the results are calculated and feedback made available to the team – enabling individuals and offices to not only assess their performances, but also identify opportunities for service improvements and grow in their business. The Customer Satisfaction Program is essentially a tool we have adopted across our business to drive our behaviours as the market leader in customer service. “We are dedicated to keeping the customer at the heart of everything we do. Through research and consultancy we know that business growth and profitability are closely linked to better customer service.” Carey Smith, CEO Ray White New Zealand states.
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