Waddya want? Er, Service, please …

As a Market Researcher in the property world, I visit (often under the cloak of mystery buyer/seller) Show-Homes and Sales Offices of small and large developers.  I monitor and report how I am dealt with by sales consultants and other staff – and how often I am vastly disappointed by the level of service on offer.  OK, so there are the threat of redundancies, cut-backs, cost-cutting etc, but is that a reason for how often the ‘exceeding customer expectations’ rarely makes even a slight rumble on the Richter scale?

Despite programmes of ‘Customer Relationship Management’, ‘Customer Service Skills’, the ‘Customer is King’, have we lost the ability to simply provide good, honest, service? Judging by the latest results, (not Eurovision by any means) the answer is ‘Yes’. 

Here’s an example of one little episode I’ve been on the receiving end recently:

Saturday pm, about 3 pm - no other visitors on site, the sales consultant barely looked at me when I entered the sales cabin.  She flashed her hand at the details on the wall and told me I could go and have a look at the show-home.  No questions asked, no qualifying of my potential purchasing power, in a nutshell, no interest whatsoever.

Being a Sales Consultant on a new homes site is not all it’s cracked up to be – there can be many hours following up leads because no-one’s turned up, then suddenly when it’s time to lock up, 3 couples arrive to view!

It takes quite a Sales Person to distinguish whether you genuinely want help selecting a new home or are simply a ‘drawer-opener’ (i.e. you’ve no intention of purchasing but just go for something to do and spy out the latest in kitchen/bathroom design. 

Have you received excellent Customer Service from a Show-Home Negotiator recently?  Please write and let us know. What was it he/she did to warrant your satisfaction?