Follow-Up. Your First Customer Service Test
I recently attended a Nicky Joy seminar. What a powerful speaker! Nicky had a phrase that was extremely relevant. “Follow-Up is your first customer service test.”
How true! So many sales executives have trouble following up after a motivated buyer has graced their doorstep. With that being the case, one can only assume that all of those internet and phone leads are not getting the royal treatment they deserve.
Buyers are more than a little reluctant right now to walk through that door considering the economic climate. But they are still shopping! Add that to an already busy schedule full of soccer games, dance recitals and limited family time and it becomes obvious why doing their initial research on the web has become so prevalent. Your new customers are using the internet to shop, research, compare and narrow down their choices. Ultimately, they use the process of elimination to narrow down their selection to an average of 2-3 builders or homes. Then, they’ll probably reach out to you digitally and ask those final comparison questions.
It is at this critical moment that you have an opportunity to gain—or lose—a customer. You are being tested. How you follow-up is setting the standard for both you and your company. Do you follow-up immediately? Do you follow-up professionally? Do you follow-up with a friendly and assisting tone? Consider these questions and then ask yourself if you would pass or fail the follow-up test.
I know that managing your current clients as well as new leads is time consuming. But I guarantee, that if you respond in a timely, friendly and consistent fashion, you will pass the customer service test and convert more of those internet shoppers into satisfied customers.
New Q.A. Series – Boomers and the Internet
I am beginning a new question and answer series here on the blog. I receive some great questions and hope the answers shared here will be a benefit to the homebuilding community. If you have something to add or experience that will help, please post a comment.
Q:
Mike,
I am a manager for a sales team. We sell retirement homes. I have just starting digging into your book and I was wondering if you believe that the baby boomers are inclined to jump on the internet to search for homes? We have not had a powerful online presence because we have just been involved in the old traditional marketing methods. I hope to change this and I am going to use your methods but I would hate to direct our attention to an area where our customers are not spending their time. Can you enlighten me any?
Thanks, C.A.
A:
Thank you for the great question. There are 2 things to consider:
1st – Consider your product and the boomer buying cycle. It is my assumption that the buying cycle will last longer for your customers. They may not need to move immediately or have the sense of urgency that younger buyers will have. Most likely, their research process will be extended; which means your follow-up process will need to match. Some of the best tools you can use to effectively manage their experience is your internet presence and consistent email follow-up.
2nd – Internet usage among boomers and seniors is one of the fast growing segments of the market. The number of U.S. adults online over age 50 will soar over the next ten years. In 2008 73.7% of those aged 50-64 and 34.1% of those 65 and above will use Internet. My grandma is in her 80’s and puts her Mac to good use sending email, making home videos, Googling… That doesn’t mean you forgo traditional marketing altogether, it just means that you need to create a balanced program that encompasses the internet to attract and assist with your sales/marketing process for your specific demographic. Plus, if you give your boomer customers enough compelling reasons, they will “spend their time” online.
The internet is continually evolving and we need to always improve our offerings to keep up with customer expectations.
Email Marketing Benchmarks for Real Estate
Ever wonder how your email blasts stack up. I stumbled across this article that reviews average open, click, bounce and abuse complaint rates by industry.
Mailchimp scanned over 272 million emails and their results are listed per industry here>>
MailChimp states: “These stats aren’t pulled from a survey of big giant corporations with million-dollar marketing budgets and dedicated email marketing teams. 70% of our customers are 1-10 employees, and they’re design-it-yourselfers. If you run a small organization, and you do your own email marketing, now you have an “apples to apples” comparison with others in your industry.”
Real Estate Averages:
Open Rate – 22.16%
Click Rate – 4.27%
Soft Bounces – 1.87%
Hard Bounces – 4.18%
Abuse Complaints – 0.07%
Unsubscribes – 0.30%
Would anyone like to share their email results? Leave a comment…anonymously if needed. I know how protective we builders can be 
iPhone post
This is my first post using the Wordpress app for the iPhone. I’ll have to say, pretty slick. And very easy to use. Even adding pictures directly from the iPhone is super easy.
FREE Webinar – Lean Marketing
Blue Tangerine Solutions is hosting another FREE webinar Nov 20th. I’ll be discussing “Lean Marketing” and how to better use the Internet to maximize your marketing dollars. This is a timely topic for the industry, and will help you learn how to do ‘more’ with a leaner marketing budget.
You need to register for access – you can do that here>>
