To Boost Engagement, Hit Pause and Talk to Your Online Prospects — Here’s How!
You should take customer service as seriously as a first date! There is only one ruler and it’s the customer. And he/she can fire anybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending the money somewhere else. How we communicate with our online real estate website visitors is paramount.
Be Kind
It starts with being polite. Approach your online prospects with a personalized warm welcome, and end with a fond farewell and an invitation to return. Like dating, customer service starts with what your mom and dad taught you — manners! That means saying “nice to meet you,” “thank you,” and “goodbye.”
Seems obvious, but when having a conversation with your customers through a screen all day, it’s so easy to forget there’s a human being on the other end.
Always use your customer’s name in your interactions. It’s a reminder that you’re talking to a real person and it’ll give your emails a personal touch.
When a customer reaches out to you, they’re giving you valuable insights into how to improve your presentation. It’s extremely valuable information — don’t be afraid to say “thanks!” and be eager about talking to them again.
Forget Buzzwords
Talk with your customers like you actually do in real life. When you run into someone, you don’t apologize for the meeting that over run, you say “I’m so sorry about that.” The phrases packed with those fancy words are associated with automated, impersonal interactions.
Talk in your customers’ vocabulary. Remember, your job is to solve the online prospects problem as swiftly as possible — not prove how knowledgeable you are. Using real estate or business lingo that your customers can’t understand won’t clarify anything and can come across as condescending.
Be Positive
You must be conscious of your word choices and their connotation. Never make it sound like you’re pointing out the obvious, or that your customers made a mistake reaching out to you.
Avoid at all cost all negative language like “we don’t,” “but,” or a a rude “no.” This is hard when online prospects are requesting information that aren’t quite available even to you just yet. Replace “not at this time,” with “I’ll see what I can do concerning your request,” or “it will be available soon.”
You want to provide solutions for your customers, not disappoint them and push them away.
The more you connect with your online customers, the more likely they’ll stick around and do business with you.
If you have questions or want to dive deeper into this, give us a shout out in the comments section. Also, if you find yourself nodding along and love building experiences, we are recruiting at frontdoor so drop us a quick note.
