RealWay Managing Director, Greg Watson had an unpleasant customer service experience in the local book shop he frequents and it made me think of customer service and how important it is.  For Greg it wasn’t so much about the solution it was about the way it was handled and the intransigence of the sales assistant who refused to bring Greg’s request to the attention of the owner.  The cost of the book Greg went to buy in the shop was $12 more expensive than buying it online at an Australian site, Booktopia, and paying postage.  Guess where he is going to take his business from now on? Crap staff really give crap outcomes – it is so important to have front facing staff selected on customer service attributes.

Anthill on line magazine this week (www.anthillonline.com) had some interesting comments on customer service. In the article by Nicole Madigan Everest commentators said customer service level are going down in Australia and we are behind the United States.

According to US resident, Tony Dandrea, the US the culture is very competitive and very customer service oriented.  He was surprised that customer service levels seen during a trip to Australia were in stark contrast to what he was used to.

He was shocked what he said was “the worst display of customer service” he’d ever seen during a dinner meeting, Dandrea was even more taken aback by the lack of surprise shown by his companions.

Australian marketing manager Jessica Hannant was also quoted in the article and she said “as a customer I find myself constantly comparing the service in Australia to the USA and Asia and we are falling a long way behind”.

It seems the global financial crisis hasn’t helped as companies put less emphasis into training and lack of mentoring as disgruntled staff members are left to their own devices.

Maybe some businesses don’t see the need for customer service but in real estate you live or die by your reputation and there is nothing as sweet as a great referral resulting in a sale with a happy vendor and purchaser, not to mention a decent commission cheque.  Our industry has a very poor reputation amongst the public for customer service yet therein lies the opportunity for our offices to shine on customer outcomes.  Look after staff and customers and the rest can often take care of itself.

Take this week when we had a person phone up as he and his wife want to open a real estate office. Why did they call RealWay? Because of the excellent service provided by Brad Thompson and the team at the Wynnum Manly office. Well done Brad and team.

What do you think, maybe we are better than the Yanks?