My Journey as a Vendor

I have worked in real estate now for 23 years and yes I have bought, sold and rented many homes before. However it is the sale of my current home, which I am conducting with a high profile agency in my area that has me looking at the process of real estate in a whole different light.

I am the vendor from hell, I am sure that my agent, who by the way has done pretty much everything right, is very aware of the fact that I will most probably be one of their most difficult clients.

I have presented at many conferences and training sessions on the value of delivering service that equates to memorable experiences. An evocative term yes but that is what each interaction or touch point should be about.

So many businesses have systems that are designed for themselves not for their clients and when I talk about this often I am met with quizzical looks... as if to say .... “and the problem with that is”?

So I thought I would keep a journal of what my experiences have been to date and what perhaps could have made a difference to the overall experience.

I chose the agent because they are local, have a high profile and yes I once worked there. So I know the level of service that I should be getting. My expectations however are much higher than any other client they will be dealing with right now.

So far the agent has turned up on time to every appointment, has emailed me schedules, photos and returned my calls exactly as I would have expected. But this is the point, how has any of this really been any different to any other agent.

Our first open was on a Saturday and there was no board on the front of the property. .. not a good start but one that was overcome quite quickly.

So as I sit here and write this blog I ask myself what are my expectations.

Well I want to be wowed, I want to be able to say that my agent gave me the best possible service and the process of getting the house sold and getting me the best price is part of that but what about all the bits in between.

So here are some examples I would like to share.... what about:

• a phone call or an sms the day prior to the first open house just to confirm the time and we are on track because I wake up every Saturday and Thursday and ask “what time was that damn open again and how many hours do I have to clean my house”.

•  the agent following me up on the lack of a board rather than the other way around.

• a registration on their buyer match program so I can see other similar homes and their price points - this helps set my expectations on price.

•  a link to the website when the property has been uploaded.

•  a rental valuation provided automatically and one where the property manager has gone through the property rather than looking at photos on the internet. This does not make me feel comfortable on the rental valuation provided and it sends the message that I am not that important.

•  a registration on the tenant match program as I will be renting in the short term. Or providing me a list of properties available to lease.

•  flowers for the first open.

•  a coffee shop voucher or a massage voucher or something for me to do during opens....

Need I go on, none of these are very hard to achieve but for some reason so many agents find it very hard to think of and deliver on.

My point is that if you deliver simply to expectation then there is no WOW and no word of mouth; it’s the small stuff that counts, the unexpected that enables me to say that was a wow experience can’t wait to tell people about it.

Because when you are on the market regardless of whether you are buying, renting or selling everybody wants to know how things are going.
Let’s see what the next 6 weeks brings... watch this space as they say.