Successful realtors and financial professionals have learned how to develop referral networks by providing excellent customer service. They continue to interact with their clients and get feedback long after the sale.

Here are a few ideas to use that will help you gather this valuable information. Use this to assess your strengths and weaknesses, and make necessary changes, especially if you wish to grow.

• In a focus group, past clients are invited to provide you with face to face feedback. Focus groups allow you to analyze the subtlety of the messages communicated.
• Online survey services (such as Zoomerang) are more factual and are slightly less interpretive.
• Newsletters allow you to consistently survey your current and potential customers.

Providing outstanding customer service will enhance your business and bring more referrals. Your answers to the following questions will give you some ideas:

1. Do you know what’s most important to your clients? Is it top dollar, follow up, quick closes, or having connections?
2. What is the #1 thing your clients say about you?
3. How do their needs and wants impact your business?
4. Are you positioned with the proper tools to stay in touch, such as a web site, email, cell phone?
5. How often do you contact previous clients to ask for referrals?

By keeping your eyes and ears open, and developing the right communication style, you will go a long way to becoming a more professional and profitable realtor. The secret is to make your customer happy….and the rest will follow!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 9:27 am and is filed under Professionals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.