During the 5th Prestige-MLS Congress, Florian Mas and Vincent Lecamus, the two founders of the site “Immobilier 2.0” spoke about the subject of client experience. An issue especially important due to its nature, Luxury Real Estate demands a customer experience that goes beyond the traditional dimensions.
Real Estate is a sector in perpetual evolution, and professionals must be able to adapt to new standards, tools and expectations. It is one of the issues of client experience. Agents must respond to emerging needs, in order to distinguish themselves from the competition and prove their expertise.
The Analysis of the Client Process and Optimization of the Experience through Different Strategies
In order to build an exceptional client experience, professionals must position themselves on the set of stages followed by the customer. This proposition must be sensitive to the combination of the project’s contact points.
For this, there is no secret: The Real Estate agent must concentrate in the uses and expectations of prospective clients. In this manner, they can make their vision on client experience correspond to the needs of the customer, and consequently accelerate the passage between the different stages of the process. Throughout these analyses, the professional must keep this following question in mind: “If I was the client, what would I need at this stage?”
Early-stage Positioning: Responding to Information Needs
Collecting Information
The professionals must be able to bring a proposition facing each one of the stages of the Real Estate project. This starts by the gathering of information, an activity that nowadays is done by the prospects mostly on the Internet. Prestigious Real Estate professionals must become the clients’ source of information. For example, by publishing added value content on their website or their newsletter.
Real Estate Research
The client experience in Real Estate goes immediately through the research stage. It is necessary to propose to the prospective client the property that corresponds to their needs as soon as possible. The criteria must be precise, allowing for clear identification of the need and above all the ability to evolve. This modality allows taking in to account new criteria matching the evolution of the market. It is also conceivable to carry a revision of the research functionality. The expert speakers during the Vision Congress took on the example of “La matinale du monde”. The mobile application of the newspaper will play the role of the information trustee. Every morning the user finds a selection of news in which they can underline those which are of interest to them or not. Day after day, the application can this way refine its proposals. We can in fact imagine that the Real Estate research adopts this format.
The Ads
Following the research comes the moment for Real Estate ads. The latter can equally be thought in a way that improves the client experience. Prestige Real Estate is fortunate enough to be a sector in which the mandates are appealing. An ad for an exceptional property must fit in this appeal. You must seek to magnify the property, for example by letting the visual take precedence over the technical features.
Magnifying the Experience When Arranging Meetings and Initial Contact
Humanizing Yourself Thanks to Social Media
Nevertheless, a client’s project does not finish with research and ads. Prestigious Real Estate is a domain of activities governed by human relations. Then, how can the professional create an experience that makes prospects want to meet them?
The basis of this work initiates on the Internet. The professional must use marketing supports, which are their website and social media to interact in a human way with the client. The objective would be to give them the impression that they already know you; that they will not contact a perfect stranger. To this end, it is necessary to create a community around your image. To accomplish that you need to remain authentic and communicate your values through these tools.
Arranging Meetings
Once the client knows the professional, there comes the question of arranging meetings. It is a factor that professionals must seek to optimize. It is necessary to ask ourselves if the appointment system is convenient for us, as if we were clients.
During their presentation, Florian Mas and Vincent Lecamus have particularly quoted the Redfin example: the portal has developed a system that allows the client to take an appointment online when they desire. If the agent in charge of the mandate is not available, a colleague will replace them for the occasion.
As professionals of Luxury Real Estate, you cannot really make yourself be replaced by a colleague. However, the idea is the same. The client must be able to arrange a meeting with a member of your team, easily and though any contact means they choose.
In this case, when you communicate on social media, present your agency and coworkers. Your clients will get the impression that they already know your team. Equally propose for them to contact you and take appointments through these platforms, which are more personal than the contact form on a website.
During and After the Transaction
Throughout the transaction, once the property has been trusted to you, you must make sure that the selling customer has access to the ensemble of information related to the sale of their property. Let them know about the number of visits, the number of times the ad has been consulted, etc. Do not let them look for the information, but place it at their disposal before they ask for it. It is by anticipating the needs of the client that you can build a higher quality experience for them.
The Client Process in Luxury Real Estate does not stop at the Transaction
Customer relationships in Luxury Real Estate do not end the moment sales documents are signed. To offer a quality experience, the professional must exercise their loyalty-building techniques. You have to give clients that have come to your agency the desire to recommend you to their friends, and to call you one more time.
For that you must maintain contact with them, be sure that they are happy with their transaction, send them personalized promotional emails, and invite them to important events from your agency… Create a real community around your image.
Going Beyond Throughout the Experience to Give Back Sense to the Real Estate Agency
The professionals of Luxury Real Estate must work on the experience proposed in the core of their agency. This must convince the client to cross the threshold of you image. For this you must to suspend it, give another sense to your facilities.
The virtual visit devices particularly help spark this interest. This way, the professionals can guarantee the prospect the ability to visit several properties from their first meeting with the agency. The idea is not to sell a product, but to attract individuals, thanks to the experiences they could live. Clients must have you engraved in their minds.
Conclusion
Even if the client experience is an impalpable thing, it is still quite tangible. It is a factor that emerges and develops around the offer of a professional’s service. Each stage of a customer’s process or prospect must be thought in a way that presents a coherent quality experience. In our reality, this is one of the key elements in the success of a company.
