- Sacramento Real Estate Adventures - Your Sacramento Real Estate and mortgage blog!

Do you deserve to still be in business if you provide crappy customer service?
In this economy especially....NO!

I am embarrassed to say that I had an enlightening experience with one of our service providers.

It is tax season and it is time to file our extension for our taxes.  I send an email back in the beginning of March to our CPA to make sure that the extension had been processed and filed.  I never heard back from him so I found myself trying to track him down so I could get my answer.  When I spoke with his staff, I was told "Mr. CPA (to protect the "innocent") does not answer his email during tax season".

I think I was stunned at this response and it took a minute or two for this to set in.  OK.... so I can never get him on the phone, the staff does not always seem to know what is going on, and now he won't return my emails. You would think the staff would at least provide an apology ... even an excuse!  Nope I got what I consider to be a slap in the face.

How can you treat a client like that and still think you will have a practice ...especially in this economy!

Don't get me wrong... I totally get that you can't be in 2 places at once and tax season can slow down the service that you are able to provide your customers.  I get that.  BUT why can't your staff return your emails and your phone calls?  That is what systems are for.. you can't just NOT check your email.  It is just ludicrous.

I can't be too mad at Mr. CPA ... it really is my fault for not "trading up" sooner!

It leads me to think about my own mortgage practice.  Are we providing raving fan service every time a loan comes down the pipeline?

Yes our service and communication with our clients throughout the process is great!  I say that based on the feedback from our surveys that are sent out after each loan closes to both the real estate agents involved and the clients.

BUT... there is always room for improvement!  I don't ever want to get to a place where I think our customer service systems do not need to be improved.  Even the smallest tweek can make a HUGE impact to the client.

Look at the example of my CPA above...

He could be the best CPA in town but that is not what I will remember.  I will remember him not having enough respect for me to return my calls or my emails.  

Well... that mistake cost him our business (once he completes our extension) and future referrals.

Are there mistakes you are making in your business that are impacting your customer service to your clients? 

This blog by:

Team Newington
Sacramento Mortgage Planners
(916) 687-6868
www.SuperiorLoanTeam.com

Subscribe to our Blog Feed