It’s amazing the way people resist change.We all do it on some level - maybe it’s a simple and relatively unimportant thing like insisting on a particular morning ritual, or maybe it’s something that limits life or career in a more significant way. Over the years I’ve found that one of the best routes to improving any area of life is to stand back and look objectively at the things that aren’t delivering the outcome we want. The real key to success is to stay open to change.
Ten years ago I used to ask principals in training sessions what the biggest challenge of our industry was and one of the top answers was usually “getting staff to prospect”. I still ask the same question today, and guess what? The answer is still the same too.
Incredibly, many principals are still butting their heads against this impossible wall, trying to force salespeople to do something that clearly doesn’t come naturally or easily to them. Last year I decided to tackle this seemingly fundamental part of real estate and look for a way to change it.
In my role at the Ray White Group I get to do things on a scale that wouldn’t be possible if I were still operating my own real estate business. So in looking at the problem, I came up with a big solution. The result is called Ray White Concierge and I’m proud to say it’s by far one of the most switched on customer call centres you’ll come across in the nation.
First let’s go back to the basic problem; we all know real estate is about relationships. To build relationships, agents need to actually speak to their customers regularly. Unfortunately, the reality is it’s one of those things it’s easier to put off. Let’s face it, stuck in an office sitting at a desk making call after call is worse that a trip to the dentist for most salespeople. The typical salesperson wants to get out and about, be face to face with people, not doing what they see as the telemarketing grind.
Sure, they’re happy to make a call if it’s a hot lead or a request for a listing. But I’m talking about the calls which are more mundane, like calling open home lists, cold calling, and regular follow up calls. If anything, the advent of technology means it’s easier than ever to avoid making those calls - just send out an email newsletter and any guilt for not making the phone calls is avoided for another month.
Everyone knows the importance of the calls and it’s reinforced at every training session and sales meeting. The horse is repeatedly shown the water, but trying over and over again to force it to drink is just frustrating for all parties and mostly pointless. There are very few agents who have the discipline to make it happen.
The obvious answer is to outsource. Some offices do this already, with in-house telemarketers or even by using external call centres. But neither of these options is trouble-free. The main problems with the first option include;
*Effectiveness varies- it’s hard to get consistency in service.
*It’s time consuming - it’s yet another resource that the principal needs to manage closely.
*It’s expensive - there are usually fixed costs but varying benefits depending on the work flow.
The main problem with the second option of using an external call centre is the lack of specialisation available. Most call centres have clients from all sorts of different industries, meaning the person who calls your customers may have just finished calling a list from a bedding shop, a kitchen manufacturer, or a tyre fitting business. And we know first-hand real estate is an industry like no other - property is the biggest and most emotional transaction a customer will ever engage in and it’s very risky to be represented by someone who may not understand the industry.
Enter Ray White Concierge, run by Kelly Tatlow. Kelly is among Australia’s most well known and experienced call centre specialists. She has successfully established and managed call centres for Citibank, American Express and a number of Australian banks and insurance companies. All Ray White Concierge staff members are highly trained permanent employees of Ray White, not contractors, and many have been with the group for three to five years. They have specific skills; they only work with real estate customers, many of them have financial services licences, and most importantly, they have no fear or reservation in making these critical calls.
The concept of this highly specialised call centre has two elements. The first is that every customer buying or selling through any Ray White office is contacted on behalf of the office and salesperson. The customer is offered a number of free services to help with their move and more importantly, is touched in a professional and caring way. This service is free to Ray White offices.
Secondly, the call centre can provide the cold calling and database building and management services every office needs, on a user-pays basis. They get to customers quicker and more effectively than a salesperson can and dramatically increase an office’s productivity. It’s as easy as sending in a list and paying only for what’s done with a guarantee of quality.
We’re seeing offices effectively building their database and their reputation quickly and more effectively than they could ever manage by themselves. Principals say it’s a more effective marketing tool than anything else they’ve tried. Customers love it. Salespeople are relieved of the pressure (and guilt) to do something that on the whole they’re just not capable of doing consistently anyway, freeing their energy to do more of what they are good at.
This is one change that just makes sense for everybody.
