Customer Loyalty

My daughter who is part of the XYZ, or whatever generation the 20 something crowd is part of, has explained to me that her generation is “non-trusting”.  Now this is the generation of growing up with all their business out there for the world to see:  MTV Real World, You Tube, Facebook, and these are only the beginning. Non-trusting, I ask?  Yes, it seems that they are very skeptical and tend to not trust very easily which makes gaining their loyalty challenging. 

Coming from a Realtor’s standpoint and needing to gain their trust and loyalty so that we can work for them to the best of our ability, how do we obtain buyer loyalty today?  It seems to be harder to do than in the past with this new generation of buyers.  It was always understood that by living and doing business by the Golden Rule: to treat others how you would want to be treated, would gain you loyalty and respect.  Is that still all it takes? I would hope that is still true, but maybe we need to adjust. 

Building rapport and gaining the loyalty has to be accomplished at the very beginning, or these future buyers will be on the internet setting up a showing request with someone else believing that they can just call any agent to show up at a house to let them in to see it, because they are not loyal to anyone in particular. I believe we will be most effective if communication is honest, educational, and coming from a place of listening from the start. 

Today’s Realtors certainly need to be on leading edge of technology and be available to buyers even if it is a quick text message reply at midnight.  Again, they will be on the internet if you are not willing to be available and flexible with your time, as these buyers expect, or should I say, demand instant communication.   

If an agent can build rapport with their client(s) early on, the trust and loyalty will follow.  As Orison Swett Marden said, "The golden rule for every business person is this: Put yourself in your customer's place"

What has a business done for you in the past that lead you to be loyal to their company or brand?

Lori Zimmerman is the Operations Manager and a REALTOR® at Lawyers Realty, LLC in Lemoyne, PA