Last week I was able to attend Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope and loved the information that he shared about the economy and that there are many in America that are not participating in the recession. A quote Dave shared from Rabbi Daniel Lappin has been running through my head and I wanted to share it. in his book Thou Shall Prosper Lappin says that "profit is the applause of good service." Success in our industry is dependent upon serving our customers so well that they will refer others and become life long clients. Those who are most profitable are enjoying the standing ovations of their clients and should be proud of the work that they have done. 

I was googling for the exact wording of the quote and came across a blog by Colin Turner who spoke to this message. It was a really gripping article about the importance of great customer service and wanted to pass it along. He offered a top ten list of way to treat clients in such a way that you form a lifelong partnership. Here is the list:

1.    Never view customers as just another transaction to be processed 
2.    Always question routines that may be taken for granted
3.    Treat your customers like you would treat a good friend
4.    Focus on turning one-time buyers into lifetime customers
5.    Never show your customer that they may be wrong
6.    Reward the right behaviour to get the right result
7.    Know that thoughtful service costs less than thoughtless service
8.    Do not let 1% of difficult customers influence how you treat your other 99% 
9.    Regularly ask your customers what they think of your service 
10.  Making a customer feel valued is everyone’s responsibility 

It is food for thought and gave me some insight into how I already approach each "customer" and how I could improve upon my service in the future. I am convinced that agents who seek to properly serve each client at a level worthy of garnering life long partnerships need a system to make it happen. Those types of relationships are rarely built by accident. My ebook The Automated Agent can help you create plans to follow up on leads, list homes and contact buyers and sellers. You can download the first 15 pages for free at my website www.agentbreakthrough.com

My hope is that we who serve well begin to hear the rousing applause of our clients in this year and the years to come!