When a real estate agent calls your tech company for assistance, what kind of experience will they have? Will they talk to someone your company has personally selected and coached to help agents get the most out of the product or tool?
Or will they talk to an outsourced customer service or tech support staff member who’s stuck reading from a manual to try to troubleshoot for agents?
As a CEO in the real estate tech world, I’ve worked with brokerages for the past two-plus decades, and I understand the challenges that decision-makers face when selecting technology partners. One of the most critical variables they consider when evaluating vendors is the tech support.
When real estate tech firms outsource their customer service and technical support, they risk providing a negative experience for the real estate agents who need help. This, in turn, leads to agents not adopting the technology or even eschewing it as a core business tool.
Providing exceptional customer service and support should be the hallmark of every real estate tech firm. Establishing your customer service and support in-house—and preferably at your headquarters—should be non-negotiable. Broker/owners signed up for excellent customer service and support when they hired their real estate tech provider; it is what they expect, and what their agents deserve.
There is no room for cutting corners in this part of your business. Outsourcing gives control of the face of your company to someone else. Why would you do that?
Often, the first impression a tech firm makes on a real estate agent is their encounter with customer service and tech support: They are the face of the firm. Unfortunately, outsourcing can result in the disruption of a brokerage’s business. There should be no room for making anything but a stellar first impression.
When evaluating a switch to another tech partner, broker/owners need to look beyond its technology and the bells and whistles to closely examine the culture of the firm you will team up with and examine ways they demonstrate an ongoing commitment to providing in-house customer service and support.
Ask questions: Are all their customer service and support staff in-house? If not, why not? What kind of investment have they made in customer service and support? Have they invested more in the last 18 months, or less? Where are the people who will interface with your agents based? Are they all in the U.S.? Are they all at the corporate headquarters? What kind of ongoing commitment are they making to you? Do they have plans (if this isn’t true already) to outsource any or all of their customer service or tech support?
Real estate tech firms must offer in-house customer service and support. Outsourcing this vital function can be a disservice to the agents who rely on the technology and the broker/owners and decision-makers who expect the highest level of service. This is one negative buzz we can fix.
For more information, visit https://www.deltamediagroup.com.
Michael Minard is CEO and owner of Delta Media Group, a leading and trusted technology partner for many of real estate’s top brands, including 75 LeadingRE affiliates, over 50 top-ranked brokerages nationwide. Delta is 100% family-owned and operated.
