Customer Meeting Management

Our customers just take over…

We lose control in the first 10 minutes.

These meetings are taking way too long.

Customer meeting concerns abound. Most of them develop from a common gene pool: the need to master meeting management techniques. Here are six I believe to be critical.

1. Have a written agenda. A set of Sample Meeting Agendas can be downloaded from the Forms section of our Library.
2. Align the customer’s expectations about the upcoming meeting. Do this with a description in your homeowner guide, in conversation when you set the appointment, and again as part of the meeting introduction.
3. Arrive early to set the stage and get focused. Welcome the customer to your territory surrounded by appropriate materials and conditions.
4. Cover the agenda. Your goal is to address each applicable topic (marking others “n/a”) however you can certainly vary from the sequence on the agenda is circumstances make that appropriate.
5. Record agreed upon follow up actions–both yours and the home buyer’s–on the agenda. When the customers leave with their copy of your meeting notes you will both have exactly the same information.
6. Follow up ASAP on each item noted, documenting the end result and when you delivered the response.

These methods, few and simple as they are, demonstrate to home buyers a professionalism that builds trust and confidence. When they see that you know what you are doing they are more likely to relax and let you lead the process.

What If the Goal Was to Make Things Better?

In free moments I like to speculate on what the world would be like if everyone got up in the morning with the goal of making life easier for other people. This would require a significant shift in attitudes and practices in many offices and agencies.

Imagine for instance that the building department wanted to help you build better homes, not just catch you doing things incorrectly, that they worked hard to make codes comprehensible and applied them consistently rather than whimsically.

Likewise governmental regulations and environmental rules would make sense because people sat down together with the mutual goals of both preserving our planet and still allowing—even welcoming—PEOPLE to reside on it with other forms of life.

This make-life-better approach would not be limited to the construction industry. Supposing designers at every manufacturer made a practice of using the products they produced? My guess would be that shampoo bottles with caps that require a tool to open would get re-designed. “Easy” open/close zip lock plastic bags containing frozen veggies would actually be possible to open and close—I won’t go for easy as that may be expecting too much even from this concept.

Here’s a more serious example. Recently our local paper (Colorado Springs Gazette, March 10) carried an article exposing the blatant arrogance and greed of KV Pharmaceutical. KV won exclusive rights to produce and market a prenatal drug called Makena (a right awarded to them by the government to ensure consistent quality).

For years this medication which helps prevent premature birth was available from compounding pharmacies for $10-15 a dose. With their new exclusive rights, KV hiked the price to an astonishing $1500.

Early this month, KV gave in somewhat to pressure from groups like the March of Dimes and lowered the price to just under a still greedy $700. Even better, behaving with considerable common sense, the FDA announced that it would not take enforcement measures against pharmacies producing a substitute version. As a result, the medication will continue to be available at the former low prices.

[http://www.thirdage.com/news/kv-pharmaceutical-cuts-price-prenatal-drug_4-1-2011]

Sad that KV would take advantage of desperate patients for material gain but kudos to those who came to the rescue. What can you do today to make life better for someone—whether a customer, co-worker, or associate? Systems are often impersonal, uncaring, and mechanical but those of us who apply them can still think if we choose to.  Many times, there is a way to make things work if we look with that intention at heart.

[For more thoughts on using good judgment in customer service, download Judgment Calls from our Service Library Articles.]

Community Team Service

Community Team Service
Expand the Team, Expand the Benefits

The community team meeting concept has been around quite a while now. Many companies have had such success with it they are ready to take it to the next level. That involves expanding the role of others who work with home buyers throughout the process to strengthen service and attention.

Depending on the details of a company’s processes, this might include mortgage, selection, closing, and warranty personnel. Traditionally, these folks are welcome at community team meetings but in too many cases schedules have made their attendance irregular at best.

Given the realities of today’s marketplace, the time has come to devote more energy and attention to existing customers and coordinating services to them. The good news is that today’s technology makes doing so possible and convenient. Video and phone conferencing is readily available from most locations–so even if participants are unable to attend in person, they can join via technology.

Imagine the results if this meeting became a standard item on the schedules of these professionals–tangible evidence that looking after existing customers is a priority. What results might come from this entire group reviewing each buyer’s status and discussing issues and solutions together? Rather than having numerous separate conversations, the efficiency and effectiveness of bringing these matters to the community table systematically makes a lot of sense. Out of the box solutions to problems often come from fresh perspectives. Energy and enthusiasm grows from a sense that you are not alone selling, building, and servicing new homes and the customer who buy them.

Action items noted for follow up on the community team meeting agenda have a greater chance of being brought to closure. The responsible individuals will be reluctant to let the group down. With budgets tight and fewer people available to serve customers, working together to come up creative services and solutions to problems may be a great way to serve more customers. This team approach to caring for homeowners would go a long way to bringing more buyers through the sales office door.

The era of sign the contract and throw the buyer into the system hoping for the best is gone along with the exuberant market of years ago. Simple, efficient means of staying close to customer needs are needed and this one could have significant impact for all involved.