Customer Service is King!

A lot of people would look at the statement above and say no, 'Cash is King'! However, having been working in the Lettings industry for nearly 20 years, one thing we have learnt as a company is  that most landlords and tenants want to receive a top level of customer service. And why shouldn’t they?

Who would you trust to look after your best interests – someone in it purely for the money, or someone prepared to dedicate the time and effort to building a relationship with you that builds trust and confidence?

If you were to call your existing letting agent today, be that as a landlord or a tenant who has registered looking for something, would they have a good enough relationship with you that they could already pre-empt your requests and the way you would like such an outcome to be achieved? Would they even remember your name?

Some Landlords and Tenants we have spoken to recently have said they often felt that whilst they were courted and given special attention when the agent was trying to win their business or tie up a deal and let a property once both parties had signed on the dotted line, this attention vanished, along with the level of customer service provided.

These landlords and tenants have all dealt with a range of different agents in the Edgware area, some more established then others, but it seems they all followed a similar pattern. These agents appeared to concentrate so hard on trying to win new business or tie up a deal, that as soon as they have won a new landlord over and rented out their property, they pretty much forget about them and start the chase all over again.

Wouldn't it be great if they took the time to at least get to know your name, your preferences regarding your property search, or management style, and what makes you feel comfortable as a landlord and tenant?

We are always in contact with a vast number of those people about one thing or another. Knowing your clients and their preferences, not only adds a personal touch, but can in many cases, removes a lot of the strain.

For example, where one landlord might be quite liberal and easy going towards the actions of their tenants, another may well have stricter standards. Some will allow tenants to decorate to their own style, fix furniture to walls or undertake other improvements such as fitting extra radiators yet another landlord might not allow any of this, with the property having to stay magnolia and with a limited number of picture hooks put into the walls.

Likewise, one tenant might be looking for say a 2 bedroom property to rent but is open to the area and style and their only request is that it is close to an Underground Station but another tenant might be much more specific with their search wanting to only look at 2 bedroom properties that have a garden, and parking, are in a specific area or sometimes a specific road!  
So, if we get a request for a new fridge for one of ‘John’s’ properties we already know his answer and how to handle it, whereas for ‘Jane’, her answer and approach will be different and on any given day. And this also applies to tenants who are looking for a property through us. When Landlords and Tenants call us, we immediately recognise their names’, where their properties are, or what their requirements are, and the on-going issues and relationships both have with each other. All of this means we can tailor our approach towards the very specific nature of someone’s request.

We can do this because all of Lettings staff are located in one location, in our main office in Edgware. We are all constantly over-hearing and getting involved with what is going on within all of the other roles within the office - there is no outsourcing to a remote call centre, no subcontracting of responsibilities, and you can always reach the same person who has been dealing with an on-going issue at any time.

We don’t offer a ‘one size fits all’ approach because, clearly it doesn’t! We are all different and here at Benjamin Stevens we recognise this.

If you would like help with your property portfolio or your search for a property and would like to see how we can offer the personal touch then please call us on 020 8958 1118 for a chat.

Finding Your Way Home with Benjamin Stevens Estate Agents.