Imagine paying for products and services based on the customer experience you received! Well, that’s a ‘Dramatically and Demonstrably Different‘ approach being taken by Yorkshire based estate agents, Linley & Simpson.
They are “putting their money where their mouth is” by offering customers the chance to choose the sales fee they pay based on the quality of service they receive! There’s a sliding scale of five different commission rates tailored to performance, ranging from 1.5% where customer satisfaction from initial instruction to final completion has been judged to be “excellent”, to just 0.5% where clients feel it hasn’t made the grade.
‘Breaking The Rules’ can be a great source of ‘Dramatic Difference‘. It’s all about going against the ‘norm’ in your sector and doing things that competitors aren’t, and even better, can’t – think Uber, AirBnB and Metro Bank.
“This is an innovation that is over and above, not a replacement for, the single fee structure that currently exists,” said Mark Christopher, head of residential sales. “It adds a different dimension that will appeal to many wanting to break with tradition and have a more modern and personalised approach to payment. For the first time, vendors will be handed a bigger choice and say in what level of commission they pay. The concept has been born out of our core values of trust, transparency and a determination to deliver an outstanding customer experience.”
In terms of the actual ‘mechanics’ of it, a few days before exchange there’s a conversation between the agent and the customer about what’s been done well and what hasn’t. As Mark explained “If there is anything clients are not happy with then there is room for negotiation about the fee and we get a chance to learn from that. It will enable us to look at things from a customer perspective and we’ll get feedback on how we can improve our service. That, in turn, will help us grow the business.”
It’s a brave move and a great way of ‘Demonstrating‘ their ‘Dramatic Difference‘ and it’s also a great way of measuring how they and their people are performing!
So, some questions for you….
- What ‘rules’ could you break in your industry?
- How would your business measure up if your customers paid you purely on the level of service you provide?
- Do you dare do it?
