Reputation matters no matter which line of business you enter. If you make a bad name for yourself at any stage on your business journey, you can bet it’ll come back to bite you in a significant way. In fact, you may start to see business slip the moment customers have a bad word to say about you. Left unchecked, this could even lead to the end of your hard-earned dreams. Hence why business owners work so hard at perfecting their image and getting customer service right.
Managing real estate
Sadly, in fields like real estate, this becomes a difficult thing to manage despite all your best efforts. Even with all the licensing and sales training in the world, your reputation could be in jeopardy. Why? Because you aren’t as in control as you might like. After all, you primarily rely on landlords and vendors to keep your company ticking over. And, that in itself can spell disaster. The sad fact is that neither landlords nor vendors care all that much about your reputation as a company. Why should they? You may be able to provide them with a service, but there are plenty of others like you who could do the same. As such, they may not think twice about misbehaving or leaving a bitter taste in YOUR customer’s mouths. And, guess who that’s going to reflect poorly on? You, of course. That said, this is a tricky issue to work around. To some extent, your landlords and vendors are your customers as well. As such, trying to alter their behaviour or call them up on issues still isn’t going to help your cause. It's a tricky situation and one which leads to the downfall of countless real estate efforts.
Check, check, check those credentials
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that you need to check the credentials of any landlord or vendor. In fact, anti-laundering checks are a legal requirement on anyone you’re considering doing business with. Legalities aside, checks can also secure your reputation. By using something like the KYC check offered by Credas, you can get a thorough understanding of every potential client. You’ll be able to verify identity and get a handle on credit history. All the better for ensuring everyone on your books upholds your business ethics.
Take a more active role
Some estate agents are all in while others choose to take a backseat. Some let vendors show clients around while others insist on doing so themselves. Newsflash; if you want to keep your reputation intact, you should be as active as possible. That means hosting viewings yourself, and even taking care of any rental properties. Your clients will appreciate your taking the responsibility off their hands. You, in turn, can make sure that every interaction ends how you would like. Never again will any outside source hold your reputation in their hands.
