Brickbats and


T


hey say no good deed goes unpunished. A cynical view of the world? Ask the Chelsea estate agent who gave a bottle of good champagne to the man who bought a large house in the


King’s Road. The buyer returned the bottle, half drunk, complaining he didn’t like it. Fortunately, after sales service is usually


appreciated, in its many forms, by more grateful buyers. But what works for one may not be good for another. After my last house move, I was given a large bouquet of flowers by the selling agent. As it took 10 days to find and unpack the box the vases were in, the exotic blooms sat in a plastic bucket on the kitchen table.


Client Care vs gifts Estate agency Fox Grant, which covers a large area of the West Country, Wiltshire and Herefordshire, finds that their client care checks have more impact than gifts. However, as the area representative for the Guild of Professional Estate agents, they do sometimes send out a box of useful moving in items, chosen by the Guild. “We don’t send it to everyone as we sell


such varied property, from equestrian, to commercial to residential,” explains Lindsay Burden. “We also cover such a wide area it wouldn’t be practical. The box has domestic goods, the sort of thing you are scrabbling to find when you move in, like candles if the electricity isn’t turned on. It is good to do occasionally, but good communication is at the core of our client care. Our service doesn’t stop when the


‘Our service doesn’t stop when the contracts are exchanged but


people aren’t hoodwinked by a box of fancy things.’ linDsay burDen fOx grant


bouquets


Rosalind Russell asks, “How good is your after-sales service?”


‘When our clients complete we give them a custom made chocolate


house. These are very well received!’ Karelia sCOtt-Daniels Manse & garret


contracts are signed and buyers appreciate it. We have a history of performance. People are not hoodwinked by a box of fancy things.” Dan Channer, commercial director of


Finders Keepers in Oxfordshire agrees that service is more important than freebies. “We have experimented with a variety


of gifts and we find that, on the whole, people greatly prefer good service when faults arise,” he says. “On the lettings side, if you give a high value tenant a bottle of champagne when they move in, but you take four days to fix the boiler in winter, you can guess which act will influence their opinions most.” In East Anglia, Mullucks Wells


takes a belt and braces line, combining a welcome gift with a strong service approach to after sales contact. “We hand over the keys with a


bottle of decent champagne which we always find our clients appreciate,” says William Wells, Residential Sales Director. “After the stress of moving house, it seems appropriate that they can celebrate with a glass of bubbly on us. However, during the sale process, we always try to build a good rapport with our clients. It should be a relationship of trust and we want to make the whole process run as smoothly as possible. “Whilst a gift is always a welcome


surprise, it is the way you perform throughout the entire process that will determine whether clients come back to us in the future.”


it’s the little things... As Lindsay Burden points out, it is also easier to send out moving in gifts when the agency catchment area is just a mile or two of urban property. However, it can be the small and unexpected gestures which lodge in a buyer’s imagination and provide the perfect marketing opportunity. In Cambridgeshire, Fine & Country


think the range of gifts they send out help to distinguish them from their rivals, as well as pleasing grateful movers. Sales Manager Paul Harris says they


want to offer a service clients won’t forget. They begin, at exchange of contracts, by ordering A5 good quality, personalised moving cards for the new owners. It must be a boon to buyers already grappling with long to-do lists.


‘We want to offer a service that clients won’t forget... its the


small things that make them more relaxed.’ paul harris fine & COuntry


“When the day of completion arrives


a member of the team will personally deliver the keys along with Fine & Country key rings and umbrellas,” he says. “We find the small things really makes our clients more relaxed. It doesn’t matter how well organised and packed, the essentials always seem to go missing, or appear last from the removals lorry. “That’s why we make sure a welcome box


is delivered on the day of moving with tea, coffee, milk and a range of other goodies from energy saving plugs to cleaning supplies to media package offers. We also include six Fine & Country branded cupcakes in a branded tin.”


Something for a rainy day? Will a corporate umbrella really cover it?


PROPERTYdrum JULY 2011 31


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