Create Exceptional Client Service - for Arizona GRI

1. CREATE EXCEPTIONAL
CLIENT SERVICE
Maura Neill
ABR, CRS, CDPE, e-PRO, MRP, REALTOR®
about.me/mauraneill

3. “The only thing we have going for us is the
way we take care of our customers.”
~ John Nordstrom,
on what sets Nordstrom
apart from the competition

4. Employee Policy

5. The Best Policy Ever!

6. Nordstrom Employees:
In Their Words
“I’m a customer-oriented service person. You’re
looking for something, and I’m determined I’m going
to find it.”

7. Nordstrom Employees:
In Their Words
“If it’s not nailed down, I’ll find it for a customer. I
don’t make commission on [everything], but it’s part
of the service I provide.”

8. Nordstrom Employees:
In Their Words
“Never judge a book by its cover. If you treat the kid
who is buying a $19.95 belt the same as a
businessman buying a $1,995 Oxford suit, you will be
successful. That kid might become a customer for
life.”

9. Be THE CUSTOMER
1.

10. Flying the Friendly Skies?
“My goal is to make you happy.”
What is your goal?
Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net

11. Would you like
being your own client?

12. Would you refer YOU?

13. Seek opportunities to
be a hero
2.

14. Nordstrom: Heroics
Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net
B
E
T
H
E
H
E
R
O

15. Leigh Brown, CRS
“I took an IOU on a commission on a
house last year to keep the deal
together and to keep my client from
having to short sell. Strikingly enough,
she paid me 11 months later. The other agent
was flabbergasted.”

16. Sasha Farmer, CRS
“For the past 4 years I have kept a “sunshine
fund” – at the end of each month I take
1% of my commission checks and put them
into a separate small checking account.
Inevitably, one of my clients will call a month or two
after closing asking for a recommendation for a plumber
because they have a sink leaking, or an electrician
because they've blown a fuse, or HVAC because
suddenly the AC isn't kicking in, or something
unexpected has popped up. I have that extra little
cushion of account that I can use at my discretion to
offer some towards helping.”

17. Nobu Hata
“I drove five hours for four signatures
on a $125K relo deal for the nicest
couple in the world. Incidentally,
that same couple sent me a $15million
commercial buyer.”
Note: Nobu had to give away that $15million
commercial buyer – referral fee-free – because he had
already taken his new position at NAR.

18. Small gestures?

19. Small gestures?

20. KNOW YOUR CORE VALUES
3.

21. KNOW YOUR CORE VALUES
3.

22. “We take most of the money that we could
have spent on paid advertising and instead
put it back into the customer experience.
Then we let the customers be our marketing.”
~ Tony Hsieh,
CEO, Zappos.com

25. Incorporate Client-Centric
Goal Setting
4.

27. What do you track?

28. What else can you track?
>> Happily Closed Clients
>> Incoming Testimonials
>> Referrals from Past Clients
*Doesn’t have to be warm & fuzzy, but focusing on these things
can help you stay focused more on your clients and less on
yourself.

29. Create an unforgettable
customer experience
5.

30. The Experience

31. The “We” Experience
“The more information I have…the better I can
serve the customer…This isn’t just my deal. It’s
not an “I” experience; it’s a “we” experience.
Photo credit: “Multi Ethnic Team Indoors” by ambro on freedigitalphotos.net
~ Patrick McCarthy – top Nordstrom sales
associate, 15 consecutive years

32. Define your
money-back guarantee
6.

33. Proving the Difference

34. Values > Value
What sets you apart?

35. Really Know Your CLients
7.

36. Spend a lot of time talking to
customers face to face. You’d be
amazed how many companies don’t
listen to their customers.
~ Ross Perot

37. Service vs. Hospitality
“Service is the technical delivery of a product.
Hospitality is how the delivery of that product makes
its recipient feel. Service is a monologue – we decide
how we want to do things and set our own standards
for service. Hospitality, on the other hand, is a
dialogue. [It] requires thoughtful listening to the other
person, and follow-up with a thoughtful, gracious,
appropriate response. It takes both great service
and great hospitality to rise to the top.”
~ Danny Meyer, restaurantuer

38. Turning Over the Rocks

39. Turning Over the Rocks
-- Think like a fly fisherman
-- Look for the story behind the story
-- Collect the dots
Give your clients a feeling of “shared
ownership”

40. Be a better
co-op agent
7.

41. Cooperation or Competition?

42. WHY IT ALL MATTERS

43. Why Does It Matter?
People.

44. I’ve learned that
people will forget
what you
said,
people will forget
what you
did,
but people will never forget
how you made them
~ Maya Angelou
feel.

45. The Nordstrom Way – Patrick McCarthy
The Inside Story of America’s #1 Customer
Service Company
Setting the Table – Danny Meyer
The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business
Delivering Happiness – Tony Hsieh
A path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
Reading List

46. Connect: about.me/MauraNeill