Successful businesses are those who make customer satisfaction a critical thrust of their operations to build trust among their stakeholders. Etop Ekanem examines how this has positively impacted leading real estate company, Propertymart Real Estate Investment Limited

I have two favourite Customer Service quotes: the first is by Steven Lowell, a renowned speaker, author and mentor to professional and aspiring speakers around the world, which states that “the most powerful display of customer satisfaction is positive word of mouth”.

The second, and perhaps my all-time favourite is the one by Lisa Masiello, a B2B Marketing Consultant. It says “Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team.”

These nuggets are true for any industry and are particularly important to such sectors where referrals, expert reviews, and credible word-of-mouth are gold to commercial success and business sustainability, like the real estate sector.

Together, what these means is that to succeed in such industries, it is imperative to get customer service right such that the happy recipients of your commitment to satisfaction begin to spread the positive testimonials of their satisfactory experience.

However, an overwhelming reality with inspirational nuggets is that these words of wisdom are easier said than done.

It is usually quite difficult to find organizations that have been successful in the implementation of most of these professional bits to perfection, especially in our part of the world where customer care is regarded as poor at best and near non-existent at worst.

So, I thought until I was pleasantly surprised at a recent event, where I witnessed excellent returns on diligent customer care for the bold organization putting its clients first in the shape of superb word-of-mouth testimonials.

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The day was June 19. The occasion was the plot allocation ceremony at the Fairmont Hilltop Estate in Alagbado. A score of regular everyday people defied the difficulties of the lockdown to receive their plots of land from one of the leading real estate companies in Nigeria, Propertymart.

For me, who was present as part of the media crew to cover the event, the ceremony was fairly commonplace as allottees expressed their delight at getting closer to their dreams of becoming home-owners.

But what was most impressive was the commendation of nearly all the recipients regarding the company they have chosen to do business with, and the attendant satisfaction, which was strong enough to inspire recommendation to others.

I thought to myself, Propertymart seems to have nurtured a successful sales team out of their happy customers. Interesting.

It started with Mr. Gibson Eze, who stated that the allocation process went fine. He concluded with words “I’m impressed with Propertymart. I like their customer service in particular, and I will be recommending this Estate to others because my experience so far has been excellent.”

This was followed by Mrs. Lynda Ugbesi, who, standing in for her brother Lucky, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of Propertymart: “The allocation process is transparent; I like it. I’m happy with the way everything has been done.

“I was even asking if they have more plots available so that I can tell others about the Estate” was her submission.

Mr. Segun Fasasi, another recipient of a plot of land on the day added: “A friend to my wife, Bukky Alase, introduced the company to me; she’s a realtor. We looked at the offer and went for it. To God be the glory, we received the physical allocation today. Propertymart is true to their words; they are good. I will also recommend them to others.”

According to Mrs. Abiola Oni, “we saw the advert for the Estate online, and we spoke with a guy. I think his name is Peter. I like the speedy nature of the sale and documentation process. We paid around early February, and here we are in June with our plot. I am impressed with Propertymart. They are the best.”

For Mr Solagbade Ola-Daniel “I have heard about Propertymart’s Citiview Estate along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at Arepo. I love the setting, and I believed God that one day, I would be part of the family. I thank God that has now come through. Their Customer relations have been excellent. The lady that attended to us, Vera, is diligent.

These amazing positive testimonials and recommendations continued with no less than 10 customers expressing not just delights and satisfaction, but their happiness and readiness to go ahead and recommend Propertymart and its unique products to their circle of friends and family. This most powerful display of customer satisfaction, in Steven Lowell’s words, the positive words of mouth, had me most impressed and my interest to figure out how the firm has been able to generate these was piqued.

Adeyemi Adebambo, Group Head Customer Care and Handover for Palton Morgan, the umbrella group to which Propertymart belongs, explained their ethos. “Customer satisfaction to us is not arbitrary.

“Our bid to further improve our relationship with our customers and deliver on their expectations is intentional in every way. It is a culture driven by three critical pillars of empathy, proactivity and excellence, which we have inculcated into every unit of the group, and every aspect of our operations.

“For instance, we do not have a Customer Care Unit at Propertymart. What we have is an entire Division dedicated to customer satisfaction. This Division is made up of such sub-divisions as Handover, Call Centre and Customer Relationship Management.

“A direct implication of this is that more senior staff at the management level have been deployed to this Division so that the best and experienced hands are available to serve our esteemed customers while ensuring that issues are resolved with speed and authority.

“The entire Division functions as a team with well-oiled parts propelling the whole engine to success. For example, while the Handover Unit is responsible for the process that ensures smooth delivery and handover of properties to the property owners, the Call Centre Unit is the team that makes the calls and receive calls in order to resolve customer complaints and also give feedback on resolutions.”

Adebambo concluded that “the direct effect of this approach is efficiency in housing delivery and speed of resolution in practice. With such a strong customer care culture and structure, what we promise is a customer care delivery system guaranteed to give 100% satisfaction, through an effortless home-acquisition experience to our customers.”

The part about delivering effortless experience reminded me of a massive survey into the world of customer service conducted by CEB Global in 2013, which revealed that exceeding customer expectations did not increase referrals or loyalty. What customers were looking for is an effortless experience when it comes to customer service.

In the real estate business, for example, what people are looking for is how to acquire properties with the least amount of stress. The firm that can help fix such issues effortlessly will get the customer’s loyalty and advocacy, just like Propertymart is relishing.

This is the area where Propertymart seems to be far ahead of the competition as reflected in the overwhelming votes of confidence from customers during the earlier referred allotment scheme in June.

Particularly remarkable was Mr. Biodun James Koleosho’s revelations who first commended Propertymart for their encouraging and straightforward processes that eliminated frustrations before revealing how the real estate firm went over and beyond to keep in touch with him, to reassure him during the difficult months of the COVID-19 lockdown in the country, and in the process earning his admiration and trust.

In his words: “I got to know about this Estate through a friend. Then I got in touch with the office, made instalment payments and was able to secure a 500 square kilometres plot. Easy.

“They have also done an excellent job of following up, of keeping to their words, and that is being able to deliver the plot. In terms of documentation, despite the COVID-19 lockdown, they got in touch with me and sent me an e-copy of the contract pending when I could come to the office and sign the hard copy. So, despite the challenges of COVID-19, they are still able to deliver as promised. That’s good.”

Of course, it’s good for Propertymart. And it’s good for the industry. The onus is on others in the sector to borrow a leaf from their effective approach to customer satisfaction and deliver easy solutions to home-ownership needs of Nigerians.

VANGUARD