I discussed in a previous post how unprofessional real estate agents in Brussels seem to behave. A quick survey showed disastrous response rate from real estate agents, about 90% of them failing to answer a written inquiry.
In my conclusion I explained that this inefficiency was a great opportunity for real estate agencies which would correct their weaknesses and re-center on customers (real estate agents have two types of customers – buyers and sellers- with complete different needs). It seems that Century 21 in France has understood the underlying potential and announces on its website a series of 21 actions to improve the service to the customer.
On its website Century 21 presents its 21 gold rules. Next to intention statements, a series of original initiatives is presented that seems to me to be of somewhat value for the customer.
- Rule #5: satisfaction survey
Each transaction is an opportunity to measure the customer’s satisfaction. It may seem obvious but is rarely done. Actually I’ve never filled in a questionnaire or something similar while I was looking for a house in Belgium. - Rule #6: the real estate agent handles all formalities relating to energetic diagnostics
It is a hassle-free integrative approach that many customers will like. You are not always aware of what must be done before selling your house or your apartment. Real estate agents do know and what Century 21 is doing here is just leveraging economies of scope for you. It’s a kind of forward integration to use Michael Porter’s terminology - Rule #9: mortgage solutions
That’s an easy one. Why do individuals take mortgages? Do buy a house or an apartment. The opportunity of forward integration is straightforward. However, I’m wondering whether there isn’t a risk here. If real-estate agents propose mortgages, don’t they risk to be perceived as biased? I’m not sure that customers will buy in. - Rule #15: online availability of all data
That’s a smart one. Century 21 seems to have developed an online interface where all data regarding the sale is gathered: stats on your ad, stats on the visits, comments … - Rule #17: negotiated solutions for all expenses after the sale
Once you’ve bought a house or an apartment you’ll be faced with all kinds of expenses: insurance, renovation work, … Century 21 leverages its bargaining power to propose negotiated prices to its clients. It’s comparable with Rule #9 in the sense that the real estate agent is your only contact point for solutions that you previously had to look for by yourself. It may be more successful than Rule #9 because the amounts are by far less than that of a mortgage and therefore represent a far lower decisional risk for the buyer.
My take:
Century 21 found a smart way to innovate in an industry which, apparently, was conservative in terms of service quality. No need to say that those “golden rules” will soon be imitated and that Century will need to stay ahead of the wave. What will be the next step? Well, believe or not but I have already a few ideas of new ways to connect with the customer.
Posted in Strategy.
