A pleasant refresher in customer service

About a week ago I bought a new car. I have to confess I always cringe at the thought of visiting the lot. My past experiences have affected my perception of the car buying experience. In the past I go out with high hopes of finding the car I like, with the options I desire for a fair price. All seems well until I am stuck in a cramped 8x8 room with this person. On the lot, they were kind and considerate; inside the games have just begun. They tell me they have to get with their manager to ensure they can do the price and options I want, which by the way, wasn't an issues outside.

So, a couple of weeks ago, we started the search process. We thought we found the car locally, but the salesman said they were firm on the price, so we decided to pass. My husband and I surfed the net and found the car at the price we could live with, however it was out-of-state. On Friday, we came to terms over the phone with the salesman, and gave him a deposit to hold the car. Of course, fear sets in and I am rather anxious to see if this road trip to the dealership is going to be worth the drive. Saturday morning early we hit the road. Four hours later we arrive at a large dealership in Maryland. We are greeted by a professionally dressed, soft-spoken gentleman who happens to be the fellow we've been dealing with over the phone.

He takes us to the car we've come so far to see and gives us the keys to take it for a spin. Upon our return from the test drive, we sit down in his cubicle to make sure we are satisfied with the car. We were both very happy with the car and especially his kind and efficient handling of all the details. I was so impressed with his demeanor and professionalism, that I would drive right back up to that dealership again to buy another car from him. His handling of the entire process, including programming the blue tooth feature into the car before we left, helped me realize that extraordinary service is unfortunately the exception these days.

The whole way back I thought about how to use this lesson in customer service to improve the home buying and home selling experience. I want my clients to feel the way I felt when they are through with me. I realized we accept poor customer service and are bombarded with it most of the time. Buying or selling a home is a big step and one of the largest purchase one will make. My goal will be to help my clients overcome the hurdle known as fear and provide extraordinary customer service throughout and after the transaction.

Setting expectations and exceeding those expectations is a start. What are some great things we can do as Realtors to create customer loyalty?