How customer-centric are you as a residential developer ?

(Inspired by Steven Van Belleghem)

Three simple questions to see how customer centric your organization is.

Talking to homebuilders and contractors on a daily basis, we clearly see a growing focus on customer experience. Practically everyone starts to recognise the impact of building a trustworthy brand both on their bottom and top line. Having strong brand ambassadors sets you apart from the competition. But how do you know how customer-centric you really are?

There are multiple traditional methods that can help you out. You could measure your Net Promoter Score (NPS), or you can see if your rewarding system is linked with your customer satisfaction.

But there is more, Steven Van Belleghem explains how three questions can define how customer-centric your organization is.

Time for a self check!

How do you deal with opposing interests?

Let’s be honest: as a builder, your interests aren’t always aligned with your customer’s. Especially during the delivery phase and after care, you’re looking for efficiency, while your homebuyer is out to get perfection. So, as a property developer, do you keep quiet about small flaws, such as a tiny scratch in the countertop, or do you point out the issue to your customer yourself? Or are you going the extra mile, doing a preliminary delivery with all stakeholders, making sure everything is near to perfection, so your customer doesn’t even have to worry (or see all the effort you put into it)?

What’s your mindset when a problem occurs?

“Let’s fix it” versus “Whose fault is it and then fix it” mindset?

Continuing with our example during delivery of the unit, if there is an issue, will you make sure it gets fixed right away and figure out who’s responsible later on? Or will you first search for the responsible and then see who has to fix (and pay for) the problem? This might be a small shift in mindset, but one with a tremendous impact on your customer’s experience

How empowered is your team to solve a problem?

When a problem occurs, does your team have enough mandate, tools and knowledge to take action themselves? Or do they reply with the following sentence “Let me check with management what’s possible.”.

Out of all their responsibilities, this is where customer care managers bring the most value to your customers: solving (complex) issues to meet both your customer’s expectations ànd your business goals.To succeed they need to be empowered to handle quickly and efficiently without asking for support from their managers.

Where do I start?

We know that all this information is a lot to process! If there’s anything you take away from Steven’s message, keep this in mind:

Being customer-centric involves a human touch. You’ll surprise your homebuyers by adequately following up on concerns and issues without tumbling into a web of internal processes.

To do so, everyone needs to be empowered and have the tools to do their job properly. Use technology to support your daily activities and automate repetitive tasks. Free up time to focus on what’s truly important and Ziggu will do the rest!

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