Relationships by Val Darling

No matter what line of business you're in, without good relationships, success is much harder, if not impossible to come by. Take the Real Estate industry. I’ve used the same Realtor to buy my first home, to sell it when I was ready and now, to help my buy a new home. Why do I turn to her? Why do I recommend her to anyone I know looking to buy or sell? Because we have a great relationship. She’s been honest and forthright and I trust her. One of the best reasons is that she makes me feel like I’m her only client. I know she’s busy, I know she’s got lots of deals in the works all the time. But I never feel that I’m a number to her.

With technology we seemed to get away from the personal touch. An email can be faster than a phone call. Certainly, it seems a better way to get information from one person to another than leaving a message. But does technology mean the loss of relationships? It doesn’t have to, in fact, technology can enhance customer service. For example, my great realtor. I often find that she’s emailed me very late at night or early in the morning. While I would not appreciate a phone call at 6am, I do very much appreciate seeing an email from her that was sent at that time. How does she keep it all straight? Customer Relationship Management. Hardly a new idea. Staying in touch, following up, making sure nothing slips through the cracks.

With Sage’s CRM software, sales and customer service personnel can use technology to stay in touch. The software does the “remembering” and the customer gets the benefits. Meaning better relationships and a bigger bottom line.

We are all trying to spend less money. And to be kinder to the environment. Every sheet of paper we don’t use saves money and trees. When my realtor emails me and includes attachments, it’s faster than printing and mailing. Which is a benefit all around. Taking advantage of MAS’s Paperless Office can have the same benefits for your business.

Trusting her as I do, I’m glad to work with other professionals she recommends. The mortgage broker, the home inspector and others. It hasn’t surprised me that they, too, use technology to get me the information I need, fast. Nothing is late, or just forgotten, because they use CRM software. Technology does the remembering, letting us do what humans do best. The personal touch.