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May 13, 2015

           Volume 17 - Number 19

      
Streamlining the Business of Commercial Real Estate
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YouConnect© is a Web-based Appraisal and Vendor Management solution enabling financial institutions to automate and streamline their process, while satisfying federal and state examination and auditing requirements.
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No. 1 Selling Comp
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DataComp© is the No. 1 In-house Commercial Comparable Management Software on the market today made by and for commercial real estate appraisers.
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New Edge 2011

 

EDGE© is a simple to use, but powerful report writing solution. A stand-alone application that integrates seamlessly with Word, Excel and DataComp©. 

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Manager© is our cloud-based commercial appraisal workflow application that can be accessed from any browser, Windows, Mac or cell phone. 

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DataComp and Edge
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Check Out Our Sister Publication...
TOP OF THE WEEK TO YOU!
(by realwired! CEO, Brenda Dohring Hicks)

Brenda Dohring Hicks

 

Top of the Week to You! is designed to offer the inside scoop and latest of what's important in the world of technology as it relates to the commercial real estate industry.


Is It SO Yesterday?

 

I've been traveling for business quite a bit over the last few months so maybe I'm a bit sensitive, but it seems that customer satisfaction might be an idea that is SO yesterday. I'm not talking about the everyday stuff where it seems everyone is either overworked, not interested in the job they're doing or they work in the service sector (ok, I'm being snarky.) I'm talking about what seems to be going on inside of sizable professional organizations. I don't like to be negative or bring up a problem without a solution, so as I witnessed what seemed to be disregard for "servicing" the needs of the people we interact with throughout our organizations, I decided to do some exploration to see if it's an issue or just my own personal observation.

To be fair, it's my personal belief that the best way to get groups of people to excel is for everyone to abide by the golden rule - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I recognize that might not be the belief of most people and if it's not something you ascribe to, then maybe nothing I say here will resonate with you. And that's the point. Maybe it doesn't resonate because it's an outdated golden rule. So that's what motivated me to explore beyond my observations. I wanted to learn about the observations and held beliefs on this by others - get other peoples' view. I want to know if treating other people, groups and departments as though they were valued customers is or isn't a worthwhile objective anymore. Maybe technology has allowed us to operate so independently that groups work fine with little to no acknowledgement of the needs of others. Maybe obtaining satisfied customers through personal interaction is indeed SO yesterday, because self-service has gotten so good. Maybe "satisfying" what someone wants or needs is all that is expected. Maybe achieving a basic level of "eh" is ok. And maybe "satisfied" is the low benchmark that doesn't carry worthy reward and only those things that deserve excellent, over the top service matter.

Maybe the new normal is setting up "pay to play" rules instead of the Golden Rule. After all, today there are not many services or products that don't offer some type of reward or loyalty program. The message is, "we can only afford to give you basic service at the basic level and if you want more, pick us as your loyalty partner and or pay us more." I get it. I'm even pretty much okay with it. I just don't think that it's a good idea for organizations to try and implement. I don't think that type of thinking and management (or lack thereof) is going to bring profits to the bottom line. Think about what has happened in the airline business, which seem to have cornered the market on the number of preferred service levels offered. How good does it make us feel when we've exhausted the self-service and in frustration opt for a little "service?" I don't know about you, but by that point I feel a little "I'm owed" and so no matter how good the service is now it's hard to appreciate service that you felt you should have had in the first place.

So on to what my research revealed. Yes, to some degree the Golden Rule is considered a little old fashioned by much of the workplace today. Self-service has become so much the norm that people just assume that their co-workers will "assist themselves."  This is compounded by the fact that we all just went through the Great Recession, so there's a lot of fear about the potential for job loss through downsizing and people don't see any reward/incentive for providing service to other departments or coworkers. And after talking to some folks and doing research, I concluded that times have changed a bit, but it's worth fighting to keep the old fashioned Golden Rule in play. When it comes to interactions with co-workers, departments, teams and groups, self-service is respected as long as it's not self-centered. As a matter of fact, I learned that one of the biggest motivators to provide exceptional service to those close to you goes a long way in opening career opportunities and positioning you for success, because you have a lot of very happy colleagues that advocate for you. Ahhh, the sweet rewards of the old fashioned Golden Rule. Do you think it's a relevant and worthy rule to fight to keep? 

I welcome your feedback through email.
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