5 incredible things we learned from our customers [survey results]

I think you’ll agree with me when I tell you a business won't succeed unless it provides an exceptional client experience.

The problem with this is most of us don't know if what we're doing is working and how we can make it better. Let me tell you, it took months of analyzing data and crunching numbers for me to understand what's working and what needs improving at ATRE, but it was actually as simple as surveying our customers! Once I had feedback from our customers, everything fell into place.

I'd like to share five incredible things we learned from our customers and how we plan to use these insights to improve your ATRE experience.

You like us, but you’d also like us to fix some things.

Net Promoter Score is a simple but effective measure of client happiness. And we were beyond thrilled to learn that we have a small army of raving fans. (50 is a great score. 76 is OMG!!!) But we also have some customers who were disappointed or were just meh about our products and services—and that’s not okay with us.

We’ve experienced crazy growth here at ATRE and managing it has been a challenge. But that’s a good problem to have and I don’t want to make any excuses. There are two key areas our customers want to see improved:

1. Shipping is definitely an area where we struggle and we’re considering ways to improve it—everything from using a fulfillment company to partnering with a local business on shared warehouse space to nipping and tucking our current process. It’s all on the table. We want our products in your hands as quickly as possible!
2. Product quality is one of our top priorities and we are always on the lookout for ways to improve quality without increasing cost (at least not too much, anyway). We want the quality and value of our products to always exceed your expectations.

You’ve got great product ideas. And we’ve got resources. #spoiler

We were blown away by all your product suggestions. Signage was the most common request—18” riders, new sign types (Just sold, just listed, shown by appointment only, etc.), and more fresh, bold, and masculine sign designs. Customers also asked for more small items, cards, and packaging for client closings and referral gifts. And there were many of you who requested a planner designed with realtors in mind. Hmmmm… you’ve got us thinking and we can’t wait to roll out some of YOUR ideas. Stay tuned!

You market yourself many ways, but question what’s most effective.

Social media, referrals, and open houses are the top three ways most of our customers market themselves. And even more of our customers dabble in a wide-range of traditional and digital marketing efforts.

Your most burning question is what’s most effective. And that may not surprise you, given all the different ways our customers market themselves.

But our customers have a ton of other questions, too. Here’s a sampling:

• How do I calculate ROI on materials?
• How do I use hashtags and stay current with social media?
• Am I doing it [marketing] right?
• How do I engage more people on a more personal level?
• How to do open house marketing without relying on the local paper?
• How do I find time to do marketing?
• What are the best ways to market to Millennials?

In order to help you with your marketing efforts, the ATRE team is working out the details of our new content plan. I can’t give you specifics right now, but (very soon!) we’ll regularly address your marketing questions in a variety of mediums (videos, blog posts, email, etc.) so we deliver more value to you.

Your biggest challenge is marketing yourself consistently.

You’re not alone. This has been one of my biggest challenges. And as much as I hate to admit it, planning (ugh!!!), technology, and delegating have helped me tremendously. Marketing automation has also been a big help.

To be honest, we’re in full-on planning mode at ATRE because our marketing efforts have to be sustainable if we have any hope of doing them consistently. And that means systems and processes—but only the right ones for us.

The whole point of developing a content plan is so we can consistently provide you with the valuable information you need to market your business. Products without know-how isn’t how we roll. We want to make your experience exceptional.

As you know, it’s easier to grind out things on a to-do list rather than flounder about what to do. And if you’re floundering or not doing, I think you’ll love what we’ve got in the works.

You're in good company. And we're grateful.

I've had the opportunity to travel around the country and meet our amazing customers. You are fun, positive, and committed to raising the profile of real estate professionals everywhere. #CommunityNotCompetition

I'm proud to be part of such an amazing community. Thank you for being part of it!

xoxo, Tracey 

P.S. If you didn't take the survey but want to chime in with your marketing challenges and questions (or anything else), please comment below.