Leading proptech firm Eurolink, is highlighting the business importance of customer retention and loyalty as the critical factor for maintaining growth often with a strategic shift from prioritising customer acquisition and market share to long-term customer engagement.

The firm’s own research found that sixty-five percent of service providers only initiate a retention programme when the customer has started the process of leaving and 90 percent measure customer loyalty by churn rates.  In the same Eurolink research, software performance and good customer care are regarded by customers as basic service requirements and do not comprise competitive differentiators. Two-thirds of customers stated that it was personalised and tailored services, proactive care and trusted advice as well as rewards for being loyal customers that would win their loyalty.

Eurolink has always taken pride in its service level performance and has itself recently extended its client retention and loyalty programmes with investment in technology, key appointments and organisational shifts designed to enhance its ‘trusted advisor’ status with its own clients.

As a letting or estate agent whatever it is you do you must be doing it well to survive in perhaps the most competitive property industry in the world.

Home movers today have many competitive alternatives and letting and estate agents will need to rely heavily on loyalty strategies to combat competitors’ aggressive offers to attract new sellers and buyers in saturated markets.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology is the core of a good property software system and one key area you can use to your advantage to make the most of business opportunities in a highly competitive environment. By looking after your existing customers you will be helping your own business to flourish also.

Few companies make full use of the potential of their CRM. The majority use less than 50% of its capabilities. Your CRM data is a ready-made market of opportunities to engage with and enhance your relationship with existing clients by keeping them updated continuously with any product/service improvements your business might make.

By constantly informing them of what your lettings or estate agency is doing you are also enhancing your relationship with them. And the closer you are to your clients the more likely they will remain loyal to you.

“Customer retention and loyalty, far from being a cost centre, will become a new centre of growth, provided that lettings and estate agents understand what their customers really want and devise their offers accordingly,” said Nigel Poole Managing Director at Eurolink “Importantly, customer retention and loyalty programmes need to be initiated early in the customer lifecycle and be present during the entire relationship between letting and estate agents and clients, as opposed to relying on belated efforts to prevent churn.

“The only way to earn loyalty is through deeper customer engagement. Customers demand a high quality experience across all touch points, starting with their first home moving experience and continuing over the course of the customer’s lifetime. To do this, lettings and estate agents must look at the customer holistically and provide them with a simple, proactive, personalised and consistent experience across all channels of interaction.”