The power of customer feedback
I’ve been giving a great deal of thought recently to the power of customer feedback - so much so that I’ve recently written on the subject in the new ‘Occupier Voice’ section in Property Week.
In case you missed the article, I’d like to take a few moments to share my thinking with you.
Are you like me, hooked on researching holiday destinations on Tripadvisor; restaurants on Toptable and the latest music releases on Amazon? If so, you will know how powerful the web is if you want to make a buying decision based on customer feedback. “Word of mouth” has gone global and each of us has a voice.
I have been looking at how changes in the way purchasing decisions are made on the web compared with the way occupiers make decisions in the world of property.
I typed, “I want to rent an office in London” into Google. Curiously, my Google search did not bring up letting agents or property owners. But operators like Instantoffices.com and Targetoffices.co.uk offer a useful search engine for finding serviced and flexible office space. The Instant Offices site even has a star rating system and a feedback box for occupiers to comment on each property. Managing Director, Rob Hamilton, tells me that they have 500 reviews on the site already (visit:
www.instantofficesgroup.com).
Experienced operators, such as serviced offices provider Regus and Workspace Group, have made it easy for occupiers to search for space online but neither offers any customer feedback.
So why is it so difficult to make an informed decision about whom to rent space from in the property industry compared with in other “space” businesses, such as hotels?
Why aren’t property owners soliciting and publishing feedback?
US “reputation doctor” Mike Paul is quoted as saying: “Trust, honesty, humility, transparency and accountability are the building blocks of a positive reputation.”
Some UK property owners have taken this to heart. For best practice, go to British Land’s site:
www.britishland.com/occupierssurvey2009/. It publishes warts-and-all feedback and compares its service levels with the UK average of the UK Occupier Satisfaction Index.
We are at the start of a mini-revolution in the quality and quantity of information being published that will enable occupiers to make more informed decisions.
If you have any feedback - warts-and-all - on this blog or in fact any other aspect of our website site, please feel free to email me.
Howard Morgan
1 December 2009
email: howard.morgan@real-service.co.uk
N.B.
Click here to view the Property Week article
