Before food delivery apps were created, you would call a restaurant or order on their website and have them deliver to you.
Fast forward a few years.
Who knew there would be an entire industry of apps that allow consumers to choose food from multiple restaurants and have it delivered in 30 minutes? During a global pandemic, the necessity of such apps has become more apparent than ever.
These apps have allowed the consumer more control by letting them order whatever they want when they want. They’ve also helped restaurants provide better customer care because they don’t have to be tech savvy; the apps outsourced restaurants’ customer care.
This is one of 7 blogs in a series that examines different companies that have shaped the consumer experience, ultimately impacting the title and escrow industry. As I mentioned in the first post in this series, customer experience can be broken down into 3 main things that I call the QCCs:
If you want to learn more about the QCCs, you can check out our first blog in this series, “How the Domino’s Pizza Tracker Changed Consumer Expectations.”
As we’ve previously mentioned in this series, all the companies we examine have mastered the first QCC, quality, so we won’t spend much time talking about that. What food delivery apps have done especially well is providing both customer control and customer care.
These apps are similar to Uber because they allow you to order the commodity when you want. It’s convenient. It allows hot food to arrive at your doorstep.
They also allow you to track the progress of your food throughout the process of picking it up and driving it to you, similar to watching your Uber driver en route to pick you up. This gives the consumer control.
You can literally be sitting on your couch in a pair of sweatpants, watching reruns of the Golden Girls, feel hungry, and order a $75 steak from your favorite steak house. Or you could be playing cards with friends on a Friday night, feel the urge for your favorite sesame chicken, but also don't want to leave the table because you’ve been taking money from your best friend all night with lucky hands … no worries, hop on a food delivery app and some hot sesame chicken will be on the way while you keep raking in the dough!
Either way, while watching the Golden Girls or while taking your best friend's money in a game of cards, the control is in your hands to eat when and where you want.
Restaurants can provide excellent customer care without doing the hard work to make sure food is picked up from the restaurant and delivered to customers on time. These apps make restaurants look better without the restaurants having to change their modes of operation.
Because restaurants don't have to go out of their sweet spots to worry about delivery, restaurants can focus on what they do best: making food and caring about the ingredients.
In terms of customer control, has your title company proactively communicated to your consumers and realtors what the closing process looks like so they feel prepared for it?
In terms of customer care, by you communicating the process, have you enabled realtors to get out there and sell more?
Do realtors feel confident that when they pass a file to you there will be no questions?
What could you do to help realtors stay in their sweet spot? If realtors can list and sell more -- meaning they’re focusing on what they do best instead of being the go-between for information from the consumer and your company -- then you will be able to close more files. Both you and the realtors win!
Do you help realtors do what they do best, which allows you to do what you do best? Or are realtors constantly asking you questions during the closing process?
Do your realtors have confidence in you? Have you done the necessary things so that the realtor and consumer feel in control? Do they know the status of the file? Do they know you’re going to complete it on time and accurately while keeping them informed along the way? Or, are they left guessing (like wondering how you would get all your favorite foods from different restaurants before the creation of food delivery apps)?
One title company that uses CloseSimple told us how effective the email automation and text message updates and reminders were. One of the realtors that worked with this title company said that because of the CloseSimple automated updates they received throughout the closing process, the realtor had 75% less questions for that title company than for another title company.
75% less questions!
Receiving the update emails and text messages proactively answered many of the realtor’s questions so they weren't left guessing. Imagine how great that realtor feels. Imagine their confidence in closing with that title company and the confidence they instill in their consumers as well.
CloseSimple is the best title software because its automated email and text message updates allow you to focus on what you do best, so that realtors can focus on what they do best. Everyone wins!
How 7 non-real estate brands have impacted your customer's expectations on the closing process and what Title & Escrow companies can do to get ahead of the competition by changing the game by creating a remarkable customer experience.