A real estate agent, let’s call him John, for privacy purposes, started a website after much research, only to dump it just one day later – and for good reason. Your website is your mainstay on the Internet. It’s your image, your lead generation and lead management system. Investing your precious time and money choosing and setting up the right website for your business is of paramount importance. It is not something you want to switch in and out of frequently, if at all. Do your homework before you commit.

In this series of short articles, we will explore key things to consider when selecting a website platform and host. You want good value, efficiency and productivity. A site that will give you a competitive edge. One that will work hard for you and not distract or frustrate you.

Pillar #1: Look for world class customer service.

Yes, top notch customer service takes the number one spot. Ahead of functionality and cost.

Just this month, John dropped his former website provider within 24 hours of signing up, due to some unpleasant surprises on the customer service side of things. The software had checked out well and the price seemed right. The real test came when John needed some help. Instead, he got a couple of unpleasant and unsupportive interactions – or lack thereof from the support staff who was supposed to be helping him.

A quick discussion with the sales team about the company’s customer care philosophy and procedures, work hours and team size is usually a good start and can save you a lot of pain. Try to get feedback from current users. Current users on the company’s blog or message board are only too happy to share their experiences. Needless to say, if this part of the check fails, you got your answer.

A solution provider with solid customer care is organized. They ought to have a set response time frame and systems in place to ensure care tickets get answered within reasonable terms, well trained support personnel with decision making abilities to help resolve questions or issues quickly, and a pleasant approach. They should also offer a strong support personnel to customer ratio, and various ways for you to contact them: e-mail, phone, online chat, message boards and so on.

Going live today, this upgrade will be bringing a bunch of great improvements to how Point2 Agent support & education will be accessed, delivered, and ultimately disseminated.

Just what kind of improvements you ask?  For starters, our entire product knowledge base is now entirely searchable.  Want to learn about our custom content modules?  No problem!  Now all of our support materials (FAQs, videos, and education sessions) are right at your fingertips.

If you are itching to jump right in and experience all the new toys for yourself, you can find the new support portal over at – http://agent.point2.com/support

If you would like to know what these changes mean for our existing support tools, here is a brief overview:

• The support email address agent@point2agent.com will soon be no more. Customers can submit a ticket to us directly at http://agent.point2.com/support
  Please note: If you are unable to submit a ticket, you can still do so by emailing customercare@point2agent.com
  
• The new and improved Customer Community (aka message board) can now be found right here.  Note that this does not mean the old Message Board is gone.  In the coming weeks, we will be importing existing content from the old Message Board (like the website tips & tricks) to make sure our fantastic community hits the ground running.
• Clicking “Contact Customer Care” within your Online Office will now bring you to our support portal.  We encourage all customers to search through our knowledge base to find the answer to your questions, but we can always we reached by email or at our toll-free support line.

As always, if you have any questions/comments/concerns, we would be happy to answer them – so don’t be shy, get in touch with us and tell us what’s on your mind!

Some of our members may have noticed a change in the titles of those who help answer your Point2 Agent account-related questions.  Previously, the name of the team that our members were served by was the Customer Support Team.  Recently, they’ve changed their name to better reflect the relationship they build with our customers and are now the Customer Care Team.

Our Customer Care Team of 25 individuals are responsible for providing the first-line of support to our entire membership.  Not only are they answering issues that come in via email, telephone, and on the Message Board, but they are proactive in detecting any potential issues before they can affect our members.

On average, approximately 1000 email support issues are sent into our Customer Care Team on a weekly basis.  Our Customer Care Team strives to provide 24-hour response time for all members.  In addition to emails, they receive hundreds of phone calls each week (an average of 800!!!) from our Professional and Premium members.

As the team is continually expanding to provide the best level of support care to our growing membership, they had outgrown their previous office space.  So, they’ve been relocated to a newly renovated portion of the Point2 office building in Saskatoon, SK.  Last week saw them settling into their new space with a ‘house warming’ BBQ for the entire Point2 staff.

The Customer Care Team is a huge part of what makes Point2 Agent such a great success!

Here’s where you’ll find:

• Descriptions of and access to all of your current Point2 Agent Resources
• Agendas and registration information to live online Education Sessions
• Articles related to using your Point2 Agent site, the industry, and more
• An introduction to the Point2 Education Team

We’ll be continually updating the site with new articles, blog posts, and Education Sessions, so you’ll definitely want to add it to your favorites list.  www.Point2AgentEducation.com

Enjoy!

- The Point2 Education Team