The customer journey for buying a new home is becoming more demanding than ever. Buyers are purchasing homes site-unseen and completing the process entirely online. While this is still unusual, it emphasizes the importance of ensuring every online touchpoint with your company propels the customer forward.
The difficulty here is there are so many possible touchpoints. Millennials and Gen-Zers considering buying will scour the internet for any additional information about what they can expect during the buying process. It can feel impossible to completely control the customer experience.
There is one option that will give you optimum control, however: work with an Online Sales Concierge (OSC). Read on to find out how an OSC can help you maintain an authentic social media presence.
7 Ways an OSC Helps You Stay Authentic on Social Media
- Gives Followers & Customers a Familiar Face
When an OSC is the primary voice behind your social media presence you ensure your brand voice is consistent. The difficulty with having multiple team members managing your social media presence is that it can make your voice inconsistent, which detracts from customer confidence. A single voice ensures you present a consistent front which helps show customers that you’re reliable and trustworthy.
Your OSC doesn’t need to show their face on your social media for followers to feel connected with them – a consistent voice and a name (even if that’s “Team [Company Name]”) will give them someone familiar to interact with.
- An OSC Helps Protect You Against Bad Reviews
It’s easy to attack a company when it’s seen as just a brand name, but when your company develops an authentic social media presence and is humanized by the voice of your OSC, people are less likely to throw out negative comments and reviews without thinking first about whether it will affect a human being on the other end.
It’s also important to remember that a bad reviews rarely come completely out of the blue (though they do happen from time to time). In most cases, there was a string of emails, missed calls, or social media messages that were unsatisfactorily answered. There’s nothing more frustrating for a lead or customer than feeling like they have to re-tread ground with every team member they come into contact with. An OSC ensures customers have someone they can count on and know exactly what they’re talking about when they reach out for a second or third time.
- An OSC Increases Interaction
When you show your brand has a real person behind it customers find it easier to interact with you. When customers think that everything being put out by a brand has been scheduled or is being controlled by AI, there seems little point in commenting or messaging them to ask questions or interact. When followers and customers know there is someone there dedicated to talking to them and helping them with problems and questions they’ll feel more inclined to comment and message.
- They’ll Track and Respond to Any Interaction
An OSC won’t just help you be authentic when a follower or customer reaches out to you, they’ll also help maintain a positive and authentic brand image when people speak about or share information on their experience with your brand. They will respond to reviews, interact with user-generated content, and ensure you put your best foot forward whenever your brand is mentioned.
Remember that your OSC is also in your CRM, keeping track of all the details about a lead or customer. They’ll keep tabs on all the places a lead can come from and make sure they respond to inquiries as soon as possible.
- They Can Encourage User-Generated Content
User-generated content is incredibly valuable because it helps potential customers step into the shoes of your current and past customers and see what it would be like if they decide to become a customer. Your OSC can interact with these posts, share them, and encourage your customers to share their journey toward their new home. User-generated content is as good (if not better) than word-of-mouth recommendations because it gives potential customers a real look into what their future could be like.
- They Show Followers & Customers That You Genuinely Care
OSCs are so valuable because they genuinely care about customers and love helping them on their journey to homeownership. The purchase of a new home (especially a first home) is a milestone moment in a person’s life, and first-time buyers especially need some guidance and support on that journey. Your OSC can provide consistent support to your customers as they move through the customer journey. When done right, you’ll have happy customers that can’t wait to shout about how good their experience was on social media and offline to their friends and family.
- They Can Represent All Stakeholders
It’s difficult to stay impartial when dealing with a problem in your company, especially when you feel like you or your team made a misstep and let someone down. Your OSC can act as the neutral intermediary between your company and your customers, ensuring both sides are represented fairly throughout the sales process. The OSC is trained to make your customer feel important while passing on the right information.
You may have a social media manager putting together posts and feeds, but your OSC should be playing your “community manager” role; being present to answer questions and interact with leads and customers wherever they are – responding to that message sent on a Saturday and that review posted on Sunday. They can help your brand be ever-present and available to your customers.
If you’re looking for someone to manage your customer interaction but don’t want to make yet another costly full-time hire, you need an OSC. To find out more about how an OSC can help your business excel, click here.