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MARG ProperTies, the Chennai-based property developer, seems to believe in forging a long-term relationship with property buyers.
The effort is apparent at the first click of the mouse on its website. The moment a prospective buyer start accessing its Web site — >www.margproperties.com , a Customer Service Executive of MARG comes on line offering assistance to buy a home at MARG, putting the home buyers at ease.
Mr S. Ramakrishnan, CEO, MARG ProperTies says the real estate space is ‘cluttered today with very little differentiation' and to lead the pack, companies ‘need to be innovative and value-oriented.'
MARG ProperTies aims at giving customers a ‘brand experience par excellence'. Excerpts:
What made you to start this practice of opening up a chat with the customers once they access your Web site?
Customers areincreasingly looking for properties online. They visit the company Web sites in response to the advertisements in print, TV or other mediums.
This is primarily done to assess the brand value of the advertiser and to ascertain basic information about the product. Hence, we felt there is an overwhelming need to service these two needs of customers at the very first contact point.
Through this chat service we are able to connect with the customers to understand their specific requirements and guide them in the right direction.
On any given day, how many people access your Web site? What is the brief of the help desk personnel ? Do they deal with questions relating to price?
On an average, we get 800-1,000 visitors. The online executives are fully equipped to handle all company-related and project-related queries, including pricing as they have undergone rigorous training in all aspects of the product line.
What has been the impact of this initiative- is this a PR exercise?
With the number of inquiries rising month on month, online chat has become a precursor tool to understand what the customer desires. This 24x7 service to our customers is much more than a normal PR exercise. In fact, such intense interactive tools lead to an emotional bonding with the customer.
How many have adopted this practice? Do people find online enquiries a convenient way of accessing information about projects?
Very few offer chat service. Our experience shows that customers find this service beneficial as their queries are addressed 24x7 and on an immediate basis. The chat service also facilitates inquiries from NRI customers residing in different time zones.
What are the major issues the potential buyers raise while interacting with your CS executives online? Major queriesrelate to project location, size of the apartment, price range, availability and project completion date. Since the online executives are trained to answer the queries in the most professional manner, the longer the interaction, the more is the chance of any deal fructifying .
What percentage of such online chats end in purchases? Does this help in creating word-of-mouth publicity about the company?
The chat service has given us satisfactory response with a healthy conversion percentage so far and we will continue to improve the overall efficiency.
This chat service is a unique value proposition which we offer to our customers and it greatly elevates our brand image as a customer centric organisation.
Positive word-of-mouth from customers is certainly a big plus.
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