"I'll tell you something
I think you'll understand
When I say that something
I want to hold your hand."

Beatles lyrics? Yes! Something businesses need to internalize in order to satisfy today's consumer? Definitely!

When you get great customer service at a restaurant, you leave a great tip and then tell all your friends about it. When you shop at a place like Nordstrom's, aren't you happy to pay more? Ever been to an Apple store?

What do all these businesses have in common? You guessed it—they hold your hand!

Why is exceptional customer service so important for these businesses and not others?

Exceptional customer service starts with the modern consumer. What does this consumer look like?

• Today's consumer is highly educated;
• Today's consumer has many choices where they can spend their money;
• Today's consumer consequently has extremely high expectations regarding their experience with anyone they do business with, and;
• Today's consumers demand satisfaction.

What happens if they don't receive the customer service they've come to expect? They take to the internet and complain: Loudly and publicly.

Where does this leave real estate and customer service?

Modern companies spend millions of dollars annually improving customer service models. They are intent on training their employees to internalize the "I want to hold your hand" mentality.

Have you ever flown Southwest? Doesn't this sound like their employees? Customer service like that doesn't happen by accident. It takes hard work and lots of training. And most importantly, clear leadership from management.

I realize in our industry we are dealing with independent contractors, but the need for this sort of philosophy is even more important due to the dollars involved.

How we can make this happen in our industry? Maybe 2014 will be the year.

No one wants to end up with country and western song devoted to their poor customer service, like United did.

To view the original article, visit the PCMS Consulting blog.