Our business is all about referrals, and gaining referrals is all about providing optimal customer service. Now, I know your time is limited so I'm going to make this really easy for you. I've talked to David Lester of Sequent Systems, an efficiency expert of sorts to get his top tools for customer service – and I've compiled them into a checklist so you can see how well your practice measures up.

1) Digital signatures.

This tool offers obvious benefits for you and the environment; however, it also offers significant benefits for your customers, as well. According to David, the foremost of these is timeliness. A real estate transaction involves quite a bit of "hurry up and wait," so anything you can do to speed up the process will result in a very grateful client. "Digital signatures reduce time during closings by allowing immediate signatures, no matter where the parties to the transaction may be located," says David. "In fact, digital signatures have become a truly integral component of the real estate process. That's why we decided to integrate DocuSign (a leading digital signature solution) into our real estate transaction management solution, EZ Coordinator."

You can learn more about digital signatures and DocuSign in our product directory.

2) The cloud.

I've heard more than one person say, "If I hear 'the cloud' referenced one more time, I'm going to scream." Cloud computing has been hyped and discussed ad nauseum, but for a reason. Hype or not, the truth is that it offers myriad benefits for professionals and consumers. David explains, "For real estate agents and their customers, a cloud-based tool can allow all parties to access information and documents at any time, no matter where they are. If your business is on-the-go, your information should be, too. In addition, communication is the cornerstone of any positive relationship, especially the relationship between a real estate agent and their client. Cloud-based technology facilitates communication with all the stakeholders to a transaction."

3) A good, old-fashioned closing checklist.

No matter how many times you've been through it, you can never be too careful during a closing. To keep yourself sane and your clients confident, few tools can be as simple or effective as a checklist. Whether the checklist lives on a legal pad, a Microsoft Word document, or within a task management system, following your list can markedly improve your closings.

4) Task management technology.

You'll find some of these tools as standalone technologies; however, David says, "using a comprehensive, buttoned-up system will allow you to better manage and serve your client. That's what you should find with a task management solution. For example, our EZ Coordinator product combines all of the features above to allow maximum organization and customer service without requiring the agent to wrangle a lot of different technologies."

What's Your Secret?

These are just a few of the MANY tools out there to help you improve your customer service. Help us flesh-out this list with your favorite tips and tricks for increasing referrals by wowing your clients with rock star service.

Next Steps

• Learn more about EZ Coordinator
• Read more articles about customer service
• Explore more Transaction Management solutions