Real Estate Refined

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a stressful traveler. Due to an overwhelming fear of being late, I typically arrive at the airport hours ahead of schedule. Only to then sit in extraordinarily uncomfortable chairs, in a crowded lobby, regretting running out of time to eat while eyeing the awful $20 sandwiches. It’s no wonder that it takes me a couple days to relax upon arriving at my destination after the experience of getting there.

I’m sure most of us have heard the commercials and catchy slogan “flying refined” of Toronto based Porter Airlines. Despite the rave reviews from family and friends, I was skeptical that complimentary cookies and beverages merited the self-proclaimed title of “flying refined”.

Recently I decided to give Porter a try and booked flights to New York for a mini getaway.  As mentioned traveling for me is always a stressful event; I will inevitably be swamped with work and furiously trying to get everything in order and have my clients taken care of before I leave.  This typically involves numerous emails and phones calls being made en-route to and at the airport. Now add on this that for the three days prior to my scheduled departure, flights were cancelled and airports closed due to hurricane Sandy, and you’ve got yourself and pretty high strung traveller.

So I was surprised to arrive at Porter’s lounge and be greeted by large comfortable chairs, endless beverages, snacks, Wi-Fi, all in a spacious, quiet, and subdued atmosphere. It might not seem like much to some, but for me it meant something I never expected I’d find myself doing; relaxing in an airport. Turning a skeptic into a believer, and it really was “flying refined”.

This got me thinking; if it takes so little to make one person’s day, or for one experience “refined”, then why as real estate professionals are we not doing more of this?

Take open houses for example. Typically potential buyers walk into an open house feeling a little uncomfortable; it’s someone else’s home and in all likelihood they are worried of breaking something, or running into a pushy sales person who is more interested in selling themselves than the house itself. So it’s no wonder that most people walk into open houses with their head down, and try to get in and out as quickly as they can. Not really the best way to get a feel for a home, now is it?

But take that open house experience and add some relaxing music, baked goods, beverages, a coloured brochure on the house with floor plans, and monthly mortgage payment information to take home with you. And what do you have? “Real Estate Refined”. From an experience that is typically uneventful and even sometimes uncomfortable made, dare I say, enjoyable?

Now pair that with a friendly but not overly intrusive real estate professional and now we are really talking!

This is just one of many examples that we as real estate professionals or anyone in a customer service industry can do to make every experience “refined”. It’s in the little details.

For real estate refined you can contact me anytime at pennington.remax@gmail.com or at JacquelinePennington.com