House of horrors

In the spirit of Halloween I thought I'd proffer a customer management horror story this month. And it's one that most of you will undoubtedly relate to. Yes, I have recently been going through the nightmare that is buying a house.

Now don't get me wrong, once you're in your new abode and rid of the estate agents and solicitors, all is (nearly) forgiven. But those months that you're glued to the phone, desperately seeking something/anything that will clue you in to what the devil is going on and why everything seems to be taking so long it's as if you've taken up residence in the seventh circle of hell.

Granted, by its very nature housebuying is going to be a stressful experience. Even when there is no chain so to speak of there always seems to be some snag that is waiting to derail or delay it.

But am I the only person to think that this is a process that is crying out for some customer relationship management? Bearing in mind the vast fees that are being signed off to estate agents and solicitors, property buyers and sellers are well within their rights to demand more - much more.

Sadly, however, this seems to be one industry where the evolution of customer-friendly, soft skills seems stuck in the dark ages. It's the customer that is expected to do the chasing when it comes to updates and details. It's the customer that has to organise all of his plans around the availability of the estate agents and solicitors.

Would out of hours visits be out of the question? Wouldn't it be possible for some solicitors to provide mobile services? What about regular courtesy calls to clue you in on the latest developments?

Who knows, perhaps it's just me and I've just been very unfortunate in all of my house buying/selling experiences. But with all the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair that I've seen from others going through the same process, I doubt this is the case.

So, I'd like to know your thoughts. Is there another sector that has such a laissez-faire attitude to its customers? Have you found that your experiences are different, and that there are beacons of customer management excellence in this field? Perhaps you're an estate agent or solicitor that could share some experiences - I dare say that anxious house buyers/sellers aren't the easiest bunch to manage. Have you found the best way to deal with these demanding customers?

For now I leave you with some shocking findings courtesy of RightNow technologies into how UK consumers react to such bad customer experiences.

People living in the North East are more likely to swear, shout, or get a headache after a bad customer experience, according to the findings. The Scots are more likely to register a complaint or tell others about their bad customer experience, whilst the Welsh are most likely to cry after a bad customer experience.

...And those in the South who have had a bad customer experience are most likely to post a blog entry. Now that really IS spooky!