1. Identifying the customer’s needs

1.1 Establish if they are buying/leasing or own the property in question so you can identify the right survey for them

1.2 Ask when they are looking at having the survey carried out so you understand their timescale

2. Helping the customer to recognise their needs

2.1 Ask why they want a survey. Is it because the estate agent/ lender has requested they have one or do they just want peace of mind that the property is structurally sound. Do they have concerns with a specific problem such as cracking on a property they already own that we can help with? Are they in dispute over works carried out on their property or are they about to lease a property or coming to the end of a lease and need help from a surveyor

3. Showing/proving to the customer that having our product or service matches those needs

3.1 Send an example survey to the client so they can see for themselves the standard of our reports but explain this is just an example and we tailor make our reports to meet our client’s individual needs

3.2 Share success stories for example how we recently helped a client served with a dilapidations claim for £65,000 get this down to £8,000 plus our negotiating fees or how a client purchasing a residential property managed to get £10,000 of off the price of the property by using the findings of our survey.

3.3 Tell the client when we find defects we advise of what needs to be done to put the problem right and also give approximate costs so the client understands if they do take on the property what work and costs are involved

3.4 Advise we include photos and sketches within our reports to make any problems easier for our client to understand

3.5 If a Schedule of Condition is required advise this is a record of how the property is taken on and if appended to the lease can help to reduce a dilapidations claim when the client comes to leave the property. Also make them aware that alongside the Schedule of Condition we also provide a Property Report, which is a detailed structural report from the top to the bottom of the building and this ensures they are taking on the right property without any major problems

3.6 If clients need a Strategic Dilapidations Report explain the surveyor would as well as visiting the property also look at the Schedule of Dilapidations they have been served, the lease and any other related documents and advise of the best common sense way forward as opposed to them going to a solicitor for this where the fees charged would be much higher.

3.7 For a Specific Defects Report advise our aim is to visit the property and find the cause of the problem, advise what needs to be done to put it right and also give approximate costs on the work required. We don’t just find the cause; we always try to give a solution.

3.8 Advise all of our surveyors are independent meaning they are not tied to any banks, building societies, estate agents or any financial institutions so if instructed will purely be working for the client and will 100% focus on doing the best for the client and the property.

This module also highlighted common customer’s barriers to buying such as:-

4. They have no need for the service we provide

4.1 Explain to the client they do have a need for instance a Residential Building Survey will highlight any problems found with the property, which is very important as buying a property is one of life’s biggest purchases. Our survey and the findings can then be used to renegotiate the price of the property.

5. Lack of money

5.1 Find out the client’s budget/ what they were expecting to pay and if our quote is way off the price really try and sell the benefits of having a survey with us rather than them use a cheaper surveyor.

6. Distrust of the salesperson or supplier

6.1 Build a friendly rapport with the client and tell stories of how we have helped other clients to gain their trust

7. A need for our service but price too high

7.1 Advise of our USP’s (covered in module 2)

8. No authority to purchase

8.1 Ask who has authority to purchase. Is it their wife, husband, colleague and ask if you can speak with them directly.