Delivering on a Promise By Beth McGuire
Providing “great service” is a common promise of just about every company in business today. But delivering on that promise means going beyond a slogan on a brochure; it has to be backed up with proven results.
For Buffalo Grove, Illinois-based Home Warranty of America (HWA), offering a better, simpler way for Realtors to differentiate themselves and providing buyers and sellers with the peace of mind a home warranty offers, has led to the company’s growth as one of the most respected home warranty companies in the industry.
“In my experience, today’s sellers will interview several agents before choosing who they want to work with and HWA gives me a big selling point,” says Martha Perez, a first-year agent with Keller Williams Realty in Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston. “Their range of services…gives me that extra edge and makes me more competitive, which is so important because we have to compete with a lot of builders here.”
Perez, like many new agents, started building her business slowly in the first six months, she says, but once she began acquiring listings, she especially appreciated HWA’s great product offerings that enabled her to differentiate herself in her competitive market.
HWA’s warranties feature significant differentiating elements, including a low service-call fee; coverage of more items than most competitive products; and a free 13th month of coverage.
“We’re doing very well right now business-wise,” says Jay Edward Floyd, broker/owner of American Republic Realty, an independent firm also in Katy, Texas. “Normally this time of year it gets slower, but it’s been busy and I use HWA exclusively,” he says. “It’s great for sellers to have coverage during the listing period…and for the buyer, having the extra month of coverage is a nice benefit.”
That 13th month of coverage is a big draw for Realtors and homeowners, says David Sobel, national sales manager for HWA.
“We provide one more month of coverage than our competitors to provide an added value to our customers and real estate agents,” he says. “We want to provide more services to our clients and the 13th month is one way to do that.”
David Flory, a Realtor for 27 years in Houston currently working with RE/MAX Professional Group, has been using HWA on his sales for the past two years.
“I have my own building for my team, which is comprised of office assistants, showing assistants, a full-time photographer, builder representative, graphic artist and advertising professionals,” he says. “We are a big operation on our own, with sales of more than 600 homes last year just on my team. We need a warranty company we can rely on, and HWA provides the kind of reliable service we want to offer our clients.”
He adds: “Their coverage of the home while on the market is important because it takes the liability off the Realtor and gives them a great selling point. The extra month of coverage makes a difference too. It’s a nice bonus to the homeowner.”
The items covered under their policies stand out, too, says Sobel. “In most of the country we offer more than one program choice—we offer a main program and then offer a more comprehensive program that includes items like refrigerators and washers and dryers. We also have Premium Coverage that takes the 30 or so items typically excluded from home warranty coverage and places them back into a coverage policy. In most of the country we offer a choice of plans.”
Floyd says he promotes the extended coverage to his condo clients, which comprise a large percentage of his business. “[HWA is] competitively priced and they offer a premium plan for only a little more than the regular plan, which covers things like the refrigerator and the washer and dryer,” says Floyd. “About 50 percent of my business is condo or town-home sales and those places usually come with appliances, which need coverage.”
HWA’s exclusive “High Speed Home Warranty” online ordering system at www.hwaHomeWarranty.com has also been growing in popularity. Agents can place and manage all of their home warranty orders online, any time, day or night, track all orders and receive instant invoices and order confirmations.
It’s another added value to both agents and consumers, says Sobel.
“We’re terrific in service because we provide the customer with the contractor’s name, phone number and their claim number and then we e-mail the customer a hard copy of the entire claim form,” explains Sobel. “This way, they have all the information in writing in case they misplaced it or if they need to reference the information for any reason. What this does is give the customer a lot of information and gives them control over it, so ultimately it makes the claims process go more smoothly. This is one of the ways we provide fast, reliable service from the beginning of the customer relationship.”
“HWA offers the best value for my business,” says Floyd. “Its online ordering system is so convenient. When I get the signature on the contract, I just log on and input information and everything is done for me. They e-mail me the invoice and I just forward to the escrow agent.”
The agents agree that what ties the services and convenience together to complete the package are HWA’s sale representatives, who each of the three Texas Realtors say are flexible, always available, friendly and very knowledgeable.
“They are so flexible if there are delays or changes,” says Floyd. “Sometimes a contract doesn’t close on time or there are changes and they are great to work with through those situations. HWA’s representatives are very friendly and helpful. They provide me with the warranty sign riders and brochures; they have bilingual materials, which is great here because we have a large Hispanic market.”
Perez agrees: “My sales representative is great. She’s always available and easy to work with. I tell her the information and she takes care of everything.”
Sobel adds that behind the ease of interaction between HWA’s sales reps and their Realtor clients is a comprehensive system of technology that enables the reps to provide seamless, immediate service.
“Here’s why our sales reps have great relationships with our agents,” says Sobel. “It’s because we have great technology. Our sales reps have more information at their fingertips than our competitors. If someone has a question on an order, or if a customer has a question on a claim, with most warranty companies, you have to make several calls to find out information, but all we have to do is go online to provide fast, immediate service and respond to any questions quickly.”
Flory sums it up like this: “I haven’t heard any complaints so I know it must be working.” |
