Spending more time focused on counting new customers rather than serving and keeping existing customers is neither a new practice nor is it unique to real estate. It just grows increasingly less common in other industries.

Historically, most real estate organizations have focused virtually their entire resources on maximizing: new customer acquisition, sales production, market share and volume. Their banner was, "Make the sale, do the deal, everyone wins!"

However, organizations increasingly recognize the high cost associated with acquiring new customers. Even in the real estate industry, there is acknowledgement that the total cost of new client acquisition (advertising, promotion, a portion of sales commission) can exceed 30% of revenue. Realizing the clear economic benefits of repeat sales and referrals, organizations have allocated an increasingly larger portion of resources to "satisfying and keeping" existing clients.

It is a common industry practice to measure, analyze and manage: revenue, expenses, productivity, volume, listings taken and listings sold.

What's being done to manage service quality and retain customer satisfaction?

While most real estate organizations talk about and brag about service quality, unfortunately, it remains more talk than reality.