Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What Every Home Seller and Home Buyer Should Know!
What is Quality Service Certification?
Quality Service Certification (QSC) is an independent organization revolutionizing the way professional services are delivered by helping consumers and service professionals align their interests at the point where each can have the greatest possible outcome. Consistent, reliable, accountable and responsive service – Quality Service – ensure the best outcome for both consumer and service provider.
How does Quality Service Certification benefit the consumer?
When consumers spend significant dollars for a service, they expect consistency, reliability, accountability and responsiveness from that professional service provider. The absence of service standards in the real estate industry contributes to the inconsistency of service, satisfaction and value experienced by the home seller and home buyer. Quality Service Certification was created to offer the home sellers and home buyers the assurance of greater value by providing consistent, reliable, accountable and responsive service in every real estate transaction. This is the service provided by a Quality Service Certified® real estate professional.
What distinguishes a Quality Service Certified® real estate professional?
To become Quality Service Certified®, a real estate practitioner must attend specialized customer service training, pass a written examination, and sign a commitment to follow a prescribed process that is presented and communicated in writing to every home seller and home buyer. Following the closing of each home sale or purchase, an independent research company sends the consumer a comprehensive survey asking critical questions about the details and overall satisfaction of service provided by the sales person and broker. The sales person’s ability to maintain Quality Service Certified® status is dependent upon satisfactory service evaluation feedback from those buyers and sellers. The QSC real estate professional’s overall Customer Satisfaction Rating (CSR) is published and available to consumers at www.QualityService.org.
How is Quality Service Certified® professional recognition different from the other designations real estate professionals use?
Most existing designations or certifications have been created as a credential to benefit the real estate practitioner to enhance image and credibility. Quality Service Certification® was created to benefit the consumer – to insure a higher level of professional accountability, better service and greater service value. Most designations are earned one time and renew nearly automatically. Quality Service Certified® professional recognition is earned and maintained by meeting or exceeding a standard of ongoing quality service delivery each time a customer is served. That’s quite a difference!
If Quality Service Certified® professional status is so good, why doesn’t everyone have it?
Quality Service Certification, the high standards, defined service process, use of written service guarantees and higher level of professional accountability, is not something every real estate professional is willing to undertake. Some real estate professionals are fearful of customer feedback and of making customer satisfaction results a visible part of their professional credentials. As real estate professionals increasingly come to recognize that successful service offerings are more about what consumers want than what the service provider likes to do, more real estate professionals will become Quality Service Certified®. Certainly, however, not everyone will elect to be held to this higher standard of service and accountability.
How do I find a Quality Service Certified® professional?
A consumer website explaining the benefits of working with a Quality Service Certified® professional and offering a convenient means of finding and selecting a real estate professional can be found at www.QualityService.org. In addition to offering a directory of QSC real estate professionals, consumers can view samples of written service guarantees, review an independently validated Customer Satisfaction Rating (once four or more surveys have been returned) access an agent’s contact information or link to his/her personal website and in many cases review detailed service performance, satisfaction data and past customer comments. The QSC consumer website offers consumers the knowledge and information needed to make better, more informed agent selection decisions.