Proper training is a must for consultants in Dubai
Earlier this year, the Dubai Land Department implemented measures to regulate real estate consultants through the broker's registration law. This stipulated the need for all consultants to be registered with the Land Department. The aim was to make them accountable, as well as to ensure they are government-approved.
While the registration law is a good starting point, I feel there is still a long way to go in improving standards and ensuring that investors receive the required level of service from all. In all industries, dedicated employee training is the best way to raise the bar.
Over the years, real estate brokers have been subjected to their share of criticisms, with accusations being made at the way they conduct their roles.
While I have no doubt that on occasion these criticisms have been justified, I also know that there are many consultants out there who conduct their duties effectively and go way beyond what is expected of them to ensure client satisfaction.
In general, I firmly believe that the only way to have top quality consultants is through thorough training in real estate and dealing with people in a professional manner.
Experience
In order to accomplish this, all consultants should be selected based on their experience and ability to carry out the job well. Upon recruitment, training in all aspects of the role and its requirements should be provided and this should then be followed up with training throughout the employment period.
While there is no doubt that such efforts have a large financial implication on an organization, I honestly feel it is the only way to ensure quality standards. For Better Homes, the goal has always been to have the best consultants in Dubai and the only way to guarantee this is to invest the time and money needed for effective recruitment and training. Getting the right people in a dynamic place like Dubai is one of the biggest challenges we face.
There are many constraints in Dubai that make it difficult to implement proper training, not least is the lack of space available to actually conduct the sessions. Realtors are by no means immune to high rental rates and the lack of space that affects so many other businesses.
With the market developing at such a rapid pace, it is critical for companies to implement processes and procedures to support the kind of volume being experienced within the industry at present.
In response to past criticisms of consultants, we opened a training institute and developed a program for all our consultants. We also implemented a customer care team to support consultants in giving the best service and invested time and money to improve response times to clients through the introduction of a call centre.
While it has to be said that a company needs to be a certain size to create the economies of scale to justify offering its own training centre and call centre, there is still a need for all firms, regardless of size, to put in place the necessary programmes and procedures to help their employees improve, and therefore better service their clients.
Buying a property is one of the biggest purchases most people make, so it's important that the consultants dealing with such a high-value transaction are fully able and equipped to do so.
