The vision behind CARE was to further cement Suntrust as the yardstick in affordable township development and to be the buyer’s first choice.
It’s not an entirely new concept. If anything, the simple idea behind this newly formed team has long been ingrained and runs deep in its nurturing, customer-centric culture.
For Suntrust Properties Inc., the creation of a new team that will solely focus on further developing a “client-centric” culture was meant to upgrade certain activities and processes, as the company enters in its third decade of operations.
Formally launched in April this year was “C.A.RE” which stands for Client Administration and Relations Department.
“CARE is the newest department of the company which was established in April 2018… Our vision is to be the yardstick in the affordable township development and to be the buyer’s first choice. Thus, to reach our vision we must have the right mix—superior yet affordably priced products and excellent sales service,” explained Suntrust Properties EVP and COO Deanna Jean A. Claveria.
“We realize that our home buyers have invested their hard earned money to purchase their Suntrust homes. It is our responsibility to ensure that they made the right choice by giving them quality products and excellent after-sales service. Our relationships with our buyers need to be nurtured as we profess to be a company that treats everyone as part of our growing Suntrust family,” she added.
In essence, the CARE group is tasked primarily to:
effectively handle the company’s public relations through timely responses to homebuyers;
create positive client retention through continued interaction with homebuyers by celebrating with them their milestones (unit turnovers, anniversaries) and providing them with various loyalty programs;
collaborate with other departments and make recommendations on how to streamline processes that will, in the end, benefit homebuyers; and
promote a company-wide client-centric culture by conducting continued client service seminars for both the Suntrust employees and sellers.
As it is, the CARE group has already started providing a number of services to its clients and has lined up more activities in the pipeline including the creation of a loyalty program for homebuyers.
“We would like to strengthen the Suntrust brand. We believe that this could be achieved by ensuring that the image that we project to the outside world through the different forms of media and advertising is consistent with what the clients will actually experience when they deal with us,” Claveria said.
“We want to build loyalty to the Suntrust brand and to its affiliates as well. Thus, we introduced the WeCARE Card for our homeowners to promote products and services of other affiliates like the Richmonde Hotels and Sherwood Hills Golf Club. We are also now in the process of arranging cross-branding ventures with other Alliance Global Group members,” she explained.
Claveria pointed out that the CARE group will serve as the “Nerve Center” that will connect clients with concerned departments for immediate feedback and resolution of issues. Given its growing number of homebuyers, Suntrust needs a group that will focus on ensuring that the quality of service given to clients will always be above par.
Effectively, the CARE group will also monitor how clients’ concerns are handled and resolved. It is likewise tasked with conducting customer service seminars, setting telephone courtesy standards, establishing comfortable client lounges, among other best practices.
The rationale behind this, according to Claveria, was that Suntrust should be able to eventually graduate to a “pro-active scenario” in which all systems, procedures, feedback mechanisms, and most importantly, that client-centric mindset among employees and Suntrustees are established and well-entrenched in the Suntrust culture.
Claveria however stressed that the CARE group cannot achieve its goal of having happy clients without the support of the other departments. The CARE group only serves as the catalyst of change, but the real champions are the men and women who believe in our vision and are committed to achieve it, she added.
“We are bullish about having a client-centric Suntrust because that will set us apart from other players in the industry. While customer service may seem to be lip service for some, we would like to take this challenge seriously. We know that we still have a lot of work to do in order to deliver the best service to our clients,” Claveria explained.
“On our third decade, our mantra is to Inspire to Aspire. We call on all employees and Suntrustees to rally behind this mantra to inspire more families to aspire for Suntrust homes. Only then can we claim that we have reached our vision,” Claveria concluded.