It was almost 10 years ago, and we were creating our new web site for my company at the time – Internet Services of Michigan, Inc (or ISMI, pronounced “IS ME”) -

The thought came to me very quickly…

What if someone wants to let us know their web request is urgent (and they’d like a response immediately)?

It’s a simple checkbox on a contact request that if checked notifies us we’re needed — immediately!

The implementation, at least from the perspective of programming, was fairly easy — simply:

• Add a checkbox asking “Would you like Instant Service?”
• Assure if the box is checked — a text message to my cell phone with the person’s contact information is sent.

and, then, of course,

• Assure when I get it — I respond as soon as possible!

It’s a small way of letting our customers know how serious we are about customer service — and it’s been used hundreds of times in the last 10 years.

Interestingly, our thought at that time was that it was a great way to enhance our Internet support offerings. However, when we rolled it out it was quite frequently used for new sales inquiries!

We continue to use and promote Instant Service today, as a matter of fact –

One of our most committed customers to the Instant Service concept is Bob Wade, and his crew at Cypress Realty Real Estate — they refer to it as Instant Response:

In Cypress’s example — his Instant Response feature:

• Appears and disappears from the site based on time frames he sets up in his Administrative Panel,
• Is controllable per Agent (agents can set their times and disable it when they are on vacation)
• Appears with Agent Information in each listing.

If you take service as seriously as we do, feel free to Contact Us for more information on how we can help you provide it to your customers, too!