NAN Circles – Turning problems into opportunities

Every appraisal management company deals with complaints and issues at one point or another.  The question is, how are they handled?  Last year, we had a paradigm shift at NAN.  We realized that we were losing golden moments to win over our clients that would call and express dissatisfaction for one reason or another.  At the time we were so heavily involved in compliance that we eventually came to a point where we were scared to act and deliver exceptional service.  This was a wakeup call because this is not what we wanted to be.   So we had an emergency staff meeting and quickly implemented NAN Circles.   We shifted the thought process of the entire team to stop saying “no” and start capitalizing on the expertise on our team by discussing these issues and coming up with solutions that would create wow moments for our lender clients.

We knew that the best clients and the most solid relationships would come from those who were willing to take the time to call and complain and give us the opportunity to make things right.  The scariest client of all is the one who never calls but simply walks away because they are dissatisfied.  You can’t learn from that and you can’t grow.  You simply keep on with the way things are going because no one is telling you any different.  SCARY.  We realized as a team, we are so extremely powerful because of the knowledge and expertise under one roof.  Due to the paradigm shift, now, these “problems” are treated as opportunities to deliver WOW moments that will ultimately solidify our relationships with our clients. We shifted our focus and changed the view of our team by instituting “NAN Circles.” So, what’s a NAN Circle?

Here’s how it works:

A NANNER has a situation where a solution is needed….  They call a NAN Circle. A NAN Circle consists of any number of NANNERS who then work together to create a brilliant solution that makes all the difference in the world to our client and their borrowers.  The circle is called and it happens immediately. No calendar reminders. No appointment times. No notice needed. At any given time we could have someone come to a NANNER with three people behind them telling them we need to have a NAN Circle. The presenter explains the situation and then the floor is open. Together we brainstorm until we have something to go back to our client with. Providing that solution, going the extra mile and collaborating with our NAN team is the best way to provide the ultimate result and create that NAN Fan.

We asked NANNER Kevin Johnson about NAN circles and he stated “The NAN Circle is the understanding; if we harness the amazing talent we have here and place them in a room with the resources they need-any problem can be solved.” Therefore, every NANNER practices the following:

1. Concentrate- on providing PREMIERE customer service
2. Communicate- effectively amongst your team
3. Call- a meeting to resolve a problem and create a WOW moment
4. Collaborate- with your circle of NAN
5. Create- the solution-be the resource

Johnson went on to say “When we have a client or vendor with a problem; we don’t ask

‘can we help?’- We say ‘how can we make this happen?’ Being able to connect to our

customer and know them is KEY in building trust, loyalty, and sustaining long term business relationships. If we promise the stars, we deliver the moon! Within our NAN Circles, we create “CFL’S” (Clients for Life) and NAN Fans (champions within our clients offices).  That’s what keeps loyalty with our employees and customers and it truly makes a difference.  That’s SOLID.