Top 35 Real Estate Firms Win 'QE' Award for Service Excellence

The film industry has the Oscars. The music industry has the Grammys. Broadway has the Tonys. Journalism has the Pulitzers. And now the real estate brokerage industry has the "QE" (pronounced "Quie").

The "QE" is an industry first, the only award of its kind that honors real estate brokerage firms for exceptional customer service satisfaction. In recognizing America's Top 35 Real Estate Brokerages, this award actually "measures and independently verifies excellence in the delivery of the highest levels of customer satisfaction and service quality in real estate in North America," according to Quality Service Certification, Inc. (QSC), creators of this brand-new award.

What the QE has in common with the top awards in other industries is that all of these awards are coveted because of the integrity of the award themselves. What makes the QE unique is the data that the awards are based on: the data only comes from real buyers and real sellers. QSC pulls customer information from each brokerage's accounting department on EVERY closed transaction. Every single buyer and seller is surveyed, whether they have an email address or not. No email address? A survey is mailed.

And here's the best part: neither the brokerage nor the agent can alter the survey data results that comes in from customers in any way at any time. That makes these awards truly priceless for the winning brokerage, and why have you real estate industry leaders, such as Mike Pappas, head of Keyes Real Estate in South Florida, one of the biggest and best brokerages in the Sunshine state saying this:

"There is no greater honor than earning the highest ratings from our customers for the hard work of our agents touching all the bases and bringing home a fantastic service experience for every one of our clients. That's why winning a QE Award from Quality Service Certification is the best award any brokerage in real estate can receive," he says.

Sounds a lot like an Oscar acceptance speech to me! Congratulations to all of these winners for earning the praise of THE most important critic: your customers.

2017 QE Award news release and a list of the winners below:

Top 35 Real Estate Firms for Service Excellence Announced

Companies Honored with QE Award for Verified "Extraordinary Customer Service" - an Industry First

San Juan Capistrano – July 25, 2017 – America's Top 35 real estate firms based on service excellence are being honored for exceptional customer service satisfaction with an industry first – a QE Award (pronounced "Quie") – "that measures and independently verifies excellence in the delivery of the highest levels of customer satisfaction and service quality in real estate in North America," according to Quality Service Certification, Inc. (QSC), creators of the award.

The 2017 QE Award recognizes the Top 5 Large Companies, the Top 10 Midsize Companies and the Top 20 Small Companies, spanning 22 states, from Florida to California and Minnesota to Texas, and includes some of the most respected independent and well-known national and regional brand names.

"There is no greater honor than earning the highest ratings from our customers for the hard work of our agents touching all the bases and bringing home a fantastic service experience for every one of our clients," said Mike Pappas, President and CEO at Keyes Real Estate in South Florida. "That's why winning a QE Award from Quality Service Certification is the best award any brokerage in real estate can receive," he added.

The 2017 QE Award is based upon the results of an independent survey limited solely to buyers and sellers who were in a real estate transaction that actually closed with participating real estate companies from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. Quality Service Certification, Inc. and Leading Research Corporation, San Juan Capistrano, CA administer the survey process to ensure that every past customer is surveyed, preventing agents or the company from interference or influence in any way.

The 2017 QE Award winners for the Top 5 Large Companies include:

• Charles Rutenberg Realty, Greater Chicagoland Area
• BHHS Drysdale Properties, Northern California and Nevada
• Harry Norman, REALTORS®, Atlanta, GA
• The Keyes Company, South Florida
• RE/MAX of Reading, Reading, PA

The 2017 QE Award winners for the Top 10 Medium Companies include:

• Real Living Messina & Associates, Inc., Duluth, MN
• Kinlin Grover Real Estate, Osterville, MA
• RE/MAX Estate Properties, Los Angeles, CA
• Real Living Kee Realty, Rochester/Clinton MI
• Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Tomie Raines REALTORS®, East Lansing, MI
• Real Living Realty Professionals, MA
• CJR Carol Jones Realtors, A Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate, Springfield, MO
• RE/MAX Allegiance, Alexandria, VA
• Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman Realty, Burlington, VT
• Keller Williams Classic Realty, Coon Rapids, MN

The 2017 QE Award winners for the Top 20 Small Companies include:

• The Berkshire Group, REALTORS®, Denver, CO
• Home Realty, Inc., Owensboro, KY
• Real Living Property For You, Peoria, AZ
• Real Living 1st Choice Realty, Coral Springs, FL
• Real Living Capital City Realty, Atlanta, GA
• BOWES Real Estate Real Living, Arlington, MA
• Real Living CO Properties, Denver, CO
• Real Living Palm West Home Realty, Inc., Palm Coast, FL
• RE/MAX Select, Oviedo, FL
• Real Living Wareck D'Ostilio, New Haven, CT
• Real Living Northwest REALTORS, Bothell, WA
• MikkiMoves Real Estate, Inc., Eureka, CA
• Real Living Cypress Realty, Inc., Fort Myers, FL
• Real Living Volpini Realty Group, Youngstown, OH
• Real Living Karapasha Realty, Katy, TX
• ERA Martin Associates, Salisbury, MD
• Real Living Realty Group, Franklin, MA
• Golden Real Estate, Inc., Golden, CO
• Real Living Gateway Realtors, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
• First Colorado Realty, Inc., Estes Park, CO

"At a time when consumer are seeking transparency, greater accountability, and trusted information to help them make better, more informed decisions and choices, hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of their service professionals are now electing to participate in service assessment and feedback following every transaction, which is setting a new and better standard for excellence," said Kevin C. Romito, President, Quality Service Certification, Inc.

"They're not just raising the bar for customer service; they've committed to a whole new standard knowing consumers are tired of seeing meaningless perfect reviews where every agent has a 5-star rating," Romito adds. "We believe that in a consumer-centric world the higher standard for gauging excellence in professional services should authentically measure how well each customer is served not just how much business is done."

Larry Romito, Chairman, CEO sees the new QE Award as motivation for change. "We hope the prestigious recognition of the QE Award for measurable excellence in service and satisfaction will launch a viral movement toward better customer service, transparency and accountability, where every real past customer is surveyed and all surveys are unedited. That's what QSC and the new QE Award are all about. A complete, reliable picture of customer feedback, from real past customers on issues important to prospective consumers," he added.

Romito notes that the QE Award is based upon the aggregated overall Customer Satisfaction Rating of all returned surveys of real customers where every past customer has been surveyed without selectivity, editing, deletion, cleansing or manipulation. "No other system exists in the real estate industry that can legitimately make that claim," he said, noting that "accurate, reliable, independently validated survey results of individual agents" can be accessed by visiting RatedAgent.com.

Quality Service Certification, Inc. created the QE Award to foster, encourage and recognize the highest levels of service quality and customer satisfaction. QSC with its sister company Leading Research Corporation assures the careful measurement and independent validation of service and satisfaction results.

Eligibility for the 2017 QE Award requires a minimum number of surveys sent and returned, which may be adjusted from year to year based upon market conditions and the number of participants. More than 30,000 real estate agents and 750 companies elected to participate in the customer satisfaction assessment survey process in 2016 for the 2017 QE Award.

About Quality Service Certification

Quality Service Certification, Inc., based in San Juan Capistrano, CA, provides the most accurate and valuable customer service measurement service for the real estate industry, having conducted more than 2 million customer satisfaction surveys of real estate agents. QSC offers consumers the only complete, reliable and unbiased picture of participating agents' overall and detailed customer service satisfaction history. QSC provides real estate agents the timely and detailed feedback they need to both improve and maintain their highest levels of professional service. For brokerages, QSC offers a Performance Management Platform that helps firms better influence, manage and control professional activities that they can otherwise not see – resulting in measurably better, more satisfying and a more valued customer service experience. Founded in 2000, accurate, reliable, independently validated survey results of individual agents from QSC can be accessed by visiting RatedAgent.com.