Did you know that 68% of customers who work with you once and never again simply feel ignored? The amount of time and effort you put into getting customers should never be an investment that you look at as a one-time windfall.
I can’t think of too many instances where a service call of any sort is not an opportunity to get more business out of a customer. Unless you provided less-than-stellar service to a customer, there is no reason for the relationship to end after one visit to the house.
We’ve all heard horror stories about unscrupulous business owners who take a job under the pretenses of bilking every last penny they can through upgrades or “bigger problems” they’ve found once on site.
We all cringe at what that does to the general view of the industry. This is a precise reason that the number of people that like to go car shopping is rather small. As consumers, people like value and the ability to trust the businesses they’re working with.
An Untrustworthy Experience
I can share an example. As a business professional, I’m out of the house all day. My wife runs the show.
We’d been in our house for a few years and decided it was time to clean the heating and AC ducts. We used one of those coupons you get in the mail that comes in an envelope with 500 other coupons.
For $100, we could have our ducts clean as a whistle, (as illustrated by the before and after shots on the fancy coupon). After the crew showed up to run their hoses, I got a frantic call from my wife.
According to the cleaning crew, I had highly dangerous mud build-up on my furnace.
Since cleaning that wasn’t part of the deal, we had essentially wasted our money because as soon as we started the furnace again, we would blow toxic dust and mold spores into the house, making things worse for our family.
For the low price of an additional $250, they would take care of all that for me.
Luckily, the hogwash flag went up, and I was close enough to come home and politely excuse the cleaning crew from the premises.
Be Experts They Trust
Now, I am no expert in duct cleaning, so naturally, I am a little curious. I called another well-known company and explained my story to them.
After they finished their polite chuckle, they calmly explained that my instincts were correct.
They mentioned that because the heater was several years old and had never been inspected, they would be happy to come out for a much lower fee and provide a full inspection of the heater, including a new filter, burner cleaning, and a general maintenance look-see.
I gladly accepted and after they came and did a very professional job, I expected to hear the bad news. None came.
The furnace was in great shape, and they even gave us a discount because it didn’t take nearly as long as they figured it would. They got a customer for life that day. Now, every fall they call me automatically to see if I would like to schedule a cleaning and check-up for my furnace.
Why not do the same for your customers?
How Trust Works in Your Favor
When a neighbor asks if they can recommend a first-rate service provider, whether it’s for roofing, painting, carpet cleaning, or whatever, you should be the first person that your customer thinks of. If you’re not, then you’re doing it all wrong.
I have a drywall guy. He did a great job on a project I was working on, and everything I get goes to him first. If it is too big or he is too busy, he will recommend someone, but he always gets first pick. This should be you!
- If you extracted water from a flooded home, you should call that customer back in six months to a year and see if they would like to take advantage of a sweet deal to get the major traffic areas of their house cleaned.
- If you were a painter in the house, let them know you have a two-room special this month.
- Did you install tile? You should do some grout re-sealing or cleaning.
- Even a roofing contractor has an opportunity to inspect and clean the roof.
This type of interaction not only endears the customer to you but also provides you with a reliable source of income during slow times.
Take Care of Your Customers with a CRM
The best way to manage your customers is with a CRM. It’s a place to store notes and job info, manage projects, record invoices, and schedule work or interactions.
If you choose to use Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ to keep in touch with your customers, that is totally up to you. The beauty of a CRM is that you can schedule that contact too.
It’s time to change your approach to get better results. Embracing a tool that will allow you to manage that change effectively is the first step in increasing your profitability and building a strong book of repeat business.
