Fitting and forgetting risks depriving your business of its lifeblood. By keeping in contact with existing customers you can provide yourself with a ready and reliable revenue stream. And it shouldn’t require any extra work from you. With the right system in place - and a good attitude when it comes to logging all the details of previous jobs - reminders can be sent out automatically to customers via email and print for the elderly, who may not be so digitally minded.
Customer problems can become benefits – if you fix them quickly
Not all heroes wear capes. But, you could be hailed as one for riding to the rescue of a household whose boiler has packed as Peter Bryer of PJ Bryer Heating And Plumbing can confirm. “I went out to fix one customer’s boiler at eleven o’clock one Christmas Eve night twenty years ago,” he recalls. “They’ve not forgotten - and since then we’ve had tens of thousands of pounds of work through them.” At the same time, rectifying mistakes quickly can have a similar effect on how a customer perceives you.
Some installers can be sniffy about servicing boilers. But that’s not the case for LW Haddow. Crowned The Best Heating Company at The Scottish Home Improvement Awards four times in the past five years, they happily undertake the routine maintenance others avoid.
“Servicing boilers is a massive part of our business,” founder Mark Haddow asserts. “We’re the biggest service provider in our area. In the early days it helped us make a name for ourselves and it remains a really important part of our offering”.
Your experience and expertise is invaluable to your customer. Talk to them - it’s the only way to understand their requirements. It also allows you to reassure customers that you are following all the current guidelines in relation to the coronavirus outbreak. Peter Bryer agrees, saying: “It’s essential to visit a customer in person. They might have a quote saying they require a flue through a wall - but if it’s too near a neighbouring property then they will need a vertical flue. You can only provide this kind of insight in person.”
Establishing the right impression with customers can really pay dividends. If they associate your work with quality then the likelihood of them contacting you to see if you can help elsewhere in the house is hugely increased. Mark explains: “Building a rapport with customers is vital. We focus a lot on that and ensure we leave a client’s home how we found it. It’s touches like that that can really distinguish you from the competition. You could do the best job in the world, but if you leave a mess behind that’s all they’ll remember you for.”
Your customers are a resource that you need to care for. Treat them well and they will return. Ignore them and you can be guaranteed they will look elsewhere the next time they need any work undertaking.