Loyalty is not Prejudice!

Loyalty is not Prejudice!

Matt Koop
Contributing Writer
The New Flat Rate

For years we as an industry have been focused on one main thing; SALES!  We have worked harder and harder year after year to drive up the average ticket.  So, we trained our team to sell and at the end of the day the average service ticket seamed to hover around the same point (usually within $50 of our billable hour).  Why is this you say? Well, it’s simple really and it has to do with loyalty from our clients. You see your customer does not care if you’re a man or a woman.  They do not care if your red, yellow, black or white.

They care about 1 thing, themselves!  That’s right I said it. Your customer cares about themselves.  If this is truly the case, then how can you have loyal customers?

Well, it’s simple. Loyalty is based on 3 things, service, craftsmanship, and wow factor.  Let me break those down for you.

• Service: Do what you promised you would do. If you said you will be there at 10a, be there at 10a! In the event that showing up on time is an issue for your team, look for a way to start prioritizing so you can actually over deliver time and time again.

• Craftsmanship: Start working on training your team to do great work again…instead of only focusing on sales. They go hand in hand.  When work you did looks better and lasts longer it makes for happier customers.

• Wow Factor: Doing something extra without expectation. On every job you go on you should do something extra for the customer.  (examples:  Bringing up the trash cans from the curb.  Painting covers on the system.  Replacing Arma Flex on copper lines.) Then once you have finished the job tell them/show them what you did extra, not before. A lack of wow factor equals customer-pricing complaints.

Now why do these 3 things make loyal customers?  Easy, because it makes the service all about them!  And, these factors lower their long-term cost which is way more important to the clients then the cost of service.