Steve Stone
Contributing Writer
CEO, ShuBee®

The perception your clients have of your company can make or break your success.  Many service companies focus on price alone and may win the job up front but will lose in the long run.  Every member of your team, from the owner to the technicians, must make providing exceptional customer service their top priority. To successfully stand out above your competition, you have to create a culture based on service and improving client experience. It is important to focus on service and build relationships to create a raving fan.

THE DIFFERENCE

When you walk into your local Wal-Mart are you expecting to be overwhelmed by customer service and friendly people willing to help? No. I walk in and employees have a lack of enthusiasm and drive. I cannot help but wonder if this is part of the reason Walmart is in the process of closing 249 stores. The difference between going to Walmart and your local grocery or hardware store is stark. Prices may be more, but they are packed with people willing to pay a little extra for the benefit of the experience. The employees interact when you walk in, make sure you are finding what you need and smile as they are ringing up your items. They are willing to provide that extraordinary customer service that consumers are beginning to feel they deserve no matter where they are.  When it comes to clients’ actions and buying behavior we need to start understand what really pushes people to buy. Clients no longer chose a service company on price alone. Consumers are ultimately driven by their emotions, not their rational. They want to do business with a company they trust and have confidence in, a company that they are comfortable with and provides a process that puts as little stress on them as possible.

WHERE TO BEGIN

It all starts when the client calls in and your customer service representative/receptionist answers the phone. The client needs to hear your employee’s smile through the phone. It sets the whole tone of the conversation. If the CSR is not friendly and helpful from the beginning the client very quickly has a negative opinion of your company. It is important to remember that plumbing and heating issues often come at unexpected times. People do not usually set money aside for these types of problems, which creates a stress on the client before they even call. Add to that a less than pleasing initial interaction and you’ve lost the sale before you’ve even had the chance to win it.

 

It is the CSR’s responsibility to reassure your clients that their home is your first priority. It is important to sympathize with the client throughout the entire process. To create that human connection. The service technician needs to have the same mentality while in the home. The client can only perceive what they can see and hear. They cannot see what the technician did and often wouldn’t know what they did even if they did see. It is important to establish a relationship by having a conversation and listening. There is a famous saying “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak” and by following this we will learn about our clients and build that necessary relationship.

THE PROOF

A survey done by American Express showed 58{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of consumers are willing to spend more on companies that provide excellent client service. Going back to the fact that consumers continue to choose companies they do business with based on emotions and not rationale. “Psychology Today” put out a study that said consumers are willing to pay extra because of the way the product or company makes them FEEL. Listen to that closely. It is your job to make your clients feel happy, at ease and confident that you will handle the situation when you interact with them. In the rare case that a client does complain about price, in most situations you have the power to lessen the dissatisfaction with the personal service you provide. Clients value good service and they are prepared to pay for it. Every client can be a raving fan for life if you teach your technicians how to build lasting relationships.