Transforming Customer Service into a Customer Experience

By Zack Labrie, VP of Marketing, Accurence.

There's so much more to customer service that goes beyond just the moments where you are servicing them in person or on the phone.

“Good customer service is at the heart of every good business.” How many times have you heard this statement, or some variation of it? The fact that it’s a little overused doesn’t make it any less true, but I’ve found that this very good idea is often applied too narrowly. I’ve known successful business owners who tend to think of customer service only in terms of the moment of servicing the customer. It’s a natural tendency—it’s right there in the name—but quality customer service is deeper than a well-researched sales pitch or a CSR agent thoughtfully dealing with a disgruntled caller.

Customer service is, or should be, the totality of what you offer to a customer, even when the customer is not actively part of the interaction. When you pull back the lens and take a wide-angle view of your company, you end up with the idea of the customer experience. This experience encompasses everything: it’s the accounting program you use to accurately track your accounts receivable, it’s your customer relationship management software of choice. It’s making certain that the information on your website is up to date and accurate, it’s choosing higher quality materials for a job whenever possible.

These sorts of things should all be considered part of a quality customer experience because they have the potential to harshly color your customers’ view of your company if they’re done wrong. But when they’re done right? Well, a positive customer experience not surprisingly leads to improved customer loyalty, and research has found that a majority of customers are willing to pay more for a better experience.

The world is increasingly going digital and even old-school trades like roofing are having to transform the way they do business or risk being left behind, so it’s important that you consider the customer experience at every step and keep the customer at the heart of your business decisions. Books could be written—and of course, many have been—about good customer service, so I want to focus specifically on what Accurence can do to help improve yours. Our ScopeAssist mobile app is a key tool of the modern roofer who does insurance restoration work. It allows you to quickly and accurately document roof damages and have an estimate already submitted to the insurer before you even step off the ladder.

Ok, you’re asking: what does a scoping app have to do with improving the customer experience? Well, by generating a carrier-compliant estimate yourself, you avoid the need to use a third-party adjuster who works on their own timeline. By getting the estimate done right the first time, the number of after-the-fact supplements are reduced. And by submitting an estimate that speaks the insurance carrier’s language, you can reduce back-and-forth with the carrier and get the job started sooner. ScopeAssist helps simplify and speed up those things that can drag out a job’s cycle time. 

Joel Dant, CEO of Spartan Restoration’s and Chief Visionary Officer of Swift Service Solutions, believes that speeding up cycle times is one of the keys to running a successful roofing business and creating happy customers. And at its heart, he says, “ScopeAssist is all about speed.”

Every minute you can shave off the process is one minute sooner you can get a homeowner back to good. And ScopeAssist can shave off a lot of minutes—even days off the typical cycle time.

The result is a satisfied homeowner who has their damaged roof repaired or replaced with as little delay as possible. And the homeowner trust that this builds may well be the ultimate marker of quality customer service.

What is ScopeAssist?

 An all-in-one mobile inspection app, ScopeAssist uses a downloaded roof CAD to walk you through scoping a roof with comprehensive photo documentation. Pulling from generalized insurance carrier guidelines, it then integrates seamlessly with Xactimate to produce an estimate that adjusters understand and accept—all in 60 seconds from the time you tap Submit.

We’d love to demonstrate why so many roofers consider ScopeAssist an indispensable part of their toolbag. Visit us here to schedule a demo.