Understanding Your Customers

The key to quality customer service is knowing what your customers want.

While customer reviews will provide service pros plenty of valuable information about customer service, there is more to be done to understand customers.

Before even speaking with a customer, it’s important to understand the different relationships you will have with them. Some business relationships will only last a day, others will last for a few weeks or months while a project is completed, and still more can turn into lifelong business relationships.

\A service pro’s most important tool is observation. Paying attention to details and using those details to determine how to communicate and interact with customers will provide a better experience overall.

Pay attention to how the customer contacts your business. If he or she emailed you, online communication may be the best method. If you received a phone call, continue to communicate over the phone and send emails as a follow-up method. Make it as easy as possible for a client to get in touch with you. This information will also help determine how transactions, such as bill payments, can be handled best.

Details picked up in the home can reveal a lot. Be aware of any pets. If a service pro notices a litter box or dog fence, be quick about opening and closing doors so there isn’t an escape. Ask the customers if the animals are friendly, and remember that it’s acceptable to request they be kept in a separate room away from the work – it will keep both the animals and the workers safe, and the client will behappy the pet is being considered.

Shoes lined up near the door indicate the client prefers guests to remove their shoes. If a service job requires going in and out of the house many times, add protective shoe covers to the company inventory.

While performing a service call, be aware of the client’s needs. Some clients may want to see how a job is being performed – if possible, talk the client through the steps or tell them about the work that goes into performing the job. Others may prefer to leave a service pro to their work. If that’s the case, provide updates about the progress of the work, as needed, until the job is complete.

Working with customers isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Each customer will have different preferences for how they are communicated with, how they prefer to complete transactions and how they want to interact with service pros.

Learn more about how best to communicate with your customers from expert service pro, Frank Taciak, by listening to this pre-recorded webinar title ‘Communicating the Sale.”

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