Your mindset as a business owner, needs to go a little deeper than just handing over a devis, doing the work and collecting payment. Every step, from phone call/email, the submission of your devis, when you do the work, how you do the work, the standard of your work comes under scrutiny by the customer.
Every aspect of what you do should be customer focused. Thinking and operating from your client’s perspective shows that you care. Think how you want to be treated? Afterall, you are customers to some one too. Even when you think they may be wrong, their perception is their reality. The power of customer influence can never be underestimated whether the experience is good or bad. Word of mouth marketing based on the customer experience is as effective as you placing an ad in a magazine. It is your responsibility to manage their expectations every step of the way with clear communication with pride and the right attitude to ensure that the customer influence heads in the right direction.
What do your customers want?
- Customers want you to be respectful of their time. If you commit to a date and time to complete a devis and/or fulfill the work - turn up. Customers have lives too, they do not want to hear lame or unlikely excuses as to why you are not turning up. If you are managing multiple jobs, be clear with customers as to when you will be there. Customers want to know when the job is going to be realistically finished.
- Customers want to see a clear devis with realistic pricing, one that matches the final facture without additional extras. They want to see examples of where you have done this work before and importantly that you are capable of doing the job with appropriate insurance.
- Customers want you to treat their home as you would your own, and that means leaving any workspace safe, clean and tidy when you have done your days work.
- Customers want to be communicated with respectfully both verbally and in writing. When things need to be changed, advice is more likely to be appreciated and accepted when you talk with customers not at them.