I speak with a lot of plumbers and many times in the past several months I hear them telling me how tough it is in the marketplace. However, some plumbers still tell me that they have as much or more business than they can handle and things are going great. I really think that there is tremendous opportunity in the marketplace for those who are willing to make somewhat of a shift in the way they do business.
Some companies only care about profit. That makes sense because a business needs to be profitable to stay in business. Other companies focus on doing the job right and having technicians that are the best. That also makes a lot of sense. Where some companies miss the boat is in the area of customer service. Over the past 20 – 30 years, I have seen a decrease in customer service. Too many companies make it very clear that they do not care about the customer.
Even though you run a business that is geared towards doing work on plumbing and mechanical items, you need to realize that it is the customer that writes the check. It is the customer that will or will not provide a referral. So, I look at it this way; if there are many companies out there that strongly lack in customer service, what can happen to your company if you decide to offer the best customer service you possibly can. Go over the top with customer service, assuming that you already do great work and I would be willing to bet that profitability increases without doing anything else!
Some simple things like making sure that technicians are neat and clean, have ID badges, are kind and courteous to the customer. These go a long way! Also, the technician should show they respect for the customers property. Use something to protect the floor, wear booties that show the customer you respect their property www.shubee.com and want to insure that you do not damage anything while fixing the plumbing. Proper phone etiquette is a must as it will help you get more jobs and much better customer loyalty. Utilize the great technology we have with phone systems, voicemail, and message on hold.
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