Did you know that it is harder to get an initial service contract from your customer than it is to keep them coming back? To get your customer to purchase their first service contract you have to take in to account advertising costs, your sales person’s time, and the time it takes to process the contract. Oddly enough, once you have your customer signed up with their first service contract, it cost next to nothing to keep them coming back to renew. Yet, most companies lose their customers due to one primary problem, lack of proper service. When I say service, I mean everything that makes up that one service call that your customer is relying upon your company for. If you follow the ten steps below, your chances of getting your customer to renew goes up close to 100%.
1. Pick up the Phone
The first service call starts with how long it takes for your call center personnel to answer the phone to schedule the call. If your customer is forced to navigate through long menu trees or put on hold for long periods of time, they have time to start thinking about your competition. All kinds of things start running through their heads. I wonder if I called "so and so" if I would have to wait on hold? I wonder if the hold times are indicative of the way they service their customers once they arrive, if they arrive. Don't let your customer have time to think. Pick up the phone.
2. Be Professional and Courteous
The next step is to make sure whoever takes the call is professional and courteous to the customer. A friendly and professional voice goes a long way to helping the customer feel like their problem is important to you and your company. It may sound stupid, but have your call center people answer the phone with a smile on their face. The customer may not be able to see their smile, but they will definitely hear it. It is also important to be empathetic to your customer’s problems. Show them that you care about their problem and that you will do everything in your power to resolve it. Check out this article: Call center etiquette for agents for some more good information.
3. Ask the right questions
Be sure to ask your customers the right questions about their problem. The right questions help to insure that the information collected is accurate and sufficient enough to help get the call placed on the right service technician. If something is leaking, ask where do you think the liquid is coming from? If it is coming from an appliance, ask if the customer knows the brand of the appliance. The more information you can get from your customer the better. When you are done scheduling the call, close the customer call by asking if the customer needs anything else. Always let the customer know that you are there to help both over the phone and on property.
4. Schedule the Right Person for the Job
If you asked all of the right questions (see above) to schedule the service call, you should have enough information to schedule the best technician for the job. For example, don’t send a plumber to fix an A/C unit or a printer technician to fix a PC problem. Most customers see right through this tactic if they are watching over your technician. The chances may be good that sending the wrong technician may work, but are you willing to bet your customers renewal on it? Sending the right technician can mean the difference between an irate customer ready to tell the world about their bad experience and a customer who won’t think twice about renewing when the time comes.
5. Arrive On Time
Once the service call has been scheduled, the next step is all up to your service technician. It is important to note here that your service technician is the last person your customer is going to see. Therefore, to insure a great service experience (notice I did not say good) your technicians need to make sure that they do everything right. That starts by making it to the customer’s front door at the scheduled time (assuming they have a set time and/or date) and not being late. In most cases, your customer has taken time off from either work or something else so that they can be available for you to resolve their problem. Don't make them wait any longer than they have to. A customer that has a technician at the door on time, helps them to get to where they need to be sooner. This in turn makes for a very happy customer.
6. Project a Professional Appearance
Servicing your customer starts with showing them that you and your company are professionals and will do the necessary work in a professional manner. To project a professional appearance, make sure your tech arrives with a clean shirt tucked in to clean pants. Your technician’s tools should be kept in a well maintained tool belt or toolbox and their service vehicle should be spotless. Your customers want to see that you are as professional as you are good at resolving their problems. A professional look also gives them something more to talk about with their neighbors when recommending your company.
7. Listen to the Customer
Once your technician arrives at or through the front door, it is extremely important to listen to what the customer has to say. In most cases (not all), your customer will point your technician exactly where he/she needs to go and what they will need to do to resolve their problem. This can help to keep your technician from wasting time trying to troubleshoot something that is not totally related and instead get right down to resolving the real problem.
8. Be Neat and Respectful of the Customer's Home or Office
Your technician should be neat in everything that they do while in your customer’s home/business. Some examples of being neat are: putting down mats when working with items that may get messy and to where “booties” when traveling from the outside in. If you are servicing an office, be sure to respect the fact that your customer is trying to do business. Do your best to stay out of the way and not leave tools spread out across counters, desks or the floor.
9. Communicate To the Customer What Was Done To Fix the Problem
Communicate with the customer what was done and why. I have seen too many technicians come in the door, go to work, and then leave without saying much of anything as to what the problem was and/or how it was resolved. Most importantly, and I stress this point because I have seen it happen far too often, ask your technicians not to argue (for any reason) with your customers. This is one of those times when your technician should continue chanting a simple mantra (in their head of course) of “The Customer Is Always Right”. Even when your technician knows for a fact that the customer is just flat out wrong, they must bow to the customer and agree in some way without creating an argument. Sometimes, customers just need a few hours to think about what was done and how it was remedied. GIVE them that time. In most cases, they will come around and understand why your technician did what they did. However, if your technician allows the situation to get out of control, all bets are off. Worst case scenario is you lose that customer for LIFE and any possible referrals they may have talked to after their service call.
10. Thank the Customer
It goes without saying that most technicians are under pressure to get to their next service call. But, it only takes an extra minute or two to let the customer know how much you appreciate their business. Don’t let your technician just say the words as they are walking/running out the door. Have your technician stop what he/she is doing and look the customer in the eye with their hand reached out to shake the hand of your customer and say these simple words – “Thank you for your business Mr. Jones”. I know it may sound a little corny, but keep in mind that the last impression you leave with your customers is the one that may push them over the edge when trying to decide if they should renew their service contract with you. Make the most of those last few minutes with them and make them count towards keeping that customer for life.
Renewals cost you and your company next to nothing and are an easy way to keep your customers coming back. Therefore, take the extra step and devote some time to training your employees on how to handle your customers. Help them to learn the right ways of doing things. Teach them to be personable, not just technically proficient. Make sure they are on time and prepared with the parts and tools they need to get the job done efficiently and correctly. Your technicians are the last person from your company that your customer is going to see. Make sure they understand that and that ultimately the company depends on THEM being professional and doing everything right while in front of the customer.
NOTE: If your technician makes it in to the heart of your customer as an honest and professional person, just think how easy it will be to up sell your customer with other products or services. But that, my friends, is post for another time…
Does your company stress being professional to its customers? Do you have a good track record for keeping your customers coming back to renew? Let us know below!
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