You might have never thought you would be working in customer service, but if you own a gutter and siding business, your customer service skills (or lack thereof) will make or break your reputation.
Deep down, every human wants to feel seen. They want to feel like their concerns are also your concerns. This is what you can provide to clients by giving excellent customer service. The following tips will help get you there.
In Customer Service, Attitude is Everything
You can provide the best quality work anyone has ever seen, but if you have a sour attitude toward customers, your star rating will sink faster than the Titanic. People can be exhausting, it’s true. When you feel like responding with sarcasm, eye-rolling, or anger, think about how this is going to affect your profits. A positive attitude will make any situation better when dealing with difficult clients.
Make All Customer Service Interactions Positive
This is especially important when you can’t avoid disappointing a client. For example, say the siding they wanted is on backorder. Instead of telling them “You can either pick another siding or wait for 12 weeks,” try “That particular material will be here in September, but I have a few other options for you to look at that can be installed this week.”
Respond Quickly
If you can’t respond to the text, email, or voicemail right away, mark it as “unread” if possible. Have some sort of system in place to remind you to respond when you are able. When you have many projects going on at the same time, it’s easy to think, “I will take care of that later,” and then forget. Make it your general rule to always respond to someone within a day.
Be a Customer Service Problem Solver
When responding to a customer complaint or problem, keep problem-solving the focus of your message. Get creative in order to make the impossible possible. They want to know what you plan to do about their concern.
Even if you can’t fix a mistake that already happened, you can let them know how you will change your process so that the same mistake will never happen again. Throwing in discounts or free upgrades is also a good idea to turn a dissatisfied customer into a happy one.
Providing Great Customer Service Will Increase Profits Over Time
You might think that going the extra mile for customer service is going to cost your company too much money. But there are other ways to lower costs without sacrificing great customer service. Customers tend to put a lot of stock into word-of-mouth recommendations. When you amaze someone with stellar customer service, they will sing your praises. Talk about free advertising!
Use HFS Financial for Contractor Financing
If you really want to provide top-notch customer service, you should partner with HFS Financial to provide contractor financing. You will become a one-stop shop for all their gutter and siding needs — from planning to construction to financing. Your customers will simply fill out the 60-second application right from your own website, and then they will be contacted shortly by one of our loan experts to go over the best possible financing options for their needs. It all comes at no cost and no extra work for you. How amazing is that? At HFS Financial, “You Dream It, We Finance It!”