Providing excellent customer service is a vital part of running a healthy, profitable business. This is never the case more than in the home service industry.
Whatever specialty your business provides, offering good customer service is essential. Integral to building a trustworthy rapport with your clients, it’s not really something you should ignore.
Within the home service industry, customer service is an often neglected aspect of a company’s business model. All too often bad reviews are delivered because of a lack of communication between contractors and their customers.
Reviews like this can affect your home services business via the Internet or by word-of-mouth. The Internet has a lot of trouble forgetting and, sometimes, all a one-star review needs is a simple miscommunication.
The good news is, some of the best things your home services business can do in regards to customer service are extremely easy to master and won’t take up any of your much-needed time.
These disappointments can easily be circumvented with by supplying an open line of communication between your handyman business and your clients who have entered a contract with you.
Improving Your Customer Support
There are a few simple tips that you can take into consideration when it comes to improving your customer services.
Be On the Other End of the Line
You have your phone with you at all times but can’t always answer it.
Maybe you’re a painter with gloss all over your hands or you’re on a kitchen remodeling job and can’t retrieve your phone. We’ve all been in that position on a job before. Those of us who are independent contractors have more than anyone. It doesn’t reflect upon you, your skills, or your business.
Tip: Simply call them back as soon as you’re able to.
Show your customer that you will always be at the other end of the line if you need them
The same thing can be said for e-mails or Facebook messages, but there’s rarely anything that can beat the intimacy of a phone call.
Arrive in Due Time
There are times when life–or traffic–will get in the way of this, but even as an independent contractor, it’s beneficial
Tip: When you book a home service job, schedule in your travel time.
This includes any leeway you might need to take the traffic or pre-arranged appointments, school runs, using the bathroom; whatever might crop up. That doesn’t mean that if an emergency happens and you have to cancel, that you should do the job no matter what. These things can be rescheduled.
Having a 15-minute window before you’re due to start, however, will make a world of difference.
Follow Up With Your Clients
Following up is an essential part of good customer service. While doing so isn’t mandatory, it’ll serve you and your business well.
Tip: After a completed job? Follow up on it. Listen to what they have to say.
You don’t have to add your customers on Facebook but it’ll reflect well on your business to show interest beyond the exchange of services for money. If they’ve had problems after the job was done and you’re calling to see if they had any, they’ll tell you straight and then you can fix it.
Similarly, if everything has gone to par, you can let them know the window of contact is always open and if they do have any, to let you know. This interest will make your service feel more informal, while still maintaining rightful professionalism.
It’ll also make your clients more inclined to recommend you to their friends or hire you again.
What Makes Good Customer Service?
Good customer service can be summed up in three short ways.
- Listening
- Delivering
- Communicating
In Conclusion …
A home services business is only as good as its customer service.
And we pride ourselves in having the best customer support system possible.