Just like with any other business, regardless of what niche you are in, whether you offer a range of products or specific services, and probably even if you travel through time, one thing remains the same – your customer is your king. You aim to serve and to please and this is the main core of any business.
In the process of building your business, you have discovered a problem or a need, and your company is there to simply solve that problem or provide that need. This is one reason why being customer-centric is a very important trait a business should have.
One of which to satisfy this “requirement” is to have good communication with your customers and potential ones or leads.
And we are here to give you some simple ways to improve customer communication that will ensure satisfaction guarantee in every interaction with your business.
- Aim for functional messaging – when it comes to messages, we are not only referring to one on one communication between the business and the customers. Communicating also covers what you put in your Same Day Pro profile (if you have one, click here on the benefits of becoming a pro), social media, website, advertisements, and the likes. Don’t just aim to tap on their emotions, consumers nowadays make purchase decisions based on what they could get from your business (or in the business world, the ROI).This could be an unconscious criteria for some, but what they are looking for is knowing that your business can deliver quality work with high customer approval (this is why it’s good to include testimonials and portfolios). They do not want to waste their time and of course, their hard-earned money, especially with home improvement-related projects involving huge budgets.They want to know straight what you can offer, your capabilities, and if products, the functions, and features before drawing on a final decision.Aim for functional messaging and you will not go wrong.
- They want personalized content – if you just go through scripts or push mass messages to leads or customers, believe us, they could most likely tell. Customers nowadays want to be “in control” and empowered. You have to cater your messages according to their needs and even “desires”, intuition and deep listening go a long way, mixed with in-depth product and service knowledge.If you offer insufficient and well-rehearsed information without catering to all their needs, then this will hinder you from having empowered customers and eventually loyal/repeat customers.Remember, they will always come back to businesses where they feel listened to and with their ideas and issues being carefully considered. Again, this is not about you or your business. It’s all about the customers.
- Timeline is important and so is meeting the deadline – even before you close that deal, discussing a working timeline with your lead is important during contract negotiation. After carefully considering their requirements and other factors that will affect the completion of their completion, discuss a target timeline.Be realistic, you can even add a buffer (to avoid having to ask for extensions in the future, unless unavoidable like with acts of nature). Your main goal is to clearly communicate a timeline that is feasible.Note that you are setting a client expectation here, so the next step in improving your customer communication is to give them regular updates and make sure that you are sticking to the timeline set. This will further solidify your credibility and make your client happy with having transparent contractor-client communication.
- Ask for their opinions – sure your recommendations are based on experience and vast industry knowledge, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask for your client’s opinion and preference and check if it will work with the project. If they do have any ideas, you can show them your portfolio or samples (based on what you picked up from conversations with them), again, this will make them feel very included in the process.Also, be careful about just agreeing with the clients. Empower them to make an informed decision. Discuss the pros and cons, say for a certain material, this will show that you really care about not only delivering the project but incorporating their respective opinions.
- Follow up on leads – there are times that a seemingly hot lead will suddenly not be ready to hire you. But it could be just for a certain time frame and there might be several reasons behind it e.g. they need to gather more funds.No matter what their reasons may be, the important thing is for your to follow up on them. Your effort to reach out to them will surely keep you on your customer radar.
- Always be polite, friendly, and listen well – this should be the standard but you’ll be surprised how many people we have talked to have an unfortunate experience of dealing with “snotty”, “not warm”, “aggressive” and “rude” salesperson. Shocking but true. Or it could be that that is not the intention but the tone suggests otherwise.
So always speak in a polite, clear, and friendly manner. Never pressure a client even when making follow-ups and again, learn to listen not only on what they are saying but all read between the lines and study their cues.
You may deliver results, and be good in your craft, but if you do not know how the art of customer communication, then you are missing the other half of communication. The good news is, that you and your team can always work on this, practice, and have a solid plan when it comes to communicating with leads and customers.
