What Do Customers Talk About?
Surveys show that 90 percent of consumers trust the recommendations they get from family and friends, and your prospects aren’t likely to be any different. More than 60 percent are also checking online reviews.
Therefore, your future customers are listening to your current customers when making a decision to choose a contractor for their home. But what are your customers going to tell them? “Word of mouth” often spreads into areas like these:
Speed – Customers talk about how quickly you respond to their problem. If they call you for a repair and you get there the same day and solve the problem, that’s usually a win. If they call you because they’ve got a problem with equipment you installed and you can’t resolve an issue under warranty for several days, they may consider that slow and unresponsive.
Convenience – Convenience is similar if you have after-hours service for busy families. Or your customers could be talking about the cool smart features you installed in their home systems that lets them change settings wherever they are.
Quality – Does the system you installed work as promised? Are they happy with the performance? Was the repair made to satisfaction? When something is working well (or isn’t), that’s the kind of thing people tell others.
Attitude – Customers also talk about how you treat them. Are you polite on the phone, at the door, in the home? Rude service spreads like wildfire. Empathy, caring and extra touches get remembered.
Relief – You saved them from the pain of being too hot or too cold. Or you got them out of the plumbing mess they were in. Or you saved their homes, health and possibly even their lives by correcting a flaw in their HVAC or electrical system.
In a nutshell: Be professional, be respectful, solve problems, overdeliver value and keep your promises. That’s how customer service builds your reputation. A good reputation builds good word of mouth.