How to Improve Your Customer Follow Up
June 25, 2019 | Read: 5 minutes
Customer experience is a buzzword that’s been going around for some time but field service companies often find it challenging.
After all, it’s not that easy to make an experience out of an electrical check or follow-up on a quick service, for example. Which is why in this post, we’ll be talking about all the problems related to customer follow up.
Of course, we would never throw a bunch of issues at you and leave it at that. Read on to find the solutions!
Channel your inner customer
To help you see the experience your business provides from the customer’s perspective, in these posts we’re asking you to play the part of a customer who’s called a plumbing company to fix a leak. If that doesn’t work for you, replace the scenario with one that does.
For example, maybe you’re a customer who’s called a fire and security company to install a new alarm system. This will help you assess where your customer follow up strategy is at now.
After we discuss each possible pothole in your customer’s journey, we’ve taken the liberty of speculating how you (you’re the customer, remember!) will be feeling about your business.
The customer experience problems we cover here are relevant to most field service businesses. Depending on your particular company, you may discover even more that apply.
Don’t let it get you down! It’s better to know about the problems so you can fix them and create the perfect customer experience. Happier customers = more work = more profit!
Customer Touchpoint: Paying for the service
The technician has completed the work order and it’s time for the customer to pay. Imagine how the process looks from the customer’s viewpoint. Do you notice any of these problems?
As a customer, you feel: Mild bemusement that there are still businesses that work this way. Not to mention, your confidence level in the business drops. Is a field service company that’s so behind the times really using the most up-to-date tools and knowledge?
Instead, try one of the many free and inexpensive apps that let customers pay you on site or online – like the accounting systems we mentioned earlier. Your payment process will look more professional, be more pleasant for the customer, and get money into your bank faster.
As a customer, you feel: Guilty that you keep procrastinating on sending the check. It’s such a hassle, not to mention you can’t find a stamp.
Customer Touchpoint: After the sale
The work is done and you’ve paid, but it’s not over yet. Keep a lookout for these problems as you envision, from the customer’s perspective, what happens once the field service company has your money.
As a customer, you feel: Like just another number in the business’s invoicing system. You paid and now they’re done with you.
Reviews are the main element of great customer follow up. Asking for feedback makes them feel important and shows them that you value their opinions. Don’t skip this easy way to improve the customer experience and get them to keep coming back. Not to mention the immense value of having a lot of (positive) reviews.
As a customer, you feel: Nothing. You feel zero loyalty towards this company, so the next time you need service you’ll probably search Google again and call the first business that pops up.
For example, you might:
- Tell customers about new services and promotions that are relevant to them.
- Let them know when you’re closed for holidays or bad weather.
- Send useful tips to help customers keep their equipment and appliances running perfectly.
- Send news that’s relevant to your customers, such as product recalls.
The bright side is that nowadays, people are more and more inclined to leave reviews. It’s simply wired into our online behavior to tell others what we think. It’s the same with your customers. All they need is a little nudge.
So today, we’ll be breaking down all the different aspects of getting your customers to leave more positive reviews, how to deal with the occasional negative one, and the best way to use them for your marketing strategy. This takes us to our next point:
As a customer, you feel: Panicked when that appliance starts making a funny noise because you never had it serviced.
It’s the same with service reminders. Reminding customers when their annual service is due takes the burden off of them to remember and keeps their systems running smoothly. So if you’re not sending service reminders, you’re neglecting the final part of a positive customer experience.
Email marketing systems like MailChimp will let you create groups and conditions where customers receive the right reminders at the right time. It’s ideal to take into account when exactly the job took place in the first place and time your reminder right.
Another option is to ask your field service management software provider if they have any features that will do service reminders for you.
Your Customer Follow Up Strategy: How did you do?
You’ve now seen the entire customer experience through the eyes of your customer. How did your business fare? If you discovered that your business is making your customers anything less than perfectly happy, try some of the solutions we suggested.
If you prefer to read offline or would like to share the solutions with your office staff or technicians, click the banner below to download our full communication guide that fixes these problems and many more.
