Never have consumers had more power than they have today. With a few clicks, they can gain a deep understanding of your business through websites and social media, and they can leave reviews based on their experiences.
This presents both opportunity and risk, because in the age of connectivity, one poor review can permeate across the web and tarnish your brand for years to come.
For this reason, customer service is more important today than ever before. Effective communication with clients is the bedrock of successful businesses, and this is especially true for construction companies.
Fortunately, there has also never been more ways to offer excellent customer service. When you reach out to your customers across multiple channels, you meet them where they are and have a better chance of exceeding customers’ expectations. In this post, we’ll look at some of the ways construction companies can offer better customer service.
In the past, if a customer had a problem, you would most likely have received a phone call. Today, however, people often use social media to reach out to businesses.
If you receive a complaint on social media, don’t panic. Yes, it’s there for the world to see, but this also means that the world will be able to see your excellent customer service and support at work.
As you answer questions on social media, remain calm and collected, always use professional language, and offer satisfactory solutions with consistency. In order to catch the questions that come up on your social media accounts, you’ll need to monitor them regularly or use a customer relationship management software. Respond to questions as quickly as possible, and if you need to gather customer information to help, take the question offline so their personal information is protected.
What kinds of expectations do customers have for the construction companies they hire? If you’re not sure what your customers expect from your business and services, it will be difficult to meet and exceed them.
Most customers want to be kept informed of how the project is going, so do your best to stay in touch with them throughout their works. Customers also hope that you’ll stick to the proposed budget. They also want their projects finished according to the timeline you originally offered.
Anticipating problems before they happen is an important way to offer customer service. While it’s not always possible to stay one step ahead, it is possible to address problems once they surface and before your customers have a chance to complain.
Problems inevitably arise in the construction business, but ignoring them or smoothing them over can make you appear phoney in customers’ eyes. Help them to know that you’re genuinely concerned about satisfying them by telling them when problems arise. Explain clearly what you’re doing to rectify it. The key is to tell your customers about problems before they ever realise that something isn’t right.
It’s not easy to earn new customers. Marketing your construction business is expensive, and you may spend a great deal of effort earning customers for jobs. So once you secure customers, do everything you can to retain and delight them.
Maybe this means following up the completion of your projects with phone calls to make sure everything is working well. Perhaps it means remembering birthdays or important dates. Maybe you can send email newsletters with seasonal maintenance tips. Anything you can do to delight your existing customers will pay off in the future when they refer their contacts to you or ask you to complete another project.
By improving your company’s customer service, you’ll keep the customers you already have and gain new customers through valuable referrals.
For more business advice for builders, visit our Building a Better Trade Business eCourse today.