When my husband and I bought our house, one of our inheritances was the previous owner\u2019s pool service. After a few incidents such as black algae left untreated and a pool vacuum left in pieces poolside with no explanation, I called the company to tell them we no longer required their services.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay!\u201d chirped the woman who answered the phone. That was it \u2014 no questions about why we were firing them, nor any attempt to try and deal with our complaints. No one called us later to follow up, either. Needless to say, that company needed to do some work on its client retention strategies.<\/p>\n
To stay in business and thrive, you need to pursue new customers. But you also need to hang onto the clients you already serve and make them the priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeeping your old clients is even more important than landing new ones,\u201d says William Eastman, a senior consultant with the GreenMark Consulting Group. \u201cFor one thing, it costs five times more to acquire new accounts than to service current ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doug Murphy, general manager at Todd\u2019s Services, Hamburg, Michigan, agrees. \u201cAbsolutely,\u201d he says. \u201cFirst, you\u2019ve got the marketing costs. You take those costs, divided by the number of leads that come in, divided by what your closing percentage is, usually around 32 percent. We did the math, and it showed that every new customer we get costs us around $200 apiece.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eastman says that, while you should of course keep seeking new clients, realistically, you and your competitors have a finite pool from which to draw. Therefore, your primary focus should be on \u201caccount penetration,\u201d gaining more of an existing client\u2019s landscape budget by upselling him new services. \u201cBy doing that, you have a lower cost of sales and improved margins,\u201d he says. \u201cMost analyses of customer experience indicate that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eastman tries to get all of his clients to view customer service as an extension of sales. Jason Cromley, co-owner and president of Hidden Creek Landscaping Inc., Columbus, Ohio, understands this. \u201cWe follow up with a client after we finish a project. We took the time to build a relationship during that whole process, and the last thing we want to do is just walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Cromley puts it, a sale isn\u2019t just another transaction; what his company is really selling is a relationship and an investment. \u201cThat\u2019s why we do a full-court press on a project as soon as we finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once a project is over, it\u2019s turned over to the maintenance division. \u201cWe want to stay on-site for as long as they\u2019ll allow us, making sure that the irrigation\u2019s working the right way, that the grass is getting cut the right way, and that the plants are being pruned and fertilized.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is exactly what Eastman is talking about. \u201cView branding, marketing, sales and service as part of the same process, preferably managed by the same person. Put as much energy into the customer\u2019s experience of doing business with you as you would put into sales or installation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smart companies will map out a client\u2019s touch points \u2014 the places where a customer interacts with the company, says Eastman. These touch points are the basis by which he forms an opinion about your company, good or bad.<\/p>\n
Anytime a customer interacts with you or one of your employees is a touch point \u2014 when he calls your office, talks to one of your crew members on-site, or when someone from your company calls him. Once you\u2019ve identified your company\u2019s touch points, make sure someone is responsible for managing every one of them.<\/p>\n
When someone phones Outdoor Makeover and Construction in Atlanta, he speaks to Kathryn Sperry. She understands how important every phone interaction is. \u201cEveryone that calls is a very important customer or customer-to-be,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need all of our business and all of our clients,\u201d Sperry says. \u201cI know how much money it costs to make that phone ring.\u201d<\/p>\n
A friendly, effusive woman with a smile in her voice, Sperry is exactly the sort of person you\u2019d want answering your phone. As office manager, she\u2019s also the ombudsperson for any complaints. \u201cA cancellation, or a slight inkling there\u2019s not a happy experience going on, I\u2019m the first one to deal with it. I confront issues, I don\u2019t run away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a customer has a meeting with one of Outdoor Makeover\u2019s consultants about a project, she asks for feedback. \u201cI want to know what the customer\u2019s experience was. If I see from my customer relations management software that it\u2019s been three days since the appointment and we haven\u2019t heard anything, I\u2019ll go ahead and give him a call. I also send handwritten follow-up notes once a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dave Underwood, \u201cpresident, chief cook and bottle washer\u201d of Chesapeake Irrigation & Lighting, Millersville, Maryland, believes in reaching out and asking for customer feedback. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the biggest things we do to keep our clients. It\u2019s about giving them avenues to communicate with us, either directly to our field staff, or through online customer surveys, so they can tell us what we\u2019re doing right, what we\u2019re doing wrong and what we can improve on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Craig Prunty, owner of All Oregon Landscaping Inc., Sherwood, Oregon, also believes that no client should be left behind. \u201cWe take care of our customers,\u201d he says. \u201cIf they have any requests or needs, they\u2019re able to get hold of our office immediately and get a resolution and a day we\u2019ll be out there to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He credits his high rate of client retention to his equally high level of employee retention. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a great staff of well-trained people that\u2019ve been with us for several years that are passionate and professional and care about what they do. We have a lot of high-end clients, and they see that. They really like the feeling that they\u2019re being well taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
This sort of thing goes a long way in keeping clients both new and old happy. But when these touch points are fumbled, when someone from your company only calls a customer when it\u2019s time to collect money, is rude or fails to follow up on a complaint or a request, let\u2019s just say it does not bode well for the continuance of that relationship.<\/p>\n
When it comes to client\/company relations, Eastman says the little things add up. \u201cThe research is clear,\u201d he says. \u201cThe best way to win the customer service game is by being just 1 percent better moment to moment.\u201d Home runs aren\u2019t necessary; singles are more effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have 20 customer touch points in your marketing-sales-installation-service process, and you handle them all well, that one percent times 20 makes you 20 percent better than the competition,\u201d says Eastman.<\/p>\n
Murphy teaches his technicians and landscape crew members to go above and beyond the call of duty. \u201cIf the garbage cans are empty, bring them up to the house,\u201d he says. \u201cIf there\u2019s a newspaper lying in the driveway, put it on the front porch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other day, a whole bunch of Milk Bone dog biscuits arrived at our office,\u201d continues Murphy. \u201cThey were for our lead manager, who keeps boxes of them in his truck so he can ask, \u2018Do you mind if I give your dog a Milk Bone?\u2019 We really try and make a connection with the homeowners as well as with their pets. We do these little things to develop a relationship and, quite honestly, respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides tossing Fido a treat, there are many other little things that build customer loyalty. Waiving a service charge, for example. \u201cYou should always consider how much money they\u2019ve spent with you over the years and how loyal they\u2019ve been to you,\u201d says Murphy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe the client is the one who broke that sprinkler head, ran it over with his car. In theory, there should be a truck charge along with the time and materials, but if it\u2019s a longtime customer that\u2019s always been good to us, sometimes we\u2019ll waive the truck charge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many contractors dread the day they\u2019ll have to raise prices for fear of chasing away clients.<\/p>\n
Prunty recently had to raise his prices, but because of the relationships he\u2019s built with his clients over his 29 years of business \u2014 some have been with him that entire time \u2014 he didn\u2019t lose a single one.<\/p>\n
A client who jumps ship when faced with a price increase may have been unhappy with your company\u2019s service for a while but may never have voiced it. When the increase comes, it gives him an excuse to dump you.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you provide customers with no difference between you and the competition, they resort to the only tangible measure available \u2014 price,\u201d says Murphy. \u201cIf their service experience was just average, people don\u2019t feel compelled to leave but have no reason to stay. If someone else gives them the same deliverable with the same service experience at a lower price, why stay?\u201d But if instead they remember the high level of service, the picked-up newspapers, the waived truck charges and yes, the dog biscuits, they\u2019ll probably stick around.<\/p>\n
Word of mouth is a two-edged sword. One happy client can result in many more. Conversely, one person\u2019s bad service experience can ruin future sales opportunities in an entire neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever forget that on average, a dissatisfied customer will tell nine other individuals and destroy any marketing efforts you have under way,\u201d Eastman warns.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t live in a perfect world, however, and mistakes will be made. It\u2019s what you do when they happen that will make all the difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 104 people working for us,\u201d says Cromley. \u201cI would love to sit here and tell you, \u2018I\u2019ve never heard a complaint.\u2019 We just try to make sure that we have enough staff in place to handle any problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his experience, it\u2019s not enough to simply react to a customer\u2019s concern. \u201cSay someone calls and says, \u2018I have a dead plant.\u2019 You send someone out, he finds that one dead plant, then heads for his truck. If the client stops him and asks, \u2018Did you look in the back yard, \u2019cause there\u2019s another one back there, too,\u2019 the guy will typically say, \u2018Well, no. You just said there was one in the front.\u2019\u201d To prevent such scenarios, Cromley trains his people to be proactive. \u201cListen to the customer, and yes, fix the problem, but go beyond that. So, if Mrs. Jones calls and says, \u2018I have a dead plant,\u2019 don\u2019t just run out and replace it. Call Mrs. Jones, discuss the dead plant and when you get to her house, take a good look around.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds, \u201cTake off your blinders! Walk the whole site. You\u2019ll see plenty of other things that need attention. You may get way more work than simply replacing that one plant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can clients who\u2019ve left you ever be won back? Eastman says yes. \u201cThrough personal touch, reengaging with that customer and honestly exploring why they were less than satisfied,\u201d he says. \u201cOffer an apology for what was your fault and wasn\u2019t handled well at the time. It will blow them away \u2014 nobody has the courage to go back and own their mistakes.\u201d Even if you fail, the lesson learned will impact how you manage service in the future.<\/p>\n
Think of your relationships with your existing clients as bricks in the foundation of your business. As you add new bricks, make sure there are no cracks in that foundation. Do that, and you\u2019ll build a mighty edifice that will stand the test of time.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, a miffed client would write a letter or leave an angry phone message, and that was usually the end of it. But in the digital age, one nasty review on Yelp, Google, Angie\u2019s List or other website has a ripple effect far beyond the complainer\u2019s normal sphere of influence.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnline reviews can be life or death,\u201d says Dave Underwood, owner and president of Chesapeake Irrigation & Lighting, Millersville, Maryland. \u201cAnybody with a social media account can scream from the mountaintops. It doesn\u2019t take many of those to really affect your reputation. If a negative review comes through, we react immediately, through a call, an email or an online, public response.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason Cromley, co-owner and president of Hidden Creek Landscaping Inc., Columbus, Ohio, says, \u201cWe told a lady we couldn\u2019t put a tree in for her because we just couldn\u2019t do it. Well, she just destroyed us on social media. We hadn\u2019t done anything wrong; we just told her that within the time frame she gave us, we couldn\u2019t get it done. But to her that was unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
How do you fight something like that? \u201cYou have to overprovide for those people who already like you to counteract the people who will never be happy no matter what you do for them,\u201d Cromley says. That gets you more five-star reviews, which eventually cause the ones and twos to drop off.<\/p>\n
Have someone monitor review sites and flag negative posts. If possible, the person who wrote it should be contacted and at the very least, an explanation posted as to how you tried to resolve the problem.<\/p>\n
Hidden Creek uses a marketing company to handle its online reviews. If a negative one comes in through social media or the company website, it\u2019s handled within 12 hours and a plan of attack is made immediately.<\/p>\n
Online reviews are a fact of life in 2018, and they aren\u2019t going away. \u201cWe push reviews,\u201d Cromley says. \u201cOur clients get surveys emailed to them at the end of a project, can rate it good, bad or indifferent, and we post them.\u201d In fact, the company gives $25 Starbucks gift cards to any customer who posts a review. A nice gift tends to make it harder to leave catty comments.<\/p>\n
Keeping your existing client base happy is the key to a thriving business. HERE\u2019S HOW TO DO IT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":3552,"parent":0,"template":"","main-categories":[25],"class_list":["post-3549","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","main-categories-business"],"yoast_head":"\n