Jason Kopke, owner of Arizona Landshapes in Tucson, recalls an incident eight years ago, when he neglected a referral source that had kept one of his two-person crews busy six days a week. That source decided to pull its business from the company. Ouch.<\/p>\n
At about the same time, a few customer service snafus led to some not-so-nice Yelp reviews. Double ouch. As painful as both these experiences were, Kopke says they pushed him to institute stronger customer service initiatives that made him a better business owner and benefited his customers in the long run.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of that work went away, and it was a big, big kick in the tail end that we needed to change something,\u201d says Kopke. \u201cSo right there, we made a decision that we needed to address people\u2019s concerns differently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arizona Landshapes used to lose clients \u201call the time\u201d because Kopke\u2019s crews did something a client didn\u2019t want done or failed to do something a client did want. But that is all in the past now. Today, Kopke says, \u201cWe spend more time reaching out to customers before we do any sort of service, even the monthly ones. We\u2019ll email them at the beginning of the month to tell them when we\u2019ll be there and ask for their input about things on their property that need to be taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kopke learned the hard way that maintaining customer relationships is critical to long-term success. Research shows that it costs five times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. Not only that, a mere 5% increase in customer retention \u2014 where repeat customers add services and offer referrals \u2014 can add up to more than a 25% increase in profit. If you\u2019re spending all of your time selling but don\u2019t work to keep your existing customers happy, you do so at your own peril.<\/p>\n
Kopke has never forgotten those nasty Yelp reviews. \u201cI\u2019m not bashful to say, those were some pretty horrendous comments from back in the day,\u201d he says. \u201cI became rather fearful of getting any other negative reviews, so I became a lot more focused on making sure that clients got what they wanted and that we didn\u2019t try to inject our own desires into their projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"customer](\"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/turning-conversations-repeat-business-2.jpg\")
That doesn\u2019t mean that he and his crews won\u2019t tell clients that the spot they want a plant put in is wrong or that a project has challenges, but these days, he approaches these issues more in the manner of a consultant and less like a temperamental artist. It\u2019s a change he chalks up to greater maturity, to having learned from his mistakes and to a genuine desire to do a good job for his customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI might make clients sign a nonwarranty statement,\u201d Kopke says. \u201cWe\u2019re not willing to warranty something that we think may not have been done appropriately, but we\u2019ll move forward with doing what they ask. We\u2019re intent on keeping clients happy. I used to run this business geared a lot more toward me doing stimulating work. Now, I\u2019ve sort of given up a little bit on performing stimulating work and focus more on giving clients stimulating landscapes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keeping customers informed helps keep them in the fold. And customer retention is critical; without repeat customers, no company can stay in business for long. While it\u2019s important to talk to your customers, it\u2019s even more vital to listen to them.<\/p>\n
Alex Herring points to personal communication and interaction as the main reasons why Covenant Works, the three-year-old, family-owned landscape company he manages in Waxhaw, North Carolina, has such a high customer retention rate. During the last three years, the firm has only lost two out of the 40 residential and 12 commercial customers that keep his maintenance crew chugging along in the South Charlotte market.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of our customers know me, and they know our crew as well,\u201d Herring says. \u201cOur clients know they can come to me with any problems or issues they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Herring is no longer out in the field every day as he was when the company first started, he still makes an effort to drop in on his residential customers every four to six weeks. His visits often coincide with scheduled lawn treatments.<\/p>\n
He also sends emails to customers letting them know about changes to services or other issues. \u201cWe try to keep our customers updated,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ll let them know that even though there was a lot of rain this week, we\u2019ll still come by, but a day or two later than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herring feels that having a personal relationship with his customers goes a long way when challenges arise. \u201cMy dad said there\u2019s always going to be problems, but it\u2019s how you fix them that people are going to care about,\u201d Herring says. \u201cWhenever there\u2019s an issue, if you\u2019re upfront about it and take care of it, customers seem to really appreciate it. They understand that stuff happens and there will be issues along the way, but it\u2019s all about how you resolve them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brandon Moxam, vice president of U.S. Lawns, an Orlando-based commercial landscape management company with 262 franchise locations in 39 states, offered this sentiment: \u201cIf you show up and do what you say you\u2019re going to do, you\u2019re probably better than 90% of the competition.\u201d He adds, \u201cBut that shouldn\u2019t be based on happenstance or luck. You want to make sure you have properly documented processes and systems in place to make sure you follow through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moxam says that clear contracts, along with the systems to back them up, are the keys to good customer communication over the life of a business relationship.<\/p>\n
![\"customer](\"https:\/\/innovativepixel.com\/IGIN\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/turning-conversations-repeat-business-3.jpg\")
\u201cOnce we\u2019ve made the decision to do business together, we want to memorialize that in an actual agreement, mapping out all the expectations and making sure that both parties see eye to eye about what\u2019s to be done,\u201d says Moxam. \u201cThen we take that agreement and build a startup plan for that customer.\u201d
\nFrom there, a U.S. Lawns operations team communicates the specific customer expectations to the crews and creates work plans based on those expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big part of client retention and customer service is communication,\u201d says Moxam. \u201cWe provide our franchisees with technology and communications templates for them to be able to share information with clients.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s referring to an app that U.S. Lawns uses to create reports that document what specific landscape management services were performed when and record any notes about the property. In turn, those notes help U.S. Lawns\u2019 customers, mostly property managers, do their jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur customers expect us to be their eyes and ears on a property,\u201d says Moxam. \u201cSometimes there are things we notice that are outside of the scope of the work that we\u2019ve been contracted to do. We want to make sure that we bring those items to our customers\u2019 attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Herring says his company doesn\u2019t do a lot of email marketing, he does use email to tell customers about services the company offers that might be of benefit to them. \u201cFor instance, when we start getting close to aeration season, which is a busy time of year for us, we\u2019ll send out an email a month or so ahead of time letting them know that the time to do it is coming up, and we\u2019re starting to put our schedule together. For some, it\u2019s included in their contract, but for others we do it as an additional service.\u201d<\/p>\n
This strategy serves two purposes: It alerts current customers to upcoming services and also generates additional business.<\/p>\n
Kopke recently sent an e-newsletter to 1,500 current and past clients. He says simply reminding customers of your existence can really pay off. \u201cIt\u2019s surprising,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen the first newsletter went out, I probably got 30 phone calls in a 10-day period from people who said, \u2018Oh, I didn\u2019t know you were still in business,\u2019 or \u2018I didn\u2019t know you did these things.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking to build a long-standing relationship with our customers,\u201d says Moxam. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be considered as just a service provider; we want them to consider us as a \u2018business friend.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds, \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re going to go out and have a few drinks and break bread with them, necessarily. It\u2019s more that we want them to know that we see the business through their eyes, that we understand specifically what goals they\u2019re trying to accomplish, what their specific needs are with their landscapes and how that plays into their overall goals within the position they\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, says Moxam, it all comes down to one thing: \u201cIt\u2019s our job to make our customers\u2019 lives easier.\u201d But you won\u2019t know how to do that unless you ask them. Make sure you do.<\/p>\n
Maintaining good customer relations starts with frequent and effective communication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","main-categories":[25],"class_list":["post-3950","features","type-features","status-publish","hentry","main-categories-business"],"yoast_head":"\n