HOW TO BUILD CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE ON-SITE
As a field service professional, you are bound to start somewhere, and more often than not, that means going to a customer’s home. Depending on the situation and the customer’s personality type, this can be a bit unnerving and stressful.
On site, a service tech is responsible for examining the system, diagnosing problems, finding solutions, and, most importantly, showing customer empathy. In this article, we’ll discuss some great tips on how to attain customer confidence and build a healthy relationship with your customers.
PROFESSIONAL FIRST IMPRESSIONS
First impressions are important and will set the tone for the rest of the appointment. Make sure to show up presentable with your shirt tucked, your hair combed, and your shoes cleaned. Something as simple as wearing shoe or boot covers before you enter a customer’s home shows that you respect their living space. And yes, depending on your type of job, it may be difficult to maintain cleanliness throughout the day. However, you should strive to do your best to clean up after every job, so you’re prepared for the next one down the road.
Additionally, take the time to learn your customer’s name for the service visit. Doing so will help you earn their trust and open the door to effective communication. They may have some general information for you regarding the current service call or important background information from previous service requests performed by another company.
PREPERATION BEFORE THE CALL
Stumbling through a problem with your customer watching can create a bad impression of you and the company as a whole. Before you arrive on the job site, familiarize yourself with the customer’s issues and concerns. This will help you to appear more professional and provide you with the confidence needed to answer any customer questions.
There may be times when you don’t have the answer and need to ask for a second opinion from someone else on your team. Don’t be afraid to give a coworker or your boss a call. It shows that you’re willing to go the extra mile to truly solve the customer’s problem, instead of simply putting a Band-Aid on it making the issue worse down the road.
SHOW THE CUSTOMER YOU CARE THROUGH EMPATHY
Field service techs often see the same problems over and over between different customers. In spite of the fact that you have seen this issue many times, your customer is likely to have not encountered it before. So, make sure you don’t have a lack of concern for your customers’ issues. If you take the time to show them empathy and understanding about their situation, they will appreciate your feedback and feel more valued in general.
COMMUNICATE WITHOUT DIFFICULT TECHNICAL WORDS
The key to a successful customer interaction is ensuring that your customer understands the issue at hand, as well as any solutions you may offer. Speaking in technical jargon may confuse your customer. Make sure to explain the situation and type of repairs in common every day terms. As a result, you’ll create a better customer experience with happy, smiling customers.
Additionally, you can supplement your repair recommendations with visual aids, such as diagrams, drawings, photos, videos, and so on. Each person visualizes solutions to problems in different ways, so do your best to be open to multiple communication tools.
USE STANDARDIZED PROCEDURES FOR ALL CUSTOMERS
Establish standard procedure protocols for your techs to follow in order to ensure a consistent customer experience company-wide. It’s confusing for your customer if each technician that shows up to the call does his or her own thing at a residence. Your customers deserve to experience the same quality of service and fair treatment from any tech at your company.
FINAL THOUGHTS
By following these helpful tips, you can build a strong relationship with your customers as well as make them more open to other services you provide. You don’t need to overwhelm customers with sales tactics when talking about other services. However, simply let them know about important issues you came across during an appointment and give them options for fixing those problems. At the end of the day, you want your customers to feel confident in the work you do for them. This will help you to gain repeat customers and successfully build a solid, profitable customer base.