Ken Goodrich of Goettl recently said “…. everyone needs to wake up, realize PPP, COVID sales and low interest rates were propping up their sloppy businesses.  Then tighten up, get back to basics, blocking and tackling, focus on club memberships as the foundation of the business and build unbreakable relationships with their customers.  (And sell the lambos, motor homes and diamond clustered man jewelry lol).”

Are you building unbreakable relationships with your customers?

I’m loyal. You’re loyal. Think like a customer

I really do want to give you the benefit of the doubt. I’m proud to be the type of guy who knows that I have the right “guy” or “gal” to get the job done. I can and do refer customers to people who will get the job done for my friends. I am loyal. Is it too much to ask that you truly be loyal back?

My last post was about turning transactional customers into loyal fans who refer you to new business.  I am dealing with three home services companies right now. Are these guys taking care of me the right way? If you were me, the customer, how would you think about it?

  1. A little over two years ago I had one of my AC units replaced and new ductwork done. Six months later they emailed me to schedule the included two years of tuneup service. Since then I have not heard from them even once. My smart thermostat alerted me a couple of weeks ago that it is time for a system tune up. I still haven’t heard from them. Do you think I should call them when it feels like they got the big ticket sale they wanted from me but have not cared about maintaining our relationship? By the way,  this multi-line company was bought by a private equity firm a few years ago and the original CEO is still there.
  2. About a year ago, I needed to get my garage door repaired. I didn’t have a person so I counted on Google. I reached out to three different well reviewed garage door companies and let the first one that responded have the business. They fixed the problem and left a sticker on the wall. I have never heard from them again. They got the job done, they were timely but it was not a remarkable experience. The bolts are coming loose again. If you were me, would you call them again or would you look for someone who is better at nurturing relationships?
  3. There was a bad hail storm. In the past, I had several roofing companies come out to inspect my roof for hail damage. Replacement wasn’t warranted but this year we got baseball sized hail and my insurance company authorized a full replacement. There was one company that stood out from the previous visits because their assessment was more thorough than the rest. They are local and well regarded from work they’ve done in my community. I called them again this year and after they saw the insurance breakdown their pricing came back slightly above the insurance company. I mentioned to the representative that I would also like to change the color of the shingles. I asked if he knew what I needed to do for our HOA to get the color approved. I also told him I was ready to move forward. It’s been over three weeks and I haven’t seen or heard back from him. I am not scheduled on their calendar yet and most roofers are scheduling their jobs three weeks to a month out right now. Should I stick with this same roofing company or should I engage with another one recommended to me by my neighbor?

In each case, I wish I felt like I could just call “my guy” and get it over with. You see, like most customers in the home service industry we don’t think about their HVAC, garage door, roof or plumbing until we have a problem. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a plan of action to nurture those relationships. Too many home service business owners spend too much time focused on driving new leads and traffic to their website/call center and invest almost nothing in their customer database.

You own a home services company. Imagine you were me, or that these stories were yours. Do you expect me or customers like me to be loyal to you? How do your customers know you actually care about a relationship with them?

I spent some time with Wizard of Ads Partners Ryan Chute and Todd Liles to discuss these real life scenarios. They took turns providing incredible insights as either the business owner or their marketing/sales consultant. You’ll want to share this with your team.

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