“You’re looking for a contractor? We used Joe Shmoe, and he was great! Let me get you his information.”
Referrals are one of the best ways to grow your business. These days, many customers turn to their friends, family, and strangers on the internet when looking for recommendations for just about everything.
And the best way to secure referrals is to have a high customer satisfaction rate.
You probably already know that customer satisfaction is important when trying to grow your business. But did you know that 87% of customers share a good experience they had with a business and that 95% tell others about an unpleasant experience?
You would much rather have a happy customer singing your praises than a dissatisfied customer talking badly about the experience they had with your company, right?
Customer satisfaction leads to positive word-of-mouth, repeat purchases, and brand loyalty.
In this post, we’ll tell you how residential contractors can increase their customer satisfaction to grow their business.
Customer satisfaction is a metric that measures the level of contentment or happiness a customer finds with your service or product, or with their experience with your business.
It’s important to remember that it’s not only the quality of your product or service that will be judged by the customer—they will also be judging each interaction they have with your business.
This means each in-person interaction, online interaction, or word-of-mouth interaction (meaning what they hear from others about your business, whether it’s true or not) ultimately impacts customer satisfaction.
87% of customers share a good experience they had with a business, but 95% tell others about an unpleasant experience.
In today’s market, numerous companies are competing for the same audience. This puts the customer in an unprecedented position of power, as they get to choose the company that best suits their needs.
This means that it’s more important than ever before to keep your customers satisfied and coming back—and recommending you to others.
There are several ways you can measure your customer satisfaction, and how you do it will vary based on your company’s objectives.
Here are four ways you can measure your customer satisfaction:
Ask for feedback
Consider providing a survey when you've completed your work. (Then use the positive feedback in your marketing materials to establish your business as trustworthy and reliable!)
Monitor your social media
Customers will often leave reviews on your business page. They might also tag their friends on one of your posts or share your page.
Track external review sites
Many customers also leave reviews on sites like Yelp, Angie's List, or HomeAdvisor.
Follow up
Try sending an email or calling your recent customers to ask them about their experience with your business.
Providing an excellent service or product is the most important step in increasing your customer satisfaction, but what else can you do?
We’ve gathered a list of things that successful businesses do to provide excellent service to their customers. These are the things that will make your customer feel like you have gone above and beyond for them:
When interacting with new potential customers, it's important to get an estimate back to them promptly—preferably without leaving the job site. This shows them that you are professional and great at time-management.
Email, text, phone call, video call—there are numerous ways to communicate today, and using their preference shows you are in tune with their needs. (They're also more likely to get back to you quickly when they're using their preferred mode of communication.)
Welcome to the digital age! Almost all consumers will search for your business online, so it's important to have an active and engaging web presence.
Outdated websites don't make the cut anymore (in fact, they might make your business seem unprofessional) so make sure you're on at least one social media channel and that you're engaging with your audience. This means sharing updates or content related to your business, responding to online comments, responding to messages, etc.
Make sure your employees have all the tools and training necessary to be confident when handling customer issues. You won't be the only one interacting with your customers, so it's important that your team feels equipped to handle any needs or complaints without your assistance.
Don't disappear into the wind when the job is done. Consider sending an e-newsletter to your customers to keep them in the loop. This gives your business credibility and keeps your business at the front of your customers' minds—meaning they're more likely to hire you again if the need arises.
Everyone likes free stuff! Giving them something additional makes the customer feel like they're special and that they’re being taken care of. And it doesn't need to be something big or expensive—something as small as an extra can of paint for touch-ups will tell your customers that you genuinely care about their experience.
Customers appreciate being kept up-to-date on what's happening—even if what’s happening is problematic. It's better to be open because lack of transparency can become a costly problem.
Customer satisfaction is one of the best ways to grow your business. We’ve all heard the phrase, “The customer is always right” before, but it pays (literally) to make sure your customers are satisfied.
Satisfied customers lead to more referrals, and referrals are like gold in the residential contracting world.
So do good work! Complete your job on-time and within budget. Encourage your satisfied customers (hopefully all of them!) to leave a review or tell their friends. If you receive a bad review, reach out immediately to see how you can fix the situation.
It’s important that you be ready to accept criticism, and that you’re able to interpret it and come up with a solution. This will tell your customer that you really care about their experience, and will likely lead to long-term loyalty to your company.
Creating a system that revolves around great customer satisfaction is an integral part in building a sales team for your business.