A solid customer support strategy is a necessity in the business world, particularly when it comes to the field service industry. Your business needs to be able to handle customer complaints with ease and efficiency to remain competitive, as your online reviews and word-of-mouth reputation will make or break your long term growth.
So how can you ensure customer service excellence for your service business?
1. Respect Customers’ Time
No one enjoys having their time wasted. Particularly in the field service industry, being on time makes a big difference when it comes to customer reviews, which means accurate arrival times and effective scheduling tools are an absolute must.
Field service software often features comprehensive scheduling and dispatching tools that allow you to not only organize the entire process, but also track field workers in real time and optimize routes in real time. This will cut down on job times substantially, assuring you a solid review once the job is done.
2. Train Your Staff
All the software in the world won’t make up for a solid team you can rely on in a pinch. Whether satisfied, irritated, or just questioning, customers will respond better to the listening ear of a human being over an impersonal automated system. Having a well-trained staff is the best way to guarantee your customers will be and stay happy – even if plan A doesn’t work out.
Your team should know how to talk to angry customers, solve customer complaints, and address customers appropriately, which can all be taught in any number of training sessions available. A little training could be the difference between a communication-focused team with a mind for efficiency and an upset customer turning their local community against you.
3. Follow Up Consistently
Lots of companies view customer feedback as useless at best and dangerous at worst. However, following up with customers is a great way to figure out how your business can improve (for free), all while making a future brand loyalist feel heard and appreciated. It can take time, but investing in your support department is the best way to ensure that your business has return customers.
Some field service software providers will give you the ability to automate customer surveys in follow-up emails, so you’re getting information without spending too much time or money collecting them yourself. This way every customer will feel taken care of, which never hurts when it comes to repeat business.
4. Prioritize Clients Properly
Whether you’re running field service operations for HVAC, pest control, or pool and spa services, you’re going to come across the occasional emergency. It could be a dead heater in the middle of winter or a crocodile in a neighbor’s hot tub; either way, certain customers are going to need help faster than your run-of-the-mill check in.
If your company has installed a field service software, you’ll have your entire field workforce at your fingertips to instantly communicate with and arrange jobs for, so you can schedule and dispatch team members when they’re needed. And thanks to the route optimization functionality, you’ll be able to get them there as fast as possible, too.
5. Make Payments Easy
The whole point of running a business is to make money, and if your customers are having a hard time paying you, they aren’t going to be happy purchasing your services. The value of having an easy means of accepting payment cannot be understated, particularly given the scores of easy payment options available in the modern world.
Make sure you have the necessary tools to allow field workers to accept debit and credit card details quickly and securely on the job, whether through an app, website or machine. Your customers will be able to avoid complicated invoicing procedures and will know they’re working with a service business they can trust.
Chris Lewis
