A study by SuperOffice revealed customer experience is the top priority for most businesses in the next 5 years. In fact, 86% of customers are even willing to pay more for a positive customer experience.
And with the global home services market expected to reach over $2 billion by 2028, there are a lot of opportunities to attract customers and generate profits.
In the home services industry, growth also means more competition. Businesses that want to thrive must be able to keep up with the growing expectations of customers.
How can you get this done? Before we dive into the nitty-gritty details, let’s start with the basics.
What are customer expectations?
Good customer service entails meeting the expectations that customers have with your service.
For example, homeowners hiring a handyman to fix their damaged roof expect the contractor to find leaks and fix them. However, throughout the sales funnel, customers also have other expectations too.
Here are some examples of customer expectations:
Quick resolution to complaints
About half of customers (46%), expect businesses to respond faster than four hours. Similarly, Statista found 18% of consumers want a response immediately, while 28% expect a response within an hour.
A home services business must have people dedicated to answering complaints and resolving issues swiftly. Time is money, and you’ll risk losing customers with a slow response time.
Easy access to customer support
Besides having a support team, a home service business must display contact information on their website or social media pages. This way, customers can easily get in touch to resolve potential issues.
Omni-channel availability
Nowadays, most consumers have smartphones and multiple avenues to contact a business. So, it’s no surprise that 9 out of 10 consumers crave a seamless omnichannel experience.
Small businesses cannot afford to maintain a presence everywhere. At the very least, it’s important to accommodate popular communication channels like SMS, landline, and emails. It’s also important to establish a presence in the channels that customers use most. For example, if you’re an interior decorator, consider posting projects on Instagram and Pinterest and responding to DMs or comments on these platforms.
High-quality home services
A home service business must be able to deliver what it promised. Perform the services you advertised, and do it well. Besides having a fast and efficient customer support team, employees must also be equipped with the skills and equipment necessary to aid customers.
How To Exceed Customer Expectations
How can your business surpass customer expectations? Here are some tips to keep in mind.
1. Make it easy to find and book your services.
Customers won’t be able to book your services if they don’t know it exists. We know that many customers discover businesses online, so you should create a Google Business Profile.
The listing must have complete and accurate information about your business's physical address, phone number, and website. Make sure to verify your business location so it will show up on Google Search and Maps.
Enabling text-to-landline lets consumers tap the mobile phone number in your Google Business listing and connect with your business. If you can accommodate SMS messaging, this means you can answer customer inquiries, send review requests and facilitate payment in one convenient channel.
Customers reach out via email or DMs from social media pages. Log in to these accounts regularly, so you don’t risk losing out on attracting interested customers.
2. Train customer representatives to reply to customer inquiries.
Once a customer sends an inquiry, customer service representatives must exhibit a helpful attitude. First impressions matter, so train them to begin with a polite introduction like, “Hello! I’m John from XYZ Handyman. How can I help you?”
Next, employees must be able to ask questions to pinpoint the home services customers need. They should also educate the customer about the services you offer and the terms and conditions of your maintenance agreement. It is up to your staff to discuss your services, the costs, and the value in choosing your business.
If customer service representatives aren’t available 24/7, integrate chatbots into your business website. This way, customers can resolve basic issues or feel confident that you’ll get in touch with them soon.
3. Leverage CRM to improve customer conversations.
As your business grows, it will become more difficult for support teams to handle customer inquiries. Giving customers personalized experiences is key to meeting customer expectations—and you can make this a reality with the right CRM tool like Housecall Pro or Salesforce.
A CRM tool can help you with the following:
Facilitating online bookings with customers
Sending confirmation emails or texts when a booking is made
Asking for review requests once a job is done
Creating customized invoices and accepting invoices
Delivering text notifications about a service job
These features will help your team deliver a faster-personalized service. It also helps them stay focused on converting potential leads and accommodating current customers with bookings.
4. Offer multiple payment options.
Next to customer service (60%), having convenient payment options is the second factor that people examine when choosing a local business (41%). Digital payment options such as mobile wallets (i.e. Apple Pay), website payments, text links, and direct pay platforms (i.e. Paypal) are the preferred option for 20% of consumers.
If you have limited payment options, you risk losing customers that prefer digital or contactless payment methods. In addition, multiple payment options aren’t just convenient for customers, they also let you receive faster payments. It’s a win-win situation.
5. Keep in touch with your customers.
Customer communication doesn’t stop once services are rendered. You must evaluate a customer’s experience to gauge the likelihood that they would work with you again. The feedback you receive will also be valuable in improving your services.
Let’s take a look at some ways you can keep in touch with your customers:
Send a survey: Only one out of 26 customers will make a complaint—and the rest will pursue another business without a word. By taking the initiative to send a survey, you’ll know what you’re doing right and other aspects you’ll need to improve.
Ask for reviews: 98% of people’ read online reviews for local businesses. And it’s safe to say that customers trust businesses with reviews rather than ones with none. Plus, high-quality and positive reviews impact your business visibility on Google Reviews and increase the likelihood that they’ll use your business again.
Reply to negative feedback: Sometimes people will leave a negative review of your business—and that’s okay. You can still turn this situation around by responding to negative reviews to show customers that you are willing to resolve issues that may arise.
Surpass your customer expectations
Customers have a lot of expectations but meeting them isn’t as hard as it seems. As long as you focus on creating seamless customer experiences, people will keep flocking to your home service business. Just train your employees to treat your customers right and make it easy to book, pay or learn about your services—and you’re good to go.
Looking for a fast and convenient way to deliver a superb customer experience, give Scorpion a call.
Our professional team has the best marketing, technology, and people to propel your home service business to new heights.
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