Use a Framework to Facilitate an Excellent Customer Experience

A framework is a basic conceptual structure or skeletal; openwork; or structural frame of ideas; a process, an organization, etc.

So how can a framework be useful in facilitating an excellent customer experience?

When a customer calls your company for service to correct a system fault, they are seeking one thing—useful information to make an informed decision. They don’t want a cheap price, or the fault corrected as inexpensively as possible, even if that’s where some customers wind up.

When a customer schedules a demand repair service, they want your expertise to guide them so they can make the best choice for them, their family, their home, and their bank account.

Where does the framework come in?

If a service provider wants to craft excellent customer experiences in order to earn customers’ business, maximize opportunities, get great reviews, convert customers to repeat clients or service partners, and generate referrals, then EACH customer experience should give customers exactly what they want in a better manner than they can get elsewhere. In order words, technicians in the home need to be masters of communicating and educating customers in an objective fashion.

To that end, service companies may want to consider developing a non-biased framework for their in-home service procedures and communication process. Here is an overview of our demand repair call framework for your consideration:

1. Arrive, meet and greet, and determine what brought us there:

1. What’s the current system fault and when did it occur?
2. How did they hear about our company?
3. Who do they know that your company has worked with and what have they heard?
4. How were things working before the latest issue?
5. What other issues have they experienced? When? How much have system faults cost them? How do they feel overall towards the system?
6. What overall concerns do they have about their system, home, and lives?

2. Explain your process for identifying system faults and sharing options, what they can expect, and what is your company’s pricing and payment approach
1. Provide a copy of company newsletter
2. Share promotions and special offers
3. Share branded tchotchkes

NOTE: Locating system faults focuses on finding failures within a system or network of components and how the system is impacted. Seeking problems looks at identifying specific failed parts. Finding faults focuses on identifying root causes and providing permanent remedies, whereas solving problems identifies symptoms resulting in temporary fixes. Fault types: Electrical, Mechanical (ignition, combustion, exhaust airflow, condensate removal, heat transfer, refrigerant systems), Restrictive (clogged drain, filter, etc.), Design (sizing, ductwork, etc.), and Installation.

3.    Get to work: Find out what's going on with the system. Prepare findings, diagnoses, and options on blank sheet of paper. Show bundled repairs based on system faults (all parts within the aforementioned systems) with a la carte prices and bundled package savings, plus additional savings for being/becoming a service partner.

1. Create options, not ultimatums. A choice of one is a choice of none.
1. From the highest level of wellness treatment, restorative service, ongoing care and lifetime peace of mind protection down to a temporary fix part replacement with no ongoing care and limited protection

4. Share what you found that is in good condition. Everything cannot be bad.

5. Share findings and diagnosis.

1. What system has the fault?

1. What does it do?
2. What is its age and condition?
3. How are this issue and cost relative to the systems’ useful life and a systems’ potential life?
4. How did it get to this point? Why did this situation happen?
5. Could this situation have been avoided, and how?
6. What other things should they consider addressing now to avoid imminent issues?
7. What other things may create future issues?
8. How can they avoid future system faults?
9. Repair vs. replace guidelines (if applicable)
10. Use photos, videos, drawings, illustrative tools, calculations, reports, vital statistics, math, facts, science, data, and 3^rd party resources to prove your competence, not opinions.

6. What could they consider doing to enhance their system and life experience based on your findings or concerns they mentioned?

1. Provide your opinion on what they SHOULD DO based on their reasons ONLY if they ask directly?

7. Share options, pricing, savings for being/becoming a service partner, warranties, guarantees, and payment methods. Get endorsement for authorized work.

8. Complete the work. Clean and polish equipment. Leave the work area better than you found it. Sticker all equipment.

9. Show (in person or via drawings, photos, or video) and explain with proper verbal purposing language what you did, why, how they benefit. Focus on service provided. DO NOT commoditize and devalue the service provided by focusing on parts.

NOTE: Parts aren’t what drive the price. Customers pay for the expediency and level of service and customer care provided with a drug-tested, sex-offender registry-cleared, licensed, certified, factory-authorized technician to be available shortly after they call, arrive on time with the tools, training, technology, truck and inventory to correctly and completely diagnose and repair system faults properly the first time and provide peace of mind warranty protection and unmatched guarantees.

10. Explain what to keep an eye on, as well as DIY maintenance.

11. Review charges, savings, payment options, warranties, guarantees.

12. Secure invoice authorization and payment.

13. Thank the customer for their business. Provide thank you gift.

14. Share referral rewards programs, ask for a referral and place yard service sign.

15. Ask for a review, thank customer again, depart.

This framework creates great results in terms of customer experience feedback, reviews, higher average tickets, increased overall revenue and profit, customers converting to service partners, replacement leads, and referrals. Now it’s your turn. Implement our framework or create your company’s ideal customer experience framework that you feel will empower your technicians to exceed customer expectations consistently. Then tweak it periodically to continually raise the bar and provide unprecedented value.

The wonderful thing about frameworks is that they are flexible, adaptable, and can be easily and quickly changed to accommodate a person, situation, condition, or change in course. Serve well my friends. When you’re ready to build out your company’s framework, visit MyContractorUniversity.com/CBS and get free access to training and best-practice resources to help you get started.

Drew Cameron is America’s Most Sought-After Sales and Marketing Strategy and Success Advisor to Home Services Contractors and president of both Flow Odyssey and Energy Design Systems, LLC; the premier alliance providing industry-leading marketing and sales consultative support as well as sales recruiting, training, coaching, software tools and performance enhancement for Home Services Contactors. Drew is also a Board member, Foundation Board Trustee, and a Contractor University Founder and Faculty member for Electric and Gas industries Association (EGIA); and president of the Cameron Family Foundation. Contact Drew at 610/745-7020; [email protected].