Little Things

I'm sitting in the terminal at Detroit Metro Airport waiting for my 3 hour delayed plane without any other flight options. I decided to check at the Delta service center an hour or so ago and see if there might be a connecting flight that would get me back to Orlando sooner than my 3 hour delayed flight. There were no alternates that would work. The agent was as helpful as she could be for a tired flyer. I even got an exit row seat! Then the little thing caught my eye. On a table between the agents there was a selection of soft drinks, bottled
water and the "Delta" snacks. Those consist of peanuts, pretzels or
some small cookies. It's a small thing but it shows some concern for passengers
who have flight delays or cancelations. I'm not happy with a flight delay but
the bottle of water helped ease the anxiety of the moment. I was up a 5:15 this
morning and arriving at about 1 AM the next day does not make it easy to have
the best of attitudes. As I am sitting and waiting, it brings to mind little things
we can do to relieve some of the anxiety our customers have.

When our Techs go to a customer's home it is like we are invading their castle. The moat
is filled and the bridge is drawn. The defenses are in place. The troops are at
the walls with their bows drawn and the cannons readied. We are not best buds.
But could this change if we came with a peace offering? What if we brought the
newspaper or a packet of flower seeds or some other small thing? Would we be
looked on differently? Would the draw bridge be lowered, the arrows be returned
to the quivers, and the cannons put on standby? Often it's the "little
things".

After the call is completed do we call and thank the customer? Do we send them a token of
our appreciation? It could be a couple of movie tickets, or an air conditioning
cover, or an extra filter. There are hundreds of ideas that could be used. The
cost can be related to the size of the service call or installation. Even something as simple as a couple of garden hose washers or a universal aerator would work. It's the "little
things".

Your employees are also customers. What "little thing" have you done for
them? When they do an exception job do you ward them with a thank you and a
token of your gratitude? A couple of movie tickets or a gift certificate to a
restaurant can do wonders to keep up the moral of your people. Be sure to
remember the office people as well as the field people.

Dan has been in the service industry for nearly 50 years.
He has operated a large plumbing, heating and air conditioning service company
and for the past 11 years has helped small companies in the service business to
grow and prosper. Contact him @ Dan@SayYesToSuccess.com.

Less Calls = More Revenue Part 2

It’s now been over a month since we had the Customer Service Training for technicians with three companies. Some of the training has “rubbed off” but that is only because we have continued the training in house. Training is so important to take an inbound call properly then have the technician follow the steps on the call needed to be successful in completing the call with an outcome that is excellent for the customer, the company and the technician. It’s always necessary to attempt to have a win, win, win situations with each customer. So much easier said than actually accomplished. The company can provide all the tools needed to do this, these would include a well training inside staff, a well equipped truck, a well designed truck inventory, thought out efficient systems within the office, technician technical and customer service training, along with the ancillary materials for the technician. Most companies provide a reasonable effort at each of these. What it really comes down to is the desire and abilities of the technician to go beyond “fixing” the initial called in problem and being a consultant that the customer is looking to for solutions.
I was in Micro Center Computers & Electronics this afternoon and there were dozens upon dozens of customers in the store. Some were there to buy ordinary supplies and others for upgrades to their computers or new computers. The store had an abundance of knowledgeable staff to assist those with simple questions and needs and those with very technical questions and needs. They were consultants. The customers could buy many of the items in the store at other merchants and likely for similar prices, but not the consultant service provided. The store’s cash registers were busy the entire time I was in the store with a line of 15-20 waiting to check out. How do we help our technicians to become consultants and not just fixers or part changers?
I believe it comes down to the things most owners and managers dislike doing. These include role playing, customer service training, coaching, ride-a-longs, and proper hiring. It is a full time job to do these if you have more than a couple of technicians. The results will be amazing if the effort is put into each of these. We work hard to get the telephone to ring and then we don’t maximize the opportunities on each call. The hook lies in the fact that many owners were technicians themselves and have that same built in resistance to the consultant environment. This is the advantage those who come from outside of our industry have when they operate a company within our industry. Are you ready to change?