Keeping your customers satisfied.
If you are a company who provides a service for your customers and want to make sure they stay with you for a long time then here are a few handy hints to keep the relationship strong.
Companies that do well are the ones that after having spent the money on getting customers, keep them for years and years.
- Keep in touch.
If you have told your customer you will email them every month and visit as well to see if there are any problems then make sure you do so.
Even if the customer never responds to your email or when you visit they have nothing to say it shows you care and still taking an interest in them.
This will also stop any small problems festering and becoming bigger problems until the slightest problem will make the customer very unhappy and may lead to them cancelling.
This is a massive one. The aim is for a customer to tell you before a problem annoys them.
Making the customer feel that you really want to know, is a big part of enabling this to happen.
Repeat to the customer that you want to know about issues and problems, thank them when they do and never make them feel like you are annoyed or hassled by whatever news they have given you.
- Always have a point of contact
Make sure you know the right person to deal with in the company, it is pointless to just speak to anyone in the company who may not pass your message onto the correct person. Make sure you have their email address, direct number or extension number so you can speak or email directly about any issues.
Also send an email confirming any discussions you may have so if in the future your customer cannot blame you for any mistakes they may have made themselves. People often blame the person at the bottom of the chain and that is normally the cleaning company.
- Understand the client’s requirements.
Make sure you understand exactly what your customer requires, make sure the job spec is checked and sent to the client to confirm and finally with this information go and meet the cleaner.
- Make sure the service you provide is inspected
As we are a commercial cleaning company we have to arrange to check the cleaners while they work, you may have to visit out of hours when your customers have all gone home to check the cleaner’s progress. It is also a good idea to do a spot check occasionally without telling the cleaner, visiting near the end of the clean is always preferred so you can see what the cleaner has done, sadly cleaners who have been at a company for a long time can get complacent and start to cut corners so best to check and stop this before it gets out of hand.
Remember a problem is only resolved once the customer confirms it is, not when you or the cleaner think that it has been resolved.
- Make sure all invoices are detailed
All invoices should be as detailed as possible, if you have had to purchase anything for the customer make is it is clearly visible on the invoice, if the customer thinks you are hiding something on the invoice then they will think what else you are hiding.
It also saves time with any client queries about the invoice and unclear invoices can also be used as an excuse by clients for not paying.
- Always try to develop a rapport
Try to be as helpful and friendly to your customers, Christmas cards and anything else you can think of are always good things to do, remember your customers are paying your wages.
People buy from people they like. This is the big one and is the primary reason people buy from anyone.
- Be honest and build trust
We all make mistakes and by showing where you have made them and making it clear that you will resolve them will always build trust.
Nobody is perfect and by admitting the truth and showing that you are honest when you get things wrong and care to sort it out is always the best solution.
This is what really matters and creates a great bond which prevents them from wanting to change cleaning companies.
Remember a happy customer is a staying and paying customer. They will also recommend you to friends and other companies and write positive reviews online. All this can lead to more customers which of course leads to more income for your business.
Paul Turner