Yesterday I came home to a voicemail from the garage I use for servicing my truck. They worked on it last week and just wanted to make sure everything was running ok.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. About 10 minutes earlier I was just thinking to myself, “something doesn’t seem to be quite right with this truck”. The voicemail from them prompted me to pick up the phone and call. The mechanic I spoke with was friendly, and quite concerned. He encouraged me to come back in asap so they can get the issue resolved.
How does the garage benefit by taking the time to make a follow up call?
- The responses they receive, or don’t receive point to the quality of their work. (ie; did they get it right or not)
- If something didn’t go quite right, it allows them to address it quickly and get it fixed
- Customers know that the garage cares enough to ask
- Customer care breeds repeat business, referrals, and most importantly, trust
In contrast…
Several weeks ago, I received a call from a window cleaning service that I used last fall. The sales person was scheduling spring appointments and assumed I’d want to get mine scheduled right away.
When I declined the offer, the sales person asked if I’d mind sharing my reasoning. “Sure, it’s simple,” I offered, “Streaks…poor quality work.” Then she asked why I hadn’t called them to come back and redo the work. “Why didn’t you call to follow up with me?” I countered. A bit baffled by the conversation, the sales person finally gave up and ended the call.
What the window service doesn’t know is that the lack of follow up was costly to them. Not only did I decide not to use them again, I’ve told several people and posted about it twice on this blog, here and here.
A simple follow up call could have saved and unhappy customer and avoided word of mouth customer complaints.
So, eight critical reasons to follow up with your customers are:
1. Gauge (measure) your work quality
2. Know what your customers are thinking
3. Nip problems in the bud – address concerns quickly
4. Show you care
5. Build repeat business, referrals, and trust
6. Avoid surprises
7. Reduce lost accounts
8. Avoid word of mouth customer complaints
What would you add to the list?
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