Once we established with the customer that we are willing and able to help them and earn their trust through the words, tone and friendliness of our greeting, then we can begin to listen to them to determine why they called. To truly listen, you must perform “active” listening when interacting with the customer…
Why do customers call us? What do they want? Customers call us for one reason, they want our help! They need service, they are uncomfortable, they feel unsafe, they have a question, they need a part (filter, water panel, etc.), they need HELP! Are we helping our customers or are we making it hard for them to get the assistance they need to make their family safe and comfortable at home?
Your customer wants to know that they are getting a fair price and priority service. They want to know we will let them know all the things they need to know when they need to know them. They want happy, eager, willing individuals who are ready to meet their needs. They expect us to be consistent, to be there when they need us, to always use quality products and perform quality service with a professional image. Deliver when we promised and know what we are doing. Understand their needs and give them our uncompromised commitment to be available for them, no matter what. Keep in mind, they keep us in business, pay the bills and have the power, just as a board of directors does to elect to use our services, to re-order from us or to tell a friend about our services.
So, how do we exceed customers’ expectations? Be friendly and helpful. When we perform our job with empathy and show them how much we truly care, the customer will help us help them.
Booking Calls
When a customer calls, you must
determine their needs quickly and be prepared to book the call properly in your
computer system while they are on the line. To determine the customer’s needs,
you need to begin by “being” who the customer needs you to be. Meaning, having
the attitude of helpfulness and a true desire to make a difference in the
customer’s life. They called us… not one of our competitors. They have chosen
to give us the opportunity to earn their business and we had better be up to
the challenge.
First: our greeting. What does
it say to the customer? Are we saying “how may I help you?” A receptionist asks
this in order to know who to transfer the call to. Try this: “It’s a great day
at XYZ Heating and Air Conditioning, my name is Mike, I can help you.” Now you
are telling the customer that you can take care of their every need and will
only transfer the call when you have exhausted every avenue for you personally
to take care of their needs.
Once we established with the customer that we are willing and able to help them and earn their trust through the words, tone and friendliness of our greeting, then we can begin to listen to them to determine why they called. To truly listen, you must perform “active” listening when interacting with the customer. Active listening means to be quiet and focus totally on the caller. When listening, you will not interrupt the customer, assume they know what is wrong, or make judgements about the customer or their situation. When we act with empathy and truly listen, we then will have all we need to properly book a call that reflects the need of the customer.
Generating Leads
Customer Service Representatives generating leads? “That’s not my job!” Oh, yes it is! When you ask the right questions and determine that the customer has a 20 year old air conditioner and a furnace that is at least that old, it is your job to help the customer understand that keeping that old dinosaur will cost them more than they should be paying in energy and repairs. When armed with the right information, you will be able to help customers in many ways by educating them about their comfort system. Like you, your customer makes decisions to take care of their family based on what they know. Sometimes, they have a solution in mind, like get the furnace fixed, until they are educated about the benefits to a different solution, possibly replacement. It is up to you and your center team to get you, the CSR, the information you need on old equipment and energy costs and role-play using the proper words to be able to convey this valuable information to the customer.
Generating Maintenance Agreements
When we receive a call from a non-agreement customer, we need to educate them about the benefits of the agreement. The hardest part is to bring up the subject in what that the customer says, “yes. I want to hear more.” Well, you’ve been waiting for a “Silver Bullet.” Here it is: simple ask, “Do you pay full price or do you qualify for a discount?” Think about it. Is your customer more interested in getting their furnace tuned up or saving money? We are a nation obsessed with discounts. We will drive across town to save a buck-fifty on a simple household item spending $5.00 on gas in the process. Your customers want discounts. Try referring to your maintenance agreement as your “Discount Program.” You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.
You want to really generate maintenance agreements? Have your technicians ask the same question when presenting the price of the repair. It works, guaranteed.
A customer service representative’s job description should read: To be of service to customers. Your entire focus must be the customer and their needs. Decisions on how to take care of the customer must, of course, include long-term profitability for the company as determining factors in the process but when “the customer comes first” is our motto, the customer will know that we care.
AUTHORS CREDIT & PHOTOGRAPH
Mike Treas
HVAC Business Coach specialising in
residential replacement sales, sales management, customer service and
maintenance agreements,
United States and Canada
