The Customer Focus Series – Part 6

Customer Satisfaction Scripted?!

You wanna make people happy? Write the script!

The whole customer experience at Nolan Painting is scripted from the very first call. We’ve planned what to say when we answer the phone. We’ve also planned out the interaction they will have with our estimator or salesperson. Finally, we’ve planned the experience we will give them in their own home.

From time to time we change the script, but everybody follows the script.

A Customer Satisfaction System

Our salespeople are trained to ask many questions. They learn as much about the customer and their project as possible. For example, if they’ve hired other contractors in the past, we want to know about that experience. When we look at their house, we want to understand their expectations regarding the finished product. Once again, we want to see if they’re nice and friendly people like us.

Once all this information is gathered, we discuss the price and budget. Often we give them the price on the spot. We’ll promptly send a written proposal and quickly follow up.

I know that contractors suffer from writing up formal proposals. (My dad was an attorney and always stressed the importance of a good contract!) This stage can be stressful for the customer, too. People are afraid they’ll have to wait and even wonder if the contractor will ever get back to them with a price.

Put it in black and white—always.

A good proposal or contract is critical from a legal and professional point of view. It requires details in writing surrounding the scope, procedure, and payment terms.

Help them follow the script.

We also ‘help’ our customers follow our script. We tell them what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it. Then, we actually carry through on what we said. We treat everyone the same. Our company has no first, second, or third class—one class only—and we try to always make it first class!

Every business has room for a script. It helps keep your service uniform. People know what to expect and they like that. Help them expect and experience good things.

See you next week. Build muscle.