It’s been said that customers, especially happy ones, are a company’s greatest asset. By building strong customer relationships, companies can drive sales and ensure longevity. But what is the secret to building these relationships? Maintaining customer trust, providing excellent service, and never letting customers fall off the radar.
One of the first things you learn in sales is that it costs a lot less to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one. The trick to building loyalty, for the long-term, is in identifying and meeting customers’ needs. At Case Design we do a great job identifying practical home improvement solutions for our customers, but it’s the extra attention to our customers’ needs that makes for happy customers who come back again and again.
I have worked as a craftsman with Case Handyman and Fred for fourteen years and now work in sales for Fred. Over the years, I have built a client base of repeat customers who count on me to understand their personal and home improvement needs. It is important that I learn about my clients so that I can anticipate, rather than react to their challenges. In other words, I built a strong relationship founded on trust, mutual respect, and communication.
Communication, at every step of the process is key so they know the job will be done on time, on budget, and without damaging their home. I stay in touch by phone, email, text, and site visits and never let the customer feel they are in the dark about the progress of a job.
Whenever I go into a customer’s home I asses the problems we were hired to fix, first, but also see what other conditions might exist that either caused the problem or could potentially impact our work. It’s important that I be easy to talk to, give my customers good eye contact, ask questions about the problems they are having with their home, and assure them I have the skills and experience to do the job right the first time.
I have one special client named Nan who I have worked with since 2006. Over the years I have taken care of her home and as a result we have become friends. She knows that when I come into her home I don’t just ignore a problem I discover, even if it’s not the original reason for my visit. Instead, I asses what I have discovered, let her know how I would recommend solving the problem, and then take care of it for her and thus avoid more costly repairs later. This type of attention to detail has resulted in more than 100 service calls to her home since 2006 and she has always been a loyal and appreciative customer. In fact, she has referred many other clients to us due to her trust in me and Case Design to get the job done right.
To show our thanks in a way that is meaningful, Case Design recently rewarded Nan with dinner, accompanied by me and my wife at 701 Restaurant, one of Washington, DC’s best restaurants. She was thrilled to be recognized for her customer loyalty and appreciated the personal touch of dinner at a great restaurant and continues to be one of our biggest fans. During diner the project that kept coming up as one of her favorites was the attic simple storage and how useful it was to keep thing up there safe and yet out of the way. She has shared this experience with other people and I am sure it will be remembered by others and be regarded as a real life example of genuine relationship building that results in more than just sales. It has been great to get to know such a wonderful person and I would like to say thanks to all the clients that welcome us into their homes and lives every day.
