KickStart: Pre-orient a confused new residential client on what will you’ll be doing in their home. (#2 in an “intermittent series”- Click HERE for #1.)
“Bewitched, bothered and BEWILDERED?” Folks, it’s not just Ella way back in 1956 that was ““Bewitched, bothered and BEWILDERED”! As a new homeowner nervously awaits your company to service their home they too are “bewildered”! (And very, very CONFUSED!) Think about it…
KickStart: Asking permission creates a trusting relationship with your residential clients.
“There is no substitute for hard work.” Thomas A. Edison
Do you love to work? If so, CONGRATULATIONS! And yet, over many years of working with homeowners, I’ve learned this “git ‘er done” attitude can be a trap! Here’s why…
You (or your employees) show up at a home, eager to kick butt and “git ‘er done”! But wait! Never forget you must first recognize and work with the pesky emotions of a nervous residential customer!🙄
KickStart: “A Moment of Truth is any point when your customer (or a prospect) comes into contact with your company AND subliminally forms an opinion.” Steve Toburen
I recently depressed everyone warning about the hidden “customer minefields” just waiting to explode (without warning😰) on every residential job. Doubt me?
Think how often you’ve left a home feeling great about the fantastic job you did. (And the nice wad of cash in your pocket too!)👍
Then that evening you’re shocked to get a complaining phone call, read your customer’s unhappy text or even worse- get bushwhacked with a nasty “surprise” online review!😲
KickStart: “… it’s not what you say or what you do, but how you make people feel that matters the most.” Tony Hsieh, Zappos founder
“Feelings, Steve? Seriously?” As a rugged, profits-obsessed residential services business owner you likely focus ONLY on your bottom line! (I did too!) After all, who had time for a squishy, hard-to-manage word like, “feelings”?
I mean, everyone knows “emotions are for sissies”?💪 Right? WRONG! For far too many agonizing years I struggled before FINALLY learning that…
In a residential service business success is based on building “trusting relationships” (TR’s)!
In fact, Mr. Logical here even reduced this concept into an “Emotional Equation”: Success= (ETR + HTR) x SE= CMB. Say what, Steve?😲
KickStart: ‘Clearly defined expectations’ are the basis for all successful relationships.(Including with your homeowner clients.)
This KickStart quote above is a one-size-fits-all principle to guide your business and just maybe… your life!💖 (After all, you have a myriad of ‘ongoing relationships’.) But today, let’s focus on molding your business relationship with each residential customer…
I know. You’re thinking, “Steve, I’m not marrying my homeowner clients! I don’t care about a ‘relationship’. Honestly? All I want is to a) do the job, b) get paid and c) get on to the next job!”
I get it but SORRY! It just doesn’t work that way!👎 To be truly successful in any Home Services business you MUST focus on each homeowner’s relationship with you AND your workers! Here’s why:
KickSTART: Program a brief but enthusiastic welcome reception for a new service employee when they arrive for their first day of work.
CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve recruited, verified, interviewed and hired a Very Best Person.👍 (Hopefully you’ve also performed a ‘Working Interview’ to make sure ‘Charlie’ won’t hate doing the work you’re offering!)
Even better, immediately after hiring Charlie you gave him a tour of your company. You also warmly introduced Charlie to your office staff.
Your goal? To foster an immediate sense of belonging and commitment to help Charlie fight the inevitable ‘New Hire Remorse’! (Too often my ‘New Hire’ would bail on me even before his or her first day on the job!)😲
KickStart: Tie your new employee to your company emotionally when you ‘stage manage their hiring’.
CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve hired a great new employee! Charlie is pumped about his new career, you’re over-the-moon excited and you can’t wait till Charlie starts on Monday morning! But then…
On Friday afternoon you get the dreaded text: “Steve, I appreciate the opportunity. But I’ve decided to go a different way in my career. Best wishes and I’m very sorry to do this to you. Charlie”
AAAARGH! What happened? Who knows?🤷♂️ Charlie got a better offer, his previous job called him back to work and/or his wife made fun of his new job working for your company! (You and I both know our Home Services industry is wonderful. But come on… we don’t have the greatest public image!)😲
KickStart: Develop a STABLE company that homeowners AND your employees trust.
I can hear it now. “What’s with this ‘Triple-S’ stuff? Has Steve gone off his meds again?”🙄 Nope- Steve is just trying to save you from yourself! But don’t fret…
You’re not alone! Most Home Service business owners (including me) really are their own worst enemy!😲 However, after a lot of agony I finally developed a Home Services business that provided a…
1) Safe, 2) Sane, and 3) Stable work environment for employees. Let’s review the first two…