Customer Service & Relationships

I got on Blogger today to start a new blog about my life with MS (Multiple Sclerosis)...but what did I realize while I was here? That I have not posted to my pool blog for a very long time. Just lazy I guess. So my topic for today is relationships when it comes to customer service. As I do once in a while to help my husband (I have limited mobility but it helps the business if I meet customers personally) I went out to meet a new customer who had found us on line. As with most pool service customers we meet, there always tends to be a story of how unreliable their previous service provider had been and it's almost always in one area first...communication. Sometimes I think people just don't know how to talk to each other anymore. When a customer signs up with Texas Oasis Pools there is a process, there always has to be a process. #1 Get to know the customers needs and what the last service wasn't doing for them and show how and why we can do better. #2 Get all the facts, we list the equipment, take pictures of the pool and equipment so that when a customer calls after hours we can pull up the pictures and get on the same page. #3 Talk about what we expect from a customer (usually just filling the pool, making sure we have access to the yard, picking up pool toys, and communicating efficiently with us)and telling them what they should expect from us. Such as the list of details we perform each week, our qualifications like licensing, insurance etc. How and when we will communicate, scheduling issues as in when it would be appropriate to miss a visit, holiday schedules and vacation schedules, how we ask for payment, forms of payments accepted and dates invoices should be paid, hourly repair rates, and filter cleaning schedules. Coming to an agreement about expectations up front ensures a quality relationship going forward. I can honestly tell customers that when they see our on line reviews those are real customers that go out of their way to talk about us, we would never pay a service to put up reviews. But I also will honestly say that relationships go two ways and both parties have to be helpful. For instance if a customer refuses to pay for a pump repair and we can't keep the pool clean due to non-circulating pump then what can we do other than letting that customer go? Then a bad review pops up and all we can do is reply that this customer is unwilling to keep the pool in working order and the bottom line is we want quality long term customers and they want us and that equals a long term relationship...in a business sense. Relationships matter, people want to be heard. They just want to know that you have set a date to do the thing they need done and then they need to see you follow through on the schedule. Details and follow through can be hard to keep up with but keeping good notes and keeping track of peoples needs...it's important. Our industry can be "flighty, sketchy"..I've heard it all "I think the guy smoked pot in my backyard" "my pool guy showed up barefoot" "he was a drunk" Then there's the guy that you see at the supplier saying "I'll go ask my customer for more money and be back to buy that part" Never pay up front for a repair, maybe a deposit especially for a large custom job like a custom made pool cover. But final payment should always be after completion of a job well done. Value relationships.