Do you call after a job?

[JLewellen]

Do most of you call your customers after a service to see if everything is okay? I'm worried that will basically be asking people to complain.

Do you do the same for commercial or residential jobs?

Any suggestions on how I word things if I do call back?

 

[hogjowl]

I do. Once you learn how to intimidate them with the tone of your voice, the complaints stop.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Hey Jason! Hows it going?

Yes we mail our a thank you and survey card to all residential and call all commercial.
I think you'll find you won't get anymore re service requests than you would had you not called. The big plus is those commercial accounts appreciate your concern. Where there is an issue, you are proactive with correcting it, saving them the hassle of a call.

I'd suggest trying it.

Take care!

 

[JLewellen]

Hey Jason! Hows it going?

Yes we mail our a thank you and survey card to all residential and call all commercial.
I think you'll find you won't get anymore re service requests than you would had you not called. The big plus is those commercial accounts appreciate your concern. Where there is an issue, you are proactive with correcting it, saving them the hassle of a call.

I'd suggest trying it.

Take care!

Thanks! I'll give it a try. Things are going well. I appreciate the feedback.

 

[steve_64]

I do. Once you learn how to intimidate them with the tone of your voice, the complaints stop.

Hahaha I stopped calling residential jobs because of the wet to long complaints.

Commercial I try and get back in person to follow up.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

It is a very good idea to have a follow up system. Most people will be amazed that you do it, many of them will use the opportunity to praise you or your staff. The few that do tell you things you'd rather not hear are doing you a favor.

Most people do not complain about bad service. Think how many times you have had bad service or poorly prepared food at a restaurant and were asked "Was everything ok?".

Most times you say "sure", and just pay the bill.... but you never go back.

I read of one study that said 26 out of 27 people will not complain about bad service, but will not use the company again.

I think its well worth dealing with a few people who might take advantage of you for the overall benefit that such a good customer service practice can mean to you.

I've been working with carpet cleaning companies as a trainer, consultant, or often just a "sounding board" since the late 70's. The one thing the veterans out there who make a practice of following up on every job told me since those days was this:

"If there is any one thing I do that is my "competitive advantage" over other cleaners, especially the good cleaners, is the fact that I or my (wife/representative) calls after every job to make sure everything came out just like we promised"

I think its advice worth taking.

 

[Old Coastie]

^^^^^
What he said.

 

[Spurlington]

Hahaha I stopped calling residential jobs because of the wet to long complaints.

Commercial I try and get back in person to follow up.

Ill say 11 times out of 10 its the customers fault the carpet takes too long to dry. Every job, Ill place a fan down on the first room I clean even before Im done cleaning it. While Im going through the final details at the end of the job, Ill have the customer feel the carpet I cleaned 1st. Then Ill tell them it will take anywhere from 1hr to 3 days to dry depending on the air flow. I will inform them that it is their responsibility to dry the carpet once I leave. Ill give them helpful hints and hope that they follow through. I prove to them that carpets will dry within an hour (by feeling the dry carpet Ive had a fan on) if they follow through with my instructions. I also let them know it can take several days to dry if they do not follow instructions.

Some people just dont understand airflow, evaporation etc. If it takes days, they automatically think the cleaner has poor suction or used too much water etc.

I cleaned an enclosed porch years and years ago and I told the husband do not open windows (heavy rains) and asked him to use fans to speed up the dry time. Wife call up 5 days later complaining that it took 3 days to dry that they had the windows open to circulate the air etc. Then she wanted to bill us for 3 days use of electricity for having the dehumidifier running. I called the electric company and they said it cost on average $20 a month to run the machine. I left her a message offering to send her a check for $2. She never responded to that.

 

[rjwood]

I do probably about 75%.

 

[Beeks]

99% of the time we call every customer back the following day. If the customer was already a problem for us or the tech brings up something that raises a flag about a stubborn customer then we wont call them back but overall yes we call our customers to follow-up.

We also send an automated email 48 hours after a cleaning thanking them again, ensuring everything is 100% satisfactory and asking for reviews. This system works great for us. Yes we will get 1-2 customers a month implying they want us to come back for a spot the tech told them wouldn't come out, but overall I believe this system far outweighs any cons it may present.

 

[hogjowl]

I went back yesterday on a brand new pet pee stain from a job I did Friday. She even admitted it was new.
I bet I get another great review.
Or, she'll speak to me in public.

 

[Russ T.]

This is an area where we can definitely improve. Running lean and mean (9 mos of the year) causes us to neglect certain things. This is definitely one.

I call back if I feel like it might be necessary. Probably 5% of jobs. I have the experience to HELP me make that decision. I realize I'm not perfect.

Every residential customer gets a SM Thank You card and reminders every 3 months after that. They also receive a "thank you" email with their paid invoice including review links and links to our SpaceBook page.

If I was managing employees, I'd definitely call more back for a while.

'Til I find a really good one! (Employee)

Lol.

 

[smastio]

Just create a www.monkeysurvey.com and have it sent out a day or two after each job. It allows you to continue uninterrupted in your day and still give them the opportunity to share good and bad. You would even create a direct link to your online testimonial sites. This can be done in a very short period of time and if you have something like FittleBug it will fire it out automatically - no opportunity for you to screw it up . For those of you that are tracking Papa John's success with booking - click here.