Get customised!

Last month I talked about that "irresistible model of success" for an installer: performance and morale of employees; satisfaction of profit, and – the subject for this month – customers who work in your interests, and can even be regarded as a part of your sales force.

For any of you who are momentarily feeling queasy at the thought of your customers being so closely interwoven with the fabric of your business, if you are fortunate enough to see this in practice, it can be an irresistible force.

You may just see customers as people who demand low prices, and yet expect professional support, instant response, and who also expect you to give the benefit of your precious experience for nothing. The world was ever thus, and will no doubt continue to be that way until people understand the difference between price and value.

As most of us can't wait until hell freezes over, you can turn this situation to your advantage – after all, I'm sure you all know installers (as I do) who do very good business on the back of charging proper prices for their products and services, and not getting dragged down into the "no profit" zone.

How do they do it? Or as some may think: how do they get away with it? We shouldn't forget that these installers are inevitably the more technically proficient and adventurous ones, who invest more in training courses, equipment, staff, test-beds etc.

Staying at the leading edge

It was interesting to read Chris Lewis's "Wake Up to Change" feature in last month's Security Installer. This sounds like an installer who has geared himself up to fight at the high-level technical end of the market, where there is plenty of demand for his services. Whilst I don't need to know Chris's circumstances, I shall wager that his company's skill set and vision, ensure that he has a limited number of true competitors, all of which helps him to keep the prices and margins at a level which enables him to make his investments, which in turn enables him to keep at the leading edge, which in turn….

Companies who set out their stall in such a way become trusted specialists – and specialists can charge more! But it's not an exclusive market – anyone can enter the race.

Whilst on the subject of the "Wake Up to Change" article, I appreciated reading this installer's view on the importance of the investment in IT as a key service delivery tool, to "improve customer service and bring about a measured return on investment".

Sometimes I wonder if it's just me banging on about this – how nice to hear it from the installer's side of the desk!

One installer traced back 128 orders as a direct result of one job his company had carried out ...

Continuing the theme of customers who work in your interest, I'm now going to come at it from a different angle, by dipping into my fund of all-purpose quotations and pulling out Bill Gates, whose opinion we have to respect due to the virtual total domination (some would call it stranglehold) that Microsoft has in the world of software standards. He is quoted as saying "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning". In your more philosophical moments, you know this to be true. Unhappy customers do work in your interests.

Why does an unhappy customer get that way? I'm sure that if you had known he was going to be "one of those", you wouldn't have accepted the order in the first place.

No, he is probably unhappy because something doesn't work, or because you haven't done something which you said you would (or he assumed you would) under the terms of your agreement. He may be reasonable or irrational in his claims, but one thing’s for sure, you have to nail this one as soon as you can. That may be obvious to you, but it's worth explaining why:

1. The longer he complains, the more of a draw he will be on your resources, and on the morale of your colleagues – and your reputation as a problem-solver

2. You may have to throw some money at the situation to get it sorted, but usually this sort of response does the trick. You may even have to go as far as asking for complaints in writing and you writing back to say what you (or he) needs to do to rectify them, AND having his agreement to the proposed course of action. You then each have to decide how the relationship is to progress from there. Of course, there's a degree of "call my bluff" in there, but sometimes problems go away when you get more official about them!

3. Bad news spreads more quickly than good. Five years ago I wrote an article for Security Installer which told the story about an installer I knew who could trace 128 separate orders coming as a direct or indirect result of ONE job his company had carried out.

Don’t break the chain

This chain could have broken at any point by poor performance on the part of the installer, or by a complainant. Do the jobs right with that little bit of extra TLC, and you could have up to 128 maintenance contracts, upgrades, value-added sales and the rest.

The customer is never wrong – and you can take a little solace from the fact that you can learn many things from unhappy customers, but mostly you learn all about the holes and cracks in your systems, and how you can minimise the risk of similar events.

A well run customer-focused company will typically have 60-70 per cent on maintenance contracts

Customers who will work in your interests, can come from the very simplest of procedures. Write to all customers frequently (say once a quarter) reminding them what you do for them ... encourage them to fill in simple customer satisfaction questionnaires (pre-paid reply of course)… ask them for their suggestions….invite them to open days/evenings….ask them to buy more from you … ask them if they know anyone else who may be interested in what you have to offer (this being a very early lesson in any sales training manual) … make them feel an important part of your operation.

All of this will pay dividends. But how easy this is for you, may largely depend on whether or not you have an IT system (yes, here we go again) that enables you to choose groups of customers selectively for mailing/e-mailing purposes. Not all of them do, so make sure you check this facility off when buying.

One selection you should easily be able to make from your customer database is "those with maintenance contracts" (to ensure you bill everyone when you should and send them a brochure/questionnaire in the same envelope ) and ”those without maintenance contracts” (so that you can try to claw back the defaulters for mutual good).

Try asking the defaulters to pay quarterly by Standing Order/Direct Debit, if they can't afford or don't want to pay in one lump sum. Rather have the money coming in four lumps than not at all. If you believe in statistics, my experience tells me that a well-run, customer-focused installation company will typically have 60-70 per cent of customers with maintenance contracts. How do you measure up to that, and what plans will you put in place to get your numbers up?

Any IT system worth its salt should pay for itself over and over again if you can utilise it for the types of things I have just mentioned. So don't think of saying you can't afford it - you probably can't afford NOT to have it. Customers will work in your interest if they feel that it's worth their while to do so, and most certainly not because they want freebies or price reductions.

Use the ‘touching base’ principal

You may of course choose to reward them for their efforts with a well-timed bunch of flowers for the lady and a bottle of whisky for the gentleman (making sure that you get those the right way round). How often do you actively contact customers on the "touching base" principle?

You will be pleasantly surprised what can drop out of being polite, thoughtful and proactive. It's not like cold-calling (they are customers after all, and therefore you have a relationship with them already.) If you are mounting telephone campaigns, please don't forget to ensure that the staff/agency nominated to call are knowledgeable enough, friendly, and organised, as they will be taking down notes which will need actioning promptly, otherwise you are slipping back to square one again.

You must have the overall system in place to support your direct marketing activity - whether these be demands placed upon your admin, engineering, sales, or management.

It's a classic chance to do it right do it wrong, so plan the exercise, and when you've done it once, you have the template for doing it over and over again. In this country we have an unenviable reputation for poor customer service. Yes, it's unforgivable, and make sure that you're not a part of the problem.