Beat the competition by exceeding expectations
Rhonda Ridge of Ab Initio looks at the need for installation businesses to up the ante with their customer service and explains how the right software can help them to do this effectively.
At the time of writing, Customer Service Week is shining a light on the challenges and successes related to customer care. Expectations in this area have never been higher and thanks to some of the large retail companies now offering fantastic digital customer service, expectations are creeping higher still.
This is great news for us all as consumers, but it does mean that the bar has been set high for other retail businesses, including installation companies. One of the key factors in delivering excellent service in today’s market is finding a good balance between digital and personal interaction.
It can sometimes feel like customer requirements are on a pendulum swinging back and forth. One minute we are being told digital is the way to go, and the next minute we hear that consumers want a more personal touch. In reality, there will always be different customers who want different things, so offering a choice of ways to get in touch and interact is helpful.
While younger generations tend to be more comfortable online, that’s not to say they don’t ever want to talk to someone on the phone. Consumers of all ages find it useful to speak to someone directly about certain matters or issues they need resolved.
Cost effective service
Implementing the right software in the form of an installer management system is the perfect solution for allowing installation businesses to automate the more day-to-day interactions with homeowners, which in turn frees up customer service resources to help customers with more specific requirements.
It’s a cost-effective solution too because a good CRM will save time and money by eliminating unnecessary processes across the business.
The AdminBase installer management system eliminates wasteful admin processes across the entire business. In turn its functionality supports each department to enable them to deliver exceptional service.
At the customer-facing end, AdminBase users can utilise the customer portal feature to take the pressure off of their customer service teams. The award-winning portal allows homeowners to log into their account 24/7 and keep track of progress on their order and installation. They can confirm appointments, check on the progress of their survey and installation, and as importantly, report any snagging issues after the project has been completed.
To complement the customer portal, AdminBase also offers a text messaging service that allows installers to send SMS messages directly from the system. This means the message is logged on the customer’s record so that anyone in the business can see the interaction, rather than messages only being available on one person’s device.
The system also offers the facility for automatic texts to be sent to remind customers about upcoming appointments.
On-site support
When it’s time for installers to start work on site, subscribers can use the My AdminBase Diary feature to pass relevant appointment details from AdminBase to on-site personnel, and vice versa. Members of the team can attach PDFs, pictures, videos, voice recordings, spreadsheets and any other useful information to each lead or record so that everyone with access to the system can see the very latest information on any job at any time.
Installers that use this function, don’t know how they managed without it. Similarly, the AdminBase Fitting app allows installation teams to take photos, conduct a customer questionnaire, and get the project signed off with an electronic signature within the app, reducing the need to physically collect papers from the office and pass documents back and forth.
Customer service is under increasing scrutiny and in a more challenging market it’s even more important to stand out from the competition by excelling in this field. Using a system like AdminBase is not only fantastic for improving efficiencies and profitability within the organisation, it is also a great sales tool because installation businesses can demonstrate to homeowners up front how they will deliver exceptional service throughout the entire customer journey.