This is the final installment of Charlie Greer’s service call series. FIND THE OTHER 11 AT: contractingbusiness.com/author/charlie-greer.
One of the most frustrating things that can happen to a service technician is to spend hours on a call, bending over backwards for someone, delivering the ultimate service experience, and getting a lot of gratitude from the customer, only to have the in-law, the spouse, their adult children, or some know-it-all neighbor call the office with a bunch of questions and complaints about your service or price, after-the-fact.
My goal at this point is to make absolutely certain my customers know everything I did, why I did it, how much better things will be now that I’ve done it, why they made the right decision by having me do it, and what a good deal I gave them.
I think what sometimes happens is, the husband comes home or their nosy father-in-law starts yelling about her spending so much money, and demands to know what the evil service technician did for all that money. In the interest of self-preservation, the housewife panics and throws the tech under the bus by saying, “I don’t know what he did! He came in and did all this work and handed me this big bill and I didn’t know what to do!”
I had very few people call the office after the fact with questions or complaints. I attribute a lot of that to a few simple steps I took to end the call.
Final Walk-through
When I’d head inside to collect, the customer was usually ready with the credit card or check. I wouldn’t be so anxious to collect just yet. I’d walk the customer through the job. This should take no more than five minutes.I’d point out anything extra I did. They usually commented on how clean I left things.
My goal at this point is to make absolutely certain my customers know everything I did, why I did it, how much better things will be now that I’ve done it, why they made the right decision by having me do it, and what a good deal I gave them. This provides your customers with the “sales training” they’re going to need when their “better half” gets home and asks why they spent all that money.
Additional Guidelines
Before heading inside, call dispatch and tell them you’re about ready for another call. This keeps the wait time between calls to a minimum and will help you get home earlier at the end of the work day.
Go over the paperwork so they understand every little thing that is on their invoice.
Ask them if they have any questions. Then, say, “All that’s required at this point is your signature right there and your payment, and I’ll be on my way.”
When you give them their paperwork, make sure they know what every single piece of paper is for.
Your final words: “Listen, you’re a family member now. That means if you ever need anything, anything at all, you call me, and I’ll come out and take care of it personally myself.” Try to wrap-up in 10 minutes max.
Don’t spend time socializing. Get into your truck and leave. Don’t sit in front of the house waiting on dispatch. In fact, don’t even sit in their neighborhood waiting on dispatch. Half the time, as soon as you leave, they leave, too. It just looks funny to see you pulled over on the side of the road just sitting there.
Quick Review of this Series:
1. Speak slowly and clearly.
2. Establish the sense of urgency in your own mind before presenting to the customer.
3. Bring the products inside with you and place them in the customer’s hands.
4. Practice your salesmanship in the truck between calls.
5. Do positive affirmations.
6. Close early and often.
7. See how little you can say and still make the sale.
8. Ask a lot of questions.
9. Use “trial closes.”
10. Listen well, and be an “active listener.”
11. Make excellent eye contact.
12. Project a “Positive Level of Expectation.”
13. Relate to everyone with the same confidence and authority you would if you were giving advice to a close personal friend or family member.
14. Speak to everyone as if they have full buying authority.
15. Do a complete inspection.
16. Do some disassembly/set-up before quoting prices.
17. Draw up a “Paper Towel Close” prior to making recommendations.
18. Always quote more than the bare minimum.
19. Do a “nibble” and a “fast nibble” on every call.
20. Keep a personal sales log.
21. Set a daily minimum sales goal and commit to running calls until you hit it.