Clients Have Long Memories
A colleague of mine told me that he started to laugh as he began to read my last blog post. He showed it to his wife, who was also amazed because my experience so closely mirrored some they have had recently. He told me that all of the following has happened to them in the last few weeks:
- They called a landscape contractor, who come out to look at their place, promised a quote, and then disappeared without a trace.
- Another landscape contractor never even came out for a quote after his office said he would.
- A different service person left them waiting for 10 days for a follow-up after being hired.
- They called an electrician twice to set up an estimate for work, and the company didn’t even get back to them until the third call, three days later. Despite being past customers!
- A general contractor that they used last year told them in April that he was already booked for outdoor work for the entire spring, summer, and fall.
- They called a house painting company that told them there was one slot left for the entire season. They said they got that slot only because they were lucky — they called at the right time and the company was already doing two houses on their street.
So what’s going on here? Is service just a lost art? Do people and companies simply no longer care any more about treating customers well?
My colleague’s theory was that this is all fallout from the pandemic. A lot of people have been fortunate enough to keep their jobs but now they are working from home. Many have been also able to keep all or most of their paychecks but have had far fewer places to spend it. Combine being at home a lot with extra cash that would normally go to items like travel, eating out, and entertainment venues, and you get a lot of people nesting — working on their homes. The result of that is huge demand for anything involving residential real estate.
Median house prices have been increasing in many places. I’ve already written about appliance shortages, and it makes sense that demand would outstrip supply when it comes to skilled trades and service people as well.
So, my colleague’s theory was not that service people don’t care about service anymore but rather that they are super busy. They don’t mean to blow us off, they are just going all out.
I would go a step beyond that, though — it’s not just that they are busy but that they are not hungry. A contractor who is idle and needs work is simply going to be much more likely to return your phone call promptly than one who is booking into 2022.
Here’s the thing, though — economic cycles never last very long. It may be a “seller’s market” in household goods and services right now, but that will eventually change, and many of these companies will find themselves staring down the barrel of a “buyer’s market” where they are competing for business again and people who’ve had bad experiences won’t call back.
That’s a lesson we can all use a reminder on. Even if we are fully booked, there’s never an excuse to take a client or prospect for granted. You may not have time to provide a service that a customer asks for, but it’s unlikely that you’re too busy to pick up the phone and say “I’m really sorry, I can’t fit you into my schedule, but I appreciate you considering me for the work.”
Clients remember when they get treated like that. They also remember when companies don’t return calls or no-show on appointments. Oh, and let’s not forget — they share their experiences with others.
The bottom line is that if you can’t be there for your clients when they need you, even just to communicate, don’t be surprised if they aren’t there for you when you need them. Clients will remember, so make sure they walk away from every interaction with a positive impression.
Closer to home in our industry, our survey data shows sales cycles are shortening, most companies are on plan, and more are increasing outbounding activity. And sales leaders are more concerned than in prior surveys about losing great talent. With this pressure to perform, we have to keep our service hats on. And it starts with picking up the phone, returning calls, and offering solutions.