Learning from a not-so-good customer survey

We send out a customer survey at the end of each and every job that we do. The information that we receive is invaluable in helping gauge our level of customer service. I just received a survey back from a customer on a small wood railing repair job. Now we don’t normally do this type of work but it was a friend of a friend and the job seemed easy enough. Nothing that we couldn’t handle. Unfortunately, that’s the wrong thinking in this situation!

First, I definitely mis-estimated the job. We went way over budgeted hours which actually caused us to pay to have to do this job. This is not something that happens often here (thank goodness!) but it does occasionally. I’d be a liar if I said that it didn’t. Luckily, it is normally a very small job such as this (this one was under $1,000). And it shows me that I really have to watch my numbers and my estimates. And the type of jobs that I take on!

When we finally finished the job, we sent out our normal thank you letter along with a customer survey. Now you would think that we would have done a bang up job for this customer and he was ecstatic. Far from the truth as I found out when he returned the survey!

You see, he liked the salesperson (me) and our office staff but was not happy with the production on this job. This perplexed me since our best carpenter and best painter worked on this job! Of course, I was still suffering from the sting of the job cost report which showed a negative profit, so my first instinct was to blame production. The customer had some very specific issues and listed them in the survey.

Luckily, the customer also called me the day he mailed the survey to me. I say luckily because I would rather someone tell me they have an issue and allow me to fix it then to not tell me and let it eat away at them. Then they have a tendency to tell their friends what a horrible job we did. I don’t know about you but I don’t like or need negative pr from my customers. I want happy customers who love us.

Anyway, that prepared me for the negative survey but it also gave me the opportunity to sit back and think about the job and what could have gone wrong. I already knew that I had under-estimated the hours required for the job. What else could have gone wrong? I wondered if this was an existing condition that the client found, something that we did not touch in our work.

I sent our carpenter out to check on the job and meet with the customer. Sure enough, the major item in question was something that was done by the original builder of the home and was not in the scope of our work. The minor item in question, some touch-up painting, was definitely something we should have taken care of at the time. We quickly cleared up the confusion and scheduled the touch-up painting with the customer.

And do you know what the customer said at the end of the meeting? He said, “I’m sure glad that this wasn’t something you did. You have restored my faith in your company!”

Now I have a happy customer, albeit at the expense of my job numbers. But as I see it my job numbers looked bad right from the start, I just didn’t know it yet.

Some things I learned and re-learned from this job:

• Check my estimated labor hours carefully. And if I’m not sure, add more.
• Respond quickly to an unhappy customer.
• The customer isn’t always right but I don’t have to tell him that up front!
• When the customer isn’t right, I have to be diplomatic in telling him so.
• Production isn’t always to blame.
• Instruct production to search for existing conditions on a job.
• Instruct production to point out existing conditions to clients right away.
• Give the client the opportunity to add to the scope of the work, if they so choose. Always in writing with an Additional Work Authorization, of course.
• Schedule any necessary follow-up work immediately.
• Follow-up with the customer to make sure they are happy.
• Even if you don’t make your numbers on the job, you must still provide excellent customer service. It is not the customer’s fault that you messed up!

Book Review: Thought Vibration

Written in 1906, Thought Vibration by William Walker Atkinson, is as current and relevant today as it was a century ago. Atkinson, a somewhat forgotten New Thought pioneer, was also an attorney, merchant, publisher, editor and author of more than 100 books, many under pseudonyms.

Without being preachy, Atkinson explores the ideas of increasing willpower, mastering the real self, living fully, ridding the mind of negative thought, training habits, harnessing emotions, and developing new brain power. His older writing style is still lively and surprisingly refreshing 100 years later.

I love Atkinson’s “in your face” attitude about will power. (If you don’t have any, you’re mentally lazy!) And his thoughts on what he calls “asserting the life-force” or really living and experiencing each moment of every day, call us to stop doing things half-hearted. Take an interest, man!

Atkinson spends a lot of time discussing fear and how it affects our attitudes and, eventually, our ability to succeed. Fear, he says, is an expectancy of the feared thing. To banish fear, start to do some of the things you could do if you were not afraid to try. Assert courage and, eventually, the fear will recede.

Atkinson leaves us with some thoughts on our views of successful people. We imagine successful people to be superior. And if we ever get the chance to meet someone we deem as superior, many times we are disappointed to find that they are the same as ourselves! The difference, Atkinson asserts, is the successful person’s belief in themselves and their ability to concentrate. Resist the urge to undervalue ourselves and overvalue others.

Amazing how the world around us is so different yet the human element remains the same!

It's All In Your Head

I was recently in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for an event with my daughter. Chapel Hill is a beautiful college town with great restaurants and lots of things to do.

Annette and I were watching the local morning newscast when the traffic report came on. The newscaster noted in a voice filled with tones of dread that traffic was moving slow today. There were the usual backups and just prepare yourself.

Then she cut to a live shot of the worst back-up. The screen showed cars moving at steady moderate speeds. Annette and I turned to each other and burst out laughing!

You see, we live in a metropolitan area with some of the worst traffic in the country. And this? This was a cakewalk!

But then I started thinking. This is their reality. To residents of Chapel Hill, yes this is rush-hour traffic.

One person’s reality may not be another person’s. But whose reality is the real reality?

It’s safe to say that the true reality is the one that exists in our own head. But who is to say that we can’t change that.

Don’t let your reality be the doom and gloom that the media casts on the remodeling industry. There are people out there who want to buy remodeling. Make your reality the one that finds them!

What Kind of Remodeling Company Do You Have?

The other night, John and I watched 2 different shows on The Learning Channel. The first was called Property Ladder and centered around a couple (not in the industry) buying a home to fix up and flip. The second was Flip This House which involved professional house flippers – those who buy a house for a low price, fix it up and then sell it for a profit. Both of the shows provide a professional designer to help with the remodel and planning. Have you seen these shows? These are “professionals” who do this for a living. Well, some are professionals. And some, shall we say, think they are professionals. You see, they fall into that trap—it’s so easy. Anyone can do it. It’s just fixing up a house. And then we put it on the market and the buyers run to buy it! How could we go wrong.

After watching the 3 episodes, it struck me that this was a perfect analogy for our remodeling businesses. Let me explain.

You see, in the first episode a newly married (although older couple) decided to buy a home, fix it up and sell it. You see, people in their area were doing it and making money. How hard could it be? Did I mention that neither one had owned a home before? Did I mention that neither one was in the home improvement business? Did I mention that neither one was handy? But how hard could it be? Oh, and they are environmentally conscious and wanted to do a “green” remodel so they could show everyone that it could be done.

They bought an abandoned home. He was a mortgage broker so he got a “good deal”. They set their financial budget (although right from the start John and I looked at each other and said “no way!”) and their time budget. Once the time budget is set, they have to stick to it, no matter what.

The show followed the couple through the trials and tribulations of remodeling the home. They hired his brother, who was currently out of work as a carpenter, and his 17 year old son to help. After just 2 days, the son refused to come back! The out-of-work carpenter brother made mistake after mistake. For example, he measured all of the windows and doors wrong so that modifications had to be made to every unit before installation. He did not properly prepare the wall covering so that several walls had to be stripped and re-done. What a mess! And what a waste of time and money. Did I mention that the brother continued to be paid his daily rate? The couple moaned and groaned but, in the end, never fired the brother. He was called back to work two weeks before the project finished and he left them high and dry! Does any of this sound familiar to you?

The second show, Flip This House, was about a gentlemen who was an electrical inspector for the City of Los Angeles. He had flipped houses in the past. He had a team of contractors and a real estate agent. He had a plan, a budget, and knew what he was doing. He bought a house that had been in the process of being flipped but the previous owner ran out of money part way into the remodel. The house was left with gaping holes on the outside to fix a soggy foundation and lots of interior work.

The electrical inspector made it clear that this was something he enjoyed doing. It was fun. He liked the idea of creating a beautiful home out of nothing. And he went to the effort to make sure that the home was beautiful. He put in materials that he liked and that he would have in his own home. The remodel progressed on schedule with a few minor challenges.

The third show, another Flip This House episode, followed another gentleman who flipped houses for a living. He brought his team with him – a lead carpenter and a real estate agent. They went through each room creating a plan and a budget. The process was very methodical. Some might say boring. But one could tell that he had done this before.

The remodel went along smoothly until the professional flipper overrode the designer’s choice of kitchen cabinetry. The designer was upset because she saw the vision for the home. The flipper said that he knew his market (after all he had done this many times before) and he knew what his market would want in a kitchen and he chose what they would want. In the end, the kitchen looked great although not quite as showy as it would have been if the first choice of cabinets had been used. But it was also clear who was in charge of this project and who made the final decisions.

OK, now for the reveal. How did they fare? After all, the idea here is to make money. Right? And isn’t that the idea in our own businesses?

The first couple, the ones who thought it would be easy, who had no experience, who hired the brother who made mistakes, and who wanted to create a green remodel on a Home Depot budget, actually made a profit. Well, on paper they did. A little more about that later.
The electrical inspector finished the house slightly over budget but because the remodel was fairly high end, the house sat on the market for more than a year before it sold. The result was that he broke even on his project. He was satisfied because he enjoyed the process of the flip.
The professional flipper came in under budget and finished his remodel exactly on time. There were no issues because the flipper made decisions based on his extensive knowledge of remodeling a home and the market he was in. His house, which was quite lovely, sold almost immediately and he walked away with a handsome profit, just like he anticipated. One of the selling points of the home was the kitchen!

Do you see yourself and your remodeling company in any of this? The inexperienced couple bumbling through a remodel and making money despite themselves. The electrical inspector who was in it for fun and made no money? Or the professional who made the decisions based on his experience and knew his market and came out with a nice profit in the end?

Oh, and about that first couple. The show said that they came in over budget and, even though the house stood on the market for so long, made a profit. But, looking at the remodel and the progress, it seemed a little far fetched. The kitchen and two bathrooms were finished in the last week. And the house was staged for the open house. Where did the money come from to finish the project so quickly (without a contractor) and to buy all of the furniture that was in the house for the open house? I’m thinking that it wasn’t accounted for in the budget. So perhaps the first couple thought they made money but actually didn’t.

And do we all do that sometimes, too?

Creating Bad Will

In August of 2006, Starbucks sent out a promotional e-mail to their employees in a small region of the country inviting them to forward to their friends and family the coupon for a free iced coffee. Sounds like a great idea. Spread the word. Locally.

Unfortunately the word spread far wider than Starbucks anticipated. Remember this promotion was only valid in a specific geographic area. But soon the coupon spread to every area of the country thanks to the internet.

So what did Starbucks do when they realized that the coupon meant for a small geographic area was now being used all over the country?

They shut down the promotion. Yup, that’s right. Instead of creating good will among their already loyal customers by honoring the coupon, they instead pulled the coupon from everywhere.

What they were left with was a lot of unhappy customers who were once excited to try a new drink (and maybe become a loyal drinker) and a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit.

I had a similar experience in a local franchise pizza place. My family and I liked the pizza, the shop is right up the street and we were looking for a quick Friday night meal. And I had one of those coupons you receive in the mail. Sounds like a perfect answer to Friday night’s dinner!

But when I tried to use the coupon, even though it was within the expiration date, I was told that “corporate had pulled the coupon”. What did that mean to me? That I had to pay full price, even though I was holding an unexpired coupon.

I paid, took my pizza and never went back. I learned how to make my own pizza.

Bad will. People have long memories.

When something goes awry in a marketing campaign, figure out how to minimize your losses but keep good will uppermost in mind. It’s hard to repair once it’s been tarnished.

Cell Phone Sales Blunder

Annette wrote about her positive customer service experience in her last blog . I have a different twist. This one is from the sales side.

If the original salesperson had found out exactly what we needed in the way of a phone, there would have been no need for the phone to be returned. We would have purchased the correct phone for our company’s needs the first time around!

In the sales process, a good salesperson must uncover the prospect’s needs.

Now, Annette went to the phone store with a list of requirements for the cell phone in question. But I know that “long talk time” was not on that list. Why? Because she just assumed that the phone would meet the talk time requirements. After all, the last phone our production coordinator used was fine. Why wouldn’t this updated phone be the same?

The salesperson listened to her list and immediately picked out a phone based on those requirements. No probing to see if there may be other needs. No questions about how the phone would be used.

And we got the wrong phone!

In the sales process, always probe further. You are the expert. Not your prospect. Find out your prospect’s needs and design a solution to fit.

Happy Customers Keep Coming Back

In the past month, I have replaced three cell phones for our remodeling company. The phones were old (at least two years old) and had worn out. It was time to upgrade. Of course, not all three phones went out at the same time! So I made three separate trips to my local Verizon store.

A problem developed with one of the new phones. The talk time was way too short for our Production Coordinator who uses her cell phone constantly throughout the day. She found herself re-charging the battery at least twice a day. She asked if there was anything that could be done to fix this problem.

So I took her phone back down to the local Verizon store. When I purchased the phone, the sales person told me about a 30 day exchange program. If we didn’t like the phone, bring it back within 30 days and they will exchange it for no charge other than the additional cost of the new phone, if any.

The problem was it was day 38.

I politely explained the situation to the store manager and asked what could be done to alleviate the problem.

To my surprise, he acknowledged that the 30 day limit had passed but, since I was a regular customer, he would make the exchange anyway. So I ended up buying a better phone.

Sometimes good customer service means bending the rules. Not a lot, just a little. Happy customers come back and tell their friends. Do what you can to keep your customers happy.

Healthy Sales from a Healthy Attitude

I recently had my best sales month. It was my best sales month in the history of my company. Yes, the most I’ve ever sold in one month in 22 years of selling remodeling.

And it was right in the middle of the current economic crisis. And did I mention that my county has the highest foreclosure rate in the state?

How did I do it? It has a lot to do with my attitude. You see, Annette and I decided that we are not going to participate in the current economic downturn.

Sound silly? It’s not. Our attitudes have a lot to do with how we view the world around us. And we decided that we are not going to view it through a lens of doom and gloom. Instead we know that there are people out there who need and want to buy remodeling services. And then we set out to find them!

It felt great to reach a very high goal. And we rewarded ourselves with a nice dinner out. And then it was back to work on the next month.

Book Review: Fearless Living

I recently read the new book, The Essential Laws of Fearless Living by Guy Finley. Guy says that we have an insatiable desire to be someone in the world. What drives that? The wish for power, he asserts. We think that power will put us above the world of the ordinary. It will move us out of our unremarkable daily lives and into a life of excitement and pleasure. We are running from the fear of being no one. But, as Guy points out . . .”what we resist persists.” So by living in fear and discouragement because we are unable to move away from the fear, we are only bringing more of the same feelings! It’s a vicious, never-ending circle. We try using power to control and possess others – a really bad idea Guy points out because by trying to control another person, we are, in fact, giving our power over to that person. So not only are we not in control, someone else has control over us! Not exactly what we had in mind. So instead of trying to control others, give to others what we ask from them. That is the secret to receiving what we wish for from others

Most of us automatically resist the unknown. But in order to become fearless, we must practice self-liberation. We live in negative states of self-doubt and fear. But if we realize that these states are voluntary, not mandatory, we can begin to free ourselves from their imprisonment. The more we think negative thoughts, the more we sink into negativity. And the more we live in negativity, the more we react negatively. We must realize that negative reactions make nothing better!

So how do we become fearless? By letting go of those limiting beliefs. And how do we find our limiting beliefs? Through self-reflection and thought. Put a question to ourselves – such as, what do I fear? – and really think about the response. Self-awareness puts us in touch with the higher intelligence that already lives within all of us.

Stop trying to change the world that we see. Instead begin by changing the way we see the world. Work on the inner first and the outer will follow.