As a water damage restoration specialist in your area, setting yourself apart from the competition isn’t simply about offering the highest quality restoration work. Of course, doing the best work in your city and the surrounding areas plays a huge part of building a strong reputation, but what will really set you apart is excellent customer service.
Haven’t we all experienced a company who provides an exceptional service or product, but they are rude and communicate poorly, leaving a bad taste in our mouth when it is all said and done? What part of the experience do we typically pass on to friends or family—the quality work or the rude, rushed, and inefficient communication? Word of mouth or referral based marketing is one of your greatest avenues for landing more flood jobs in your area, and a customer service oriented staff will be what encourages past clients to pass on your business card to family, friends or colleagues.
#1. Always Answer the Phone, Even After Hours:
As water damage restoration specialists, we work in an emergency business. This means, we have to be available to deal with a flood any time of the day or day of the week. If a homeowner calls at 8 p.m. on Friday night and no one answers, they won’t be leaving a message and waiting for a call back—they will be moving on to the next company. Do whatever it takes to make sure each phone call is answered within a few rings, redirecting calls to the manager’s or owner’s phone after business hours.
#2. Practice Empathy:
When you are accustomed to cleaning up floods every day, the work can begin to feel routine. However, for the homeowner, a flood is anything but routine. Remember, what we do each day is (hopefully) a first and last time experience for our customers. Be sensitive to the anxiety they are experiencing and always practice empathy in your conversations.
#3. Clean Work, Clean Support Staff:
Simply because the flood damage restoration business can be dirty, this doesn’t mean our support staff shouldn’t look professional. Expect your employees to wear clean uniforms and be well groomed. Apply this philosophy to the work as well, before leaving a job, every home should be returned to its original state and cleaner when you first arrive.
#4. Move Quickly:
Again, never forget your client’s are in the middle of an incredibly stressful emergency. Move as quickly as possible between each step of the process. Answering each call within a few rings, arriving on site for an estimate within an hour of the call, and sending a crew out as soon as possible to complete the job.
#5. Always Follow Up:
After a water damage restoration job is complete, your work isn’t finished. Always follow up with each client within a few days of finishing the job. Your company can develop a script of questions during each of these calls, assessing their satisfaction with the work and resolving any issues which may have arisen. You can use these testimonials for marketing and send them to their agent, if applicable or the referring client.
At More Floods, we provide customer service training and resources to each of our members. To learn more about becoming a More Floods member and the services we provide, click here or call 866.667.3356.