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is perception reality?


Your organization may be providing the best service in your market, hell even 10 times better than your nearest competitor (a topic for another post). None of it really matters if the customer's perception of you is poor or your service delivery is just like everyone else. Certainly you have heard the saying "perception is reality" there is no place this is more true than when it comes to service delivery. Odds are that if you are reading this post you are one that is seeking different perspectives and ways to increase the customer value you're currently providing your clients. Here are a few things to consider, listed from simple to sophisticated:



  • appointments: when meeting with your clients face-to-face, either sales or service, consider using meeting invitations where the client may accept and have that meeting land on their calendars. For a bit of added flair use a product like "FindTime" that allows your client to vote and select good times which are most convenient for them, of course the end result being an invitation.
  • proposals: use a tool which shares a link with the client as opposed to just sending them an attachment to an email.  Sending a link allows you to; expire the document after "x" days, see if they opened the file and how long they spent reviewing, even see how many pages were viewed! To make it even simpler consider using a shortening tool such as bit.ly, where you can name the path to the file as the customer's name and/or building (something personalized and logical).
  • quotes: if your field workers are producing quotes for repairs found consider using some form of quote technology which allows you to consume flat rate pricing data to package solutions including materials and labor.
  • geo-fencing: many technologies exist today that will allow us to understand where your field workers phone is currently located, hopefully on the worker at the job site :). You can leverage this information by configuring tools which will remind the field worker when they arrive at a site of the client and site idiosyncrasies. You've heard us mention before; anything you can do to make your customers feel that they are the center of your work universe is time and money well spent.



While just a short list, these are simple and subtle ways to differentiate yourself in the marketplace. Always remember that "business as usual" will get you exactly that on your financials.



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Next post:  remaining enthusiastic about routine maintenance

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