Customer Success Lessons from Holmes on Homes

This weekend I sat inside my well constructed sunroom protected by the winter elements by a fire burning in the hearth below a securely mounted television. Speaking with friends and family in the Northeast who have been bombarded by countless feet of snow, quality of construction against the elements is not lost on me. Fittingly, HGTV’s Holmes Making it Right (previously called Holmes on Homes) television show was playing in the background and summoned simple customer success principles that every SaaS company needs to cherish.

HGTV’s description of the Holmes Making It Right TV show reads as follows:
Mike Holmes can fix just about everything. His motto reads: "If you're going to do something, do it right the first time." And that definitely applies to his home renovation work, which is featured in this series as he and his crew rescue homeowners victimized by shoddy contractors.

Any entrepreneur understands the need to move quickly, generate volume of business and have teams who are self reliant to get their jobs done. They also understand the need to treat customers well but, unfortunately, they often lose sight of customer success in the rush to pick up new logos. This is often clearly on display when companies hire a VP of Sales before they have a VP of Customer Success. This difference in prioritization may seem trivial to some but is symptomatic of larger issues in the future for the company.

The guiding principles that Mike Holmes professes will help you prioritize your existing customer relationships and build customer service into the cornerstone of your company culture.

Really care about the customer.
The customer success organization must be built on authenticity. From the CEO to the summer interns, it is absolutely imperative that everybody understands the importance of prioritizing customer success. This goes beyond initial customer happiness but a deeper partnership with your customers to help them achieve their longterm objectives. This will not only manifest in day to day interactions but also in prioritization of software roadmaps, executive engagement and product packaging that is not only profitable for your own company but aligned with business objectives for your customer.

Realize the impact of your actions.
As a partner you are agreeing to a help your customer succeed in one or more aspects of their business. You are partnering with an individual or team who has their success, reputation and livelihood riding on your ability to deliver on your promises. If you fail, they fail. Jobs may be at risk and their way of life put in jeopardy. Mike Holmes knows that failure to build something that is safe and lasts a lifetime could put lives at risk. While your company, software or offering may not seem to be core to somebody’s existence, it is difficult to argue that putting their earning potential at risk is anything less than destructive.

Don’t cut corners even if you will incur unexpected costs.
Every business walks the fine line of building proposals low enough to win business but high enough that you can generate a profit. Unfortunately sometimes additional costs arise that you should have forecasted but did not. There are a few options when such a situation arises: 1. Share your concerns with the customer and ask them to participate in the additional costs. Depending on the length of your relationship and size of costs you may feel this will make you look foolish and unprofessional to the customer and opt for a different approach. 2. Reduce the scope of work and try to do the minimal viable solution to check the boxes for your contract. The question you have to ask yourself is: How do you want to be seen to this or future partners? Are you the company who does the minimum and moves on or one who exists to help customers achieve their goals? 3. Eat the extra costs and learn from your mistake. Use this as an opportunity to educate the rest of your organization on such a misstep to reduce the chances that this ever happens again. Share the extra work you are doing for your customer and they will be happy you are getting the project done on time and with their objectives in mind.

Know your limits and ask for help.
It seems that many contractors on the HGTV show make mistakes because they are in projects well beyond their skills. The forces of pride and finance keep contractors from telling homeowners that they cannot complete a project with poor, sometimes malicious results. Much in the same way that contractors make empty promises, sales reps, product marketers and even executives will claim expertise they may not have. When the customer finally learns that a project will miss a deadline or worse, they were intentionally misled, the relationship will be unsalvageable. When you are unclear on a project specification, ask for help from a colleague at your company or a trusted advisor outside of your organization.

Do the right thing simply because it is your job.
“I’m going to do my job right because it’s my job” is a direct line from Mike Holmes when he was inspecting a basement that was not properly repaired after being overtaken by sewage. Holmes painstakingly went through every inch of that cellar to repair and upgrade the area fulfilling a promise the prior contractor never kept.

Much in the way that caring about your customers is core to a company’s success, caring about the way you carry out your specific job is a measure of your integrity. You have a job, an obligation and a set of people who rely on you to help them succeed. This alone should be enough motivation to dedicate the extra effort to do a job right.