Showing Customers Their Value Can Demonstrate Your Own!
Six weeks ago, I received a "thank you" note from the company that cleaned the ducts in my home. I realize this doesn't sound like a very noteworthy or earthshaking occurrence, but bear with me a moment as I explain why it kinda was.
Firstly, duct cleaning is an expensive service that I didn't know existed and wasn't totally convinced I needed. I only called because the HVAC company replacing my furnace firmly suggested it. When they arrived, their initial inspection came up with a much larger vent count than I had described and the initial quote skyrocketed. Now, the increase was my fault but I thought, do we really need this service? Reluctantly, I allowed them to proceed.
Here's the first magical thing the service tech did: he acknowledged my pain and responded to it. He expressed that he wanted me to feel good about my first experience with them and gave a discount that made the pricing more palatable.
Then, he showed me the value of his service. Why bother? I had already bought it, right? However; I certainly wasn't sold on it. He walked me through everything they were going to do and then periodically showed me what that meant. The first images he showed of my SEVERELY congested ducts obviously struggling to push air through inches of dust, hair and oogely things unknown, had me thinking "Just take my money!" - a sharp contrast to my reluctance moments earlier!
Throughout the many hours they were here, the level of care, attention and communication was notable. They even went an extra step and cleaned my dryer vent (at no extra cost). Each of things really made me value their work and caused me to look up the other services they perform. When I expressed an interest in carpet cleaning, I was told that other techs do that work, but they will take all the measurements for them and have a quote worked up for me by the end of the day.
They did what they promised. Not only did they do a great job with the duct cleaning but that quote came to me within 20 minutes of them leaving the driveway and it was reasonable.
I wrote a positive review on several websites and received a heart-felt "thank you" from the office manager via e-mail. A week later, I received a hand-written "thank you" note, signed by the whole staff. That note came with a coupon for a free appetizer at a local restaurant (hey, I eat there so nice bonus!). This was the last golden touch, they made me feel valued.
All of these elements are very basic sales skills, and nothing was very hard for them to do, but this experience was so notable for me because they rarely occur together. They consulted my needs, demonstrated the value of their service, did what they said they were going to do, and did it in such a professional way that I felt valued from the experience. I felt so valued that six weeks have gone by and I STILL have this note on my desk, I'm preparing to have other services done and I'm telling everyone with forced hot air that they should get their ducts cleaned! Remember, I was reluctant to have this done in the first place!
This is how we grow our business! I teach my sales team to give this exact experience to our customers, but it occurred to me that we can do even better with that last part -in showing customers their value to us! Grow from this with me!
An update - over a year later and I still have this card and I've hired them again for other services with the same result.
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