Professionals hate the dreaded customer call-back. Doing the same task twice wastes time and chews up profits. You can’t get to other customers because you’re back at the same place. They destroy your schedule and your profits.
Customers hate callbacks too. They hate having to complain. They hate taking another day off work. They hate staring out the window waiting for the technician to return. They vent their frustrations in online reviews, hurting your company’s reputation.
Here are four important ways to reduce callbacks:
1) Improve communication between the office and the field. Get incoming customer requests accurately and completely noted on work orders. And be sure technicians read the information when they’re on the job site.
2) Set customer expectations up front. Be detailed on quotes and realistic about how services will make improvements on landscape health and appearance. There are a lot of things you can’t control (weather, etc.). Be sure your customer understands those.
3) Train your technicians on the RIGHT procedures. You can’t afford to have crew members doing it “their way”. You must have everyone doing things according to your “rule book”. Cutting corners and steps often ends in heartache.
4) Use checklists to close out both new installations and service visits. Checklists require your crews to verify things are done correctly before they leave the site. 5 minutes with a thorough checklist can save hours of wasted time correcting deficiencies during callbacks.