CLIP's Tips

One of the most effective ways for you to improve your company in 2010 is to get direct feedback from your customers so that you can change the things that matter most to them.

Consider the following three ways that you could use a survey to get this feedback:

1.  Written survey mailed to customer – You could mail this separately, with the new contract, or with a greeting card.  To maximize response, include a pre-stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Click here for a sample survey in Microsoft Word format.

2.  Phone survey – Create a call list using CLIP and keep a log of survey answers to analyze later.  There are also services that will do this for you.  I was unable to find one that I liked (most were not very user friendly).  If there is a company that you use, let me know!

3.  Internet survey – If you are a DIYer (Do-It-Yourselfer) check out www.wufoo.com.  At Wufoo, you can very easily create customized forms for surveys or any other purpose.  You can then send the link to your customers or even add the survey to your website.  I just created this form within 15 minutes on wufoo.com:

- Example of what it looks like on wufoo.com:  Click here.

- Example of what it looks like embedded on our website:  Click here.

Very easy! You can create 3 forms for free and keep track of the results.  Additional forms can be created for a minimal charge.

If you are not comfortable creating it yourself, contact your IT support to develop a simple web survey to put on your website.

To notify your customers of the online survey you could include a note with a piece of mail you send to them, use a service such as Dial My Calls, or simply email them.

Application Action: If you haven’t surveyed your customers this year, choose one of the options above and get started!

How do you get feedback from your customers?  Let me know in the comments!

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I have the tendency to let things go on cruise control. “No news is good news” is the attitude I take rather than being actively engaged. One area where I have realized that this “no news is good news” mentality can have a serious negative implication is with customer service.  Just letting your customers be—not actively engaging with them on a regular basis, allows for the competition to come in and win their business without you ever knowing why.

One of the most effective ways that we have found to engage with our customers and to gauge their satisfaction is through simple “Check-In Calls” two or three times per year.

These check-in calls consist of merely calling through your entire active customer list and asking them if they are pleased with the service this season.

Check In Calls

• What to Say:
  

  “Hi, this is Jon with CLIP Lawn Care. I am just calling as a courtesy check in to make sure that you are happy with our service. We really appreciate you as a customer and would love to know if there is anything we can improve for you. If you do have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to call me back at 555-555-5555. Thanks again for being our customer!”

• Benefits:
  
  • Customer feels appreciated.
  • Customer provides candid feedback that might otherwise not call you that helps you to improve your services
  • You have the opportunity to get more work by offering other services.
  • Customer loyalty increases through contact with your company
  • Your confidence increases because you know your customers are satisfied.
• Tips:
  
  • Keep a running tally of customers who are Happy, Neutral, or Unhappy. Add these up at the end to see where you stand.
  • Make a note of every suggestion for improvement given. At the end, assess what you want to change and inform your crews or whoever needs to know.
  • Just DO IT! – The benefits are huge!

Application Action: Just as a test, call twenty random customers from your active customer list and see how it goes. This will take about an hour. Then, once you see the benefits, get the whole list and schedule the calls for yourself or delegate it to someone to do within the next week.

The hot summer months are here.  With the hot days come dry lawns and for us that means two things:

1. - Mowing customers say, “Your crew was not here last week!  I did not see any difference in my lawn.”
2. - Sales are few and far between, especially to new customers.

Therefore, we have implemented a new door-hanger designed to let our customer know when we were there and to up-sell to our current customers.

Here’s a look at our “We were here” door hangers:

Notice the two main features:

1.  The details about our visit (date, crew, and time)

2.  List of services with an opportunity for our crew to recommend a service.

Also, this is a great opportunity for us to receive candid feedback from our customers, so we have included a web address where our customers can leave feedback.

Do you have a leave-behind for each time you do a service?  Why not?

We have found that customers appreciate the notice, that the opportunity to up-sell is foolish to pass up, and that the feedback is vital to improving our service.

FYI:  Cost for printing 3000 of these on cardstock in black ink was $128 including shipping.

Please share any ideas you have for customer leave-behinds in the comments.