by Travis Farnes
After completing a few jobs for a few different customers one day, I started thinking about how I treat them and cater to their needs. I noticed that I naturally treated each one different depending on what their needs were. I’m not talking so much about the level of customer service that I am giving them. I give everyone a very high level of service. I’m am referring to their actual needs and how differently I treated each customer based on that.
I started noticing that every customer has a different mindset. I realized the importance of figuring out what their mindset is the first time I ever work with them. Every customer should be treated according to their “mindset”. There are customers that are just plain cheap. There are customers that don’t care about price at all and want the highest quality. There are customers that don’t like to be charged hourly, and others that don’t care. There are customers that want things a certain way and others that will let you decide. There are customers that will let you work in their house when no one is home and others that will want things scheduled so they can be there themselves. The point is everyone is different. The important thing is that you need to adjust to this difference.
People like working with other people that think like themselves. I’m not suggesting you start agreeing with everything the person says just to make them like you. That will probably have the opposite effect. However, you need to figure out what the customer is like and what their needs are and remember it and cater to it. This really isn’t hard and I learned that I was already doing it naturally. I believe this is one reason I’ve been able to retain customers so well.
My favorite customer is one who just wants the job done right, without being so concerned with price. This allows me to give them a very high level of service as well as provide quality materials. I usually go out of my way to make these customers happy. That doesn’t mean that I don’t work with customers that are cheap, it just means that I change my mindset with them. I know that they aren’t interested in having top quality products or materials because they don’t want to pay the high price so I never offer that as an option. I offer them the service and materials in their price range and that makes them happy. I might recommend a product to them but that does not mean that I will recommend that same product to everyone I come across.
A customer’s needs are not always related to the price of the job. There are many factors that can determine a customer’s mindset. The important thing is that you figure them out in your first few minutes of talking to them and adjust to them. They will like you much more and you will find that your jobs go much smoother. Build the habit of adjusting to each and every customer so they feel like you are on the same page and you will find more success in your service business.
For more from Travis Farnes visit www.handymanedge.com
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