Do you have any low maintenance, easy going clients?
You know the type. They aren’t demanding, pretty amenable, pay their bills on time and you feel they’re happy with your service.
Great clients to have. But woe betide you if you commit the mortal sin of taking them for granted.
Our cleaners recently fell into this trap with us.
William and Michelle are a lovely couple. They’ve been cleaning our home for around 6 years now and have always done a great job.
And while there were often issues of their not being on time, changing days etc., we’d let it go and accommodate them.
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A couple of years ago, William went into the carpet cleaning business and while he struggled at first to get clients, things have improved to the point where carpet cleaning is far more profitable than house cleaning.
So over the last few months they’ve chopped and changed us around – often with almost no notice. Carpet cleaning courses came in the way, or even trips back home.
Barbara and I had discussed letting them go – even though we really liked them. But the pain of finding other good cleaners was greater than the pain of putting up with the situation.
(By the way, this is a classic issue if you’re trying to sell your services. Often prospects won’t change suppliers as the pain of doing so is greater than the advantage.)
So the other day when they turned up and wanted to change the schedule again, we had a frank conversation with them.
While we might well be easy going clients – there were limits. They were not providing good customer service. They were taking us for granted and other activities were more important.
And while that’s fine – it’s a business decision as to where you make your money, but don’t misuse your client relationships.
To their credit, they took our feedback very well and hopefully will change. Time will tell.
But all this leads to another question.
What are your client relationships like? Do you inadvertently take advantage of your easy going clients by letting things slip?
Just because someone doesn’t complain doesn’t mean they’re happy with you.
The vast majority silently take their business elsewhere. And the first you’ll know about it is when the phone stops ringing – and by then it’s too late.
So here’s our offer to you.
Commission a customer satisfaction survey with us.
We’ll ring and personally interview up to 30 of your clients and find out exactly where you stand with them.
You might find you’re doing swimmingly well, and that’s fantastic. However, we’ve had cases where finding out the truth and being able to correct it quickly saved the business.
If you’d like to discuss this service, call me on (02) 9499-7958 or email me.
Rashid.
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