As a contractor, one of your primary goals is to keep your clients happy. Now, you might say that this is easier said than done. And, you might think this has to do with producing quality work in a timely manner.
Contractor Life: 3 Tools to Create Better Relationships with Your Clients
Though producing a quality product or service is crucial to your customer’s satisfaction, your overall customer/contractor relationship is actually the most important of all.
As your business grows, it becomes increasingly important for you to be able to keep quality relationships healthy and current. As business builds, however, this can become a task unto itself.
If you’re a contractor looking to better market yourself and keep established relationships in good standing, the following will assist you in staying on top of your game, even when your workload is overwhelming.
CRM Software
Maybe you’re a bit old school. You’ve gone through your career as a contractor without using all of those newfangled contraptions, and maybe you loathe the idea of having your own website. Well, it’s time to upgrade.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. This is a type of software that’s actually been around for nearly 30 years, having been developed in the ’90s. This type of software that can be tailored to any industry is used primarily for nurturing client relationships.
Most of today’s CRM programs also incorporate time management tools and organizational elements, along with tools for documenting efficiency.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, using CRM contractor software can greatly assist your efforts in keeping up with your clients and your workload all from your tablet, smartphone, or laptop.
Make House Calls
The good news for all of you old-school contractors out there is that you can still do things the old-fashioned way. Yes, making house calls might be a lost art, even grouped next to chivalry in today’s busy and impersonal world.
But, believe it or not, people love it when you take time out to check on work that you recently produced.
Showing a customer that you care about the quality of your work and their satisfaction goes well beyond any other action that you could take. If you think about it, in our busy lives, even the places where we expect great customer service often seem a bit lackluster.
It’s almost as if nobody cares anymore.
If you go out of your way to show your clients that you care about them, this speaks volumes about you, and this is the best way to keep a healthy client/contractor relationship intact.
Direct Mail & Gifts
While they say chivalry might be dead, the act of gift-giving and direct mail certainly is not.
When you add a personal note to your brand, you’re not only showing that you’re the type of business that cares about your presence and reputation in the community, you’re showing your clients that you care about them.
Simple gift cards as a token of appreciation for using your services are a great way to show that you value your clients more than their wallets. At the same time, even direct mail can be thought of as a gift of sorts when you send a thank-you note or ask for a review or feedback of your work.
You can always take this to the next level if you want to, but one simple act of appreciation is more than enough for your clients to not only use your services again but to tell others about you and your business as well.
Conclusion
Any business has to master the art of relationship-building if it’s to be successful in the long term. Without interacting and developing relationships within your community, you barely stand a chance at making a respectable name for yourself.
As a contractor, your people skills are going to be your best asset, aside from your tools and skill of course. After all, you have to deal with people if you’re going to provide a service, so you might as well make it the best experience possible.
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