Six Keys to a Professional Service Call

In my consulting and speaking practice, we train flat-rate service contractors who serve residential customers. In my experience in the field, if customers can detect each of the Six Elements of a Professional Service Call, they almost have no choice but to buy. 1. Cleanliness. This concept cannot be overstated in service contracting. This should extend to your truck, your tools, your inventory, your uniform and your grooming. Your jobsite should be something you can pitch as a benefit on its own. From the cab of your truck to the freshness of your breath, your relentless commitment to cleanliness should be evident and appreciated. It's an astounding fact that the most capable and high-performing technicians with whom I've worked are also the ones who could eat off their truck floors; it's their showroom, and they're serious about their business. It's much easier to defend your price with a spotless image and work habitat. 2. Timeliness. Respect for the clock is a convenience the customers are paying you for. There are ways to orient your presence in the customers' home which heighten their appreciation for your time, and also display your concern for theirs. However you accomplish this, the contractors who put the convenience side of their offering in the spotlight end up with the best case for defense of value. If the best we can do is say "Sorry dispatch ran me all over town" or "Traffic on the bridge" or "Last job ran long", consider the impact on your professional credibility with that customer. 3. Orderliness. Many times, I have seen customers so impressed with fact that we have a process for doing business, they they simply follow it. Understand that duress and inconvenience have the customers in a near-panic many times. The simple fact that there is a (presumably) well-known process in play allows them to calm down and appreciate the professionals' responsibilities and liabilities as well. Discounting, scope of work descriptions, pricing, cutaways for visual reference, there are more ways to display an orderly process than time allows in a blog list. What's important, of course, is that you HAVE A FORMAL PROCESS for serving your customers. "One right way" to proceed through an average service call. This, of course, is what we teach at The Contractor's Friend. 4. Craftsmanship. While this may be more of a device to "keep it sold" than to "make it sold", this is the one part of your craft in which I presume you are doing the absolute best work you know how to do, and everything you can to get better. While "I tighten that wire nut THAT MUCH better than XYZ Electrical" may be a perfectly worthless sales utterance, it should be easy to show the technical excellence of your work after your customer has paid. This helps them with buyer's remorse, and shows a level of concern and caring on your part. You've promised great work and charged for it. Deliver. 5. Salesmanship. What I really mean here is a willingness to defend your company's offering at whatever price. A heartfelt belief that you're the best choice, even at a higher price. A confidence in the exchange of value and convenience we represent. A curiosity about the customers and what's important to them, and a willingness to listen. A conversational, valuable, professional presence with confidence and expertise, backed by a company with the tools to perform and live up to our promises. 6. Courtesy. It can get lost in the juggle of things that Service Techs are asked to do, but the single thing that makes all of the above work is a humbling courtesy to your service. An appreciation of your customers' choice to have you visit. Have you ever had somebody be so courteous that it just humbled you? It almost indebted you to that person? We think that kind of experience is what your customers are paying for, what they deserve. Let's face it: we can hire many people to "do the work" and not care. That's not what friends do, and it's not what the other trusted professionals on your speed dial do, and it's not what you should do. Happy Selling -MS