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It is a tough market and there will be tough competitors all upping their game – so if there is one area of your installation business that needs absolute focus, it is the   customer experience, which should be positive and seamless writes AdminBase’s Rhonda Ridge.

Yes, the pricing needs to be right, you need good sales and marketing tactics in place and on point customer service but if you get the customer experience right, you can go beyond generating sales to creating customers that will happily use you again or recommend you to friends and family.

Homeowners are looking for companies they can trust, so recommendations are the Holy Grail. However, securing a recommendation is going to get harder. Consumer expectations are rising across the board. They don’t just want a smooth buying experience, they also want to enjoy it. And they’re happy to pay for the privilege.

 

Giving customers what they want

When you hear about trends for generating more exciting customer experiences and online order tracking, you often think of large supermarkets, high street retailers or big online brands. In reality, if you’re consumer facing, as installation businesses are, these things matter and are about to matter a lot more.

This is why AdminBase, the installer management system, was created over 20 years ago. We identified that there was a way of ‘doing business’ that had become the norm for installation companies, that wasn’t entirely efficient for the firms in question – or the customers they served.

While a lot of home improvement companies have recognised there is a better way now, many more still need to make changes to enable them to give customers what they want.

 

Portal to success

AdminBase offers installation businesses everything they need to compete in the modern-day retail arena. The all-encompassing system streamlines admin throughout the organisation between employees and with customers. Users within the business can see at a glance where a lead or order is at any time. So, if a customer calls for an update, it almost doesn’t matter who they speak to, the data is easily accessible to everyone.

Taking this customer experience a step further though, AdminBase also features an award-winning customer portal that allows homeowners to log into the system 24/7 to access information about their order. The user-friendly interface makes it easy for consumers to track the progress of their order, confirm appointments, make payments and even when the job is complete, report any service issues that may crop up. They can even attach photos if necessary.

 

It's all in the planning

It can be a daunting prospect, to allow customers full access to an online account that will track the progress of their order. What if something goes wrong or the project is delayed?

The AdminBase system can help with this too because its Taskboard online job board feature tracks the progress of a job by breaking it down into individual tasks and allocating those tasks to individuals. It provides an ordered list of things that need to be done and how they will be achieved.

With such a high level of organisation behind the scenes, if there is a problem with, for example, the supply of materials for a particular job that might delay the installation date, it is highlighted early. This means the consumer can be notified sooner rather than later.

As long as the lines of communication are kept open and the homeowner knows about any problem almost as soon as you do, they are much more likely to be understanding of the fact, than if installation day arrives and only then do they get a call of apology.

 

Delivering a smooth and sleek customer experience

Offering good customer service may have been enough for installation businesses to date, however the market is changing and consumers want more. They want a smooth and sleek customer experience from the moment they contact a company, to the point the job or service is complete. With uncertainty everywhere they look, they want stability and security. They want to feel in control of any buying decisions, especially larger ones, such as new windows, doors, or conservatories.

It can feel like we’re in our own world sometimes in the home improvement sector, yet installation businesses are consumer-facing enterprises and as such need to keep up with their peers in other sectors, as well as continue to deliver for the ever-demanding consumer.

 

Pictures: AdminBase’s Rhonda Ridge says technology will allow you to offer customer service at the same level as major retailers.

www.abinitiosoftware.co.uk

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
09th February 2024

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