In today’s highly competitive market, getting ahead and staying ahead means providing more
than just good customer service — you need to provide a great customer experience. This encompasses every point of contact a customer has with your company, from the moment they become aware of your services, to the end of a project, and everything in between. Having a refined customer experience plan in place could be one of your greatest marketing tools. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, 65% of consumers said that previous positive experiences are much more compelling to them than advertising when it comes to selecting a good or service. Unlike a customer service department, every member of your team will most likely have a touchpoint in the customer experience. Here are some of the items you should keep in mind to ensure your customers are having a great experience working with you.

Have a Visible Internet Presence

People can’t hire you if they can’t find you, and with so many people conducting their search solely on the internet, it’s important to have some sort of presence online. This could be a website, social media, reviews (93% of consumers say online reviews influenced their purchase decisions, so make sure you’re monitoring and responding to those), or something else that comes up when people run searches for what you do. Once they discover your business, a homeowner needs to know the quickest way to get in touch with you and should be able to navigate your website quickly and easily. The more streamlined this process is, the better off the customer experience will begin.

Show Your Human Side

One of the biggest complaints that consumers have when dealing with companies is when their interactions feel automated or like they’re talking to a robot. While you want to stay professional, it’s okay to insert a little personality into your marketing materials, customer communications, and services to make you more relatable and to start nurturing the relationship with your potential client right from the beginning. If a customer likes you
in addition to the services you provide, they are way more likely to use you again or to refer you to their friends and family in the future.

Provide Superior Service in all Aspects

This one is obvious, however, studies have shown that 86% of consumers will pay more for a service if they or someone they know has had a previous positive experience. Even if things go wrong during the renovation, you can still make sure you leave the homeowner with a positive impression throughout the experience. While you can’t always prevent or foresee some issues during a home improvement project, you can ensure the lines of communication stay open and that you’re available to answer questions or concerns in a timely manner. You should also find ways to go above and beyond during these times when projects are stalled to help the homeowner in any way that you can.

Pick the Right Partners

You can’t do it all on your own, so whether it’s hiring a subcontractor, a temp worker, someone to run your website, a financing partner, or more, you need to pick partners that you can trust to treat your customers the same way you do. If you know they’re capable of handling every step of the experience how you would and share the same values as you when it comes to business, you can rest easy and focus on your portion of the job, ensuring your customer is getting the home of their dreams.

So, What Does This All Mean?

Now that we’ve talked about what a customer’s experience entails, you may be wondering how you can improve yours. Surveys are one of the easiest ways to collect information from your customers, including what you did well on and what you can improve. Keep it short and concise — think five minutes or less — to ensure as many people as possible will take it so you can get a variety of viewpoints. Start by asking basic questions such as ‘what did you like’ and ‘what did you not like.’ If you feel you have too much to include, it may be helpful to split the survey into different touchpoints, such as after the initial sales pitch and once the project is completed. A great way to get people to take your email survey? Give it a great subject line. 35% of people open an email based on the subject line alone.

How Can EnerBank Help?

With our new ExpressSystem, we make the process of home improvement financing quicker and easier for both you and your customers, which is a key component of the customer experience and also helps to grow your business. Financing can be approved quickly, sometimes when you’re still in the customer’s home, helping you start and finish projects sooner. This can help you boost your close rate, increase job size, reduce cancellations, increase referrals, and more.

We go above and beyond to ensure that both you and your customers are well taken care of
throughout the process. From your own dedicated relationship manager who is an expert in your field to our resolution department who can assist with any issues to customized loan programs to fit the needs of you and your customers, you can trust you’re in good hands.

Want to learn more about the loan programs we offer? Fill out the form and a member of our team will contact you soon.