KickStart: Use my focused Customer Delight techniques to them win them at the start of the job.
I feel your pain. Every fall as my dreaded home services winter slow down approached, my fears stacked up. How do I keep my techs busy? What about my ever-present business overhead?
But then I accidently learned about “complimentary seasons”. For many residential service providers, normally slow winters become prime time for emergency callouts and/or working with insurance claims adjusters.
Hey, don’t diss winter emergency work! Here’s why. A) You keep your crew working during slow times, B) cash flow keeps coming in and C) these grateful emergency service customers will become regular clients!
Do winter-time emergency services sound better now? If so, you must recognize that emergency work is a whole new emotional (and logistical) landscape!
Let’s talk emotions first. (No surprise to anyone who knows Steve Toburen!) 🙄 At HFS, we teach a fundamental truth re: emergency services:
🗝️ In emergency service jobs NO ONE involved is a “Happy Camper”! 😎
Insurance adjusters: These stressed-out folks dread phone calls. Can you blame them? Absolutely no one calls an adjuster to say, “Everything is going great in my life!” So, the primary emotion of an insurance adjuster? FEAR!
Homeowners: Remember, this unplanned emergency crisis popped in on top of your new client’s already hectic life. So, insureds are nervous, confused, vulnerable and very traumatized, all of which combine to create… FEAR!
GULP! 🫣 This is the emotional landscape your techs will be dealing with! (So they’re not happy campers either!) And yet, the solution to “win over adjusters and insureds plus your techs” is very simple …
🗝️ Guarantee—and prove—that your company will bring PEACE and RESOLUTION to all parties’ lives.
Remember, adjusters lean heavily toward residential service companies that reduce THEIR stress! How to deliver on this “less adjuster stress” promise?
🗝️ Convert the traumatized homeowner into an ecstatic, raving fan Cheerleader immediately! Here’s why you must do this…
Homeowners who appreciate (dare I say “love”?) your team simply will not complain to the adjuster. The job runs smoother, is finished faster, and everyone (especially you as the home service provider) wins!
The Playbook for Instant Relief
When a homeowner is standing ankle-deep in a plumbing leak or sweating through a 100-degree weekend with a dead AC, they’re totally panicked! 😮 Can you blame them? My secret?
🗝️ You make a Cheerleader out of a stressed-out homeowner by focusing on their raw emotions right from the git-go. Here’s how to do it…
During your initial walk-through, follow this three-step LET acronym:
Listen attentively: Let your client vent their frustration.
Empathize: Validate their stress (feel their pain) without making false promises.
Tactfully take control: Shift their focus by interviewing them about their most pressing immediate concern(s).
Take “Immediate Action”
In the plumbing, HVAC, pest control or flood restoration world, this Immediate Action technique puts the customer’s mind at ease and builds massive trust. For example…
If you’re dealing with a flooded basement, don’t just hand the insured an estimate and walk away. Show concern by asking what irreplaceable items they are most worried about. Then have your techs move those boxes to dry ground right then and there.
If their AC just fried during a searing mid-July, wheel in a temporary portable cooling unit for their master bedroom while you wait on parts.
If the homeowner has a massive pest infestation, seal the primary entry point to their kitchen. (Before you even write up the quote.)
REAL LIFE: Heck, in my emergency services restoration business I would offer to launder some “immediate needs clothing” for the homeowner or set up a temporary fix at no charge, even BEFORE the big loss was approved. Here’s why…
As I tell every HFS training class: “Once I had the homeowner’s underwear… I knew I’d get the job!” 😮
This sincere attitude of care and concern creates a massive, positive Moment of Truth balance with the homeowner. So now you’ll have emotional credit banked up for the inevitable job hiccups that will happen later. 👍👍 Plus…
BONUS: A grateful homeowner will actively fight to keep your company on the job even if the insurance adjuster tries to bring in a cheaper, cut-rate contractor later.
EXTRA BONUS: Truly helping people out of a jam is a fantastic feeling for you and your staff! 😁 In an industry clouded by transactional thinking, proving to homeowners that you will solve their nightmares (and not just take their money) is a big win for EVERYONE involved.
“Everyone, Steve? What about the adjuster?” Simple. Adjusters are graded by how quickly they close losses! Therefore…
When you create a Raving Fan cheerleader out of an insured, every loss becomes an easy, simple, fast and drama-free transaction for the adjuster! BINGO! You become their go-to emergency services company!
Plus, it never hurts when your delighted homeowner client gratefully tells the adjuster, “Thank you so much for referring (insert your name) to us. He is a wonderful human being!” 😎
Want more 5-star reviews? Customer satisfaction is the TRUE engine of sales. Teach your team to generate referrals and stop complaints before they start. Register for Live Stream Technician Service Training on October 22.
Qualifies for 7 IICRC CECs. No exam.