In the final part of the “How to Get More Plumbing Customers” series, Richard and Laura discuss how consistency, professionalism, and making your customer comfortable can build trust. People buy from those they know, like, and trust and this week we conclude the series.
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3 Golden Nuggets
- Consistency is Key. Having a consistent voice across your company and advertising and consistent messaging will build trust with customers. Make sure you do what you say you’ll do and espouse the values you promote.
- Be a Pro. Professionals take control of the call. Hacks let the customer ask question after question and be in charge of the flow of the call. Take control and keep your customers informed to maintain trust.
- Don’t Sell. Trying to upsell and failing is a great way to lose the trust of your customer. Use different ways of upgrading a customer without resorting to tired sales tactics. Giving good, better, best options is a great way to do this.
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Show Notes
In the past two episodes, we’ve talked about the fact that people buy from those they know, like; but maybe even more important is that they trust you. Trust is more than just believing you’ll do a good job. There are three aspects to getting a potential customer to trust you: consistency, professionalism, and the ability to help without selling.
Be Consistent
[07:06] Consistency in messaging is vital to building trust with your customers. If your website says you’re clean, you should show up with shoe covers and something to put your toolbox down on.
Whatever your brand says you are, you should fulfill. Customers want to see consistency. If you say you’re unique, if you say that you offer great service, if you say that you’re friendly, and you’re not, you’ve lost their trust and you don’t get another chance. Be consistent.
Be a Professional
[12:15] Trust building starts with the initial call. It’s vital that you take control when a customer calls in. If given the opportunity, a customer will ask questions until they’re blue in the face, and with every minute you don’t take over, they are losing more trust.
Asking questions of the customer instead of letting them run the conversation will make them think, “Okay, they’ve done this before. Everything is going to be okay.”
A professional will also keep their customer informed. Is the schedule changing due to an emergency? Is the tech running behind? It’s important to keep your customer in the loop; they will feel more respected and considered, and you will build more trust.
Finally, make sure your plumbers are knowledgeable about the equipment that they’re using. If for some reason they don’t know how to use it, make sure they know how to find out and where to look.
Hearing “Huh, I’ve never seen that before,” in person or on the initial call is an immediate trust breaker. As soon as that trust is gone, you’ve lost the customer. Pro tip: no one is really calling around to get prices; that is an indication that you’ve lost the trust of the customer and thus their business.
Offer Choices
[19:18] Don’t sell; it’s time to stop with the selling. Your plumbers aren’t trained in sales, so they aren’t going to do a good job of upselling. It’s going to come across badly and not be good for anyone involved. Instead, have them offer choices: Good, Better, Best.
First, the basic repair: good. Or, you could upgrade: better. The most dramatic option is a full replacement: best. Having something to say no to makes the customer more comfortable and actually builds trust. Believe it or not, they want to say no, and having full replacement as an option gives them that opportunity. Then, they are comfortable going with the better option, even if it’s more than what they strictly need.
Make sure you’re staying in the same lane, though. Going out to fix a toilet and then trying to make one of the options a new water softener doesn’t make sense and will again alienate the customer; back to just the repair, please.
One more option to increase sales without selling is the Maintenance Program. This will differ from business to business, but offering a discount today to enroll in the program will pay off as you make regular visits throughout the year.
Conclusion
When it comes down to it, the best way to build the trust of your customer is just to listen. Just listen to what they’re saying and help them rather than trying to sell.
This marks the conclusion of our three-part “How to Get More Plumbing Customers” series. People buy from those they know, like, and trust, and we’ve given you several great ways to achieve all of those things.
Richard’s Call to action.
- If you want to learn more about numbers that matter and how to best run your plumbing business, why not schedule a free 30-min strategy call with us? Let’s talk about your goals and where you want to be this time next year, and we’ll help you create a path to make that happen. Schedule your free strategy call here today!
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