Have you asked your clients how they prefer to be contacted? Phone? Email? Text?

Choosing to communicate with your clients in the way that they prefer may seem like a simple thing, but it’s a simple thing that shows clients you are truly listening to what they are saying to you. 

If you are using their preferred method of contact, are you communicating well with that format?

Communicating well means being proactive in your communication about their project. Is it going to take longer than expected? Will a rain day or scheduling glitch mean a delay before you're back on their site? Communicate this information with them as soon as you know instead of waiting for them to ask.

Proactive communication builds confidence and trust. People who trust their contractors are more likely to them to their friends and family. It’s the simple things, like texting (if they prefer a text), that can make a huge difference.

Once you have great communication you can use things like a CRM, social medi...

Are you asking for customer feedback after every job? Not some jobs, but all of them?  

Gathering feedback from every client provides you with insight that will help your company understand your customers wants, needs and the necessary information to help you stay relevant in your industry. Surveys are important tools for improving your business and ensuring your customers send you referrals.

Over the years I’ve found customer surveys to be one of the most consistent and effective ways for receiving customer feedback. You can get great insight with only three questions: 

1. How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?
2. What’s the biggest factor in your answer?
3. What can we improve on?

There are a lot of platforms available for surveys, but two that I have found to be easy to use and cost effective are:

Survey Monkey

Survey Sparrow 

Customer feedback is one of the best tools we have - take advantage of it!

Happy customers are returning customers. 

We’ve talked about this before, but so much of what creates a positive experience for your clients depends on how you proactively communicate with them. 

Before you sign a contract, do your potential customers know what to expect? Have you completed site visits with all decision makers so they are able to review and sign off on the snow sitemaps? Do they know the invoicing schedule? It basically boils down to you creating an onboarding process that you follow with each client.

Be sure to find out your clients preferred method of contact and then use that method to  communicate before and after snow events. It provides you clients with peace of mind that will drastically lower the number of frantic calls you will receive during an event. I also recommend that you email a weekly operational update so they know when you were on site and what service was performed.  

It’s important to keep a log of all customer interactions regarding service is...