Did you know most customers leave a company because of how they were treated? If you want to encourage customer loyalty, then you need to develop customer service that makes your clients stick with you over the long-term.

Why is Customer Service So Important?

People call you for their irrigation installation and maintenance needs. Yet, homeowners and property managers aren’t buying the service or product as much as they’re investing in a relationship with you.

Think about it. If you provide lawn sprinkler design, installation, and maintenance, you could service your residential or commercial clients for many years.

So, you and your employees need to know how to deliver the best customer service. According to CustomerExperienceInsight.com, customers leave a company for these main reasons:

• 60% believed that the salesperson was indifferent to them
• 70% leave because of poor service
• 80% said that they were satisfied or very satisfied even though they took their business elsewhere.

Yet, you find customer loyalty with those who felt they had a great experience with the account manager. Matter of fact, CustomerExperienceInsight.com reports that customers who had a positive experience with the sales team are 10 to 15 times more likely to stay loyal to that company.

By the way, did you know customer service starts with the very first call or response to your contact page?

And this is for all businesses—not just retail sales. So, how do you, as an irrigation contractor, improve your company’s customer service protocol?

14 Ways to Improve Your Contracting Company’s Customer Service

There are 14 ways to turn around your customer service. But it requires everyone on your team to provide excellent service to your clients.

Here are those 14 tips for improving your sprinkler contracting company’s customer service:

1. Give fast estimates. Proceed with caution on this tip. Sure, give quick estimates so your sales prospect can consider hiring you for their irrigation system needs. But you also want to be accurate in your assessments. You need to find a balance between fast turnaround time and estimate accuracy.
2. Be mindful to communicate positively to your customers. If your customer has a question or is frustrated because the sprinkler heads aren’t popping up to water his lawn, make sure whoever answers the phone responds calmly and with empathy toward the frustrated client.
3. Make it easy for sales prospects as well as your current clients to navigate your website. Nothing turns away a prospective customer quickly than a sloppy website that has misspelled words, or is difficult to navigate. Invest in a web developer to create a site that reflects your brand as well as makes it easy for folks to visit.
4. Respond to all online comments—good or bad. Actually, you should be proactive in getting Google and Yelp reviews by personally asking each client to write one for you. You can give incentives to clients who take the time to write a review beyond 5-stars. Then, you or someone in your company needs to respond to each comment. For handling negative reviews, Sara Dunn wrote an insightful blog post called “How to Respond to Negative Reviews Online: Our 3-Step Process.” In the blog, she shares these three tips:
   1. Acknowledge the person and situation with empathy.
   2. Express that you strive for great customer service and you apologize for their experience.
   3. Take it offline. Invite a private phone conversation by putting the company’s phone number in your response.5.  Develop customer service strategies with your employees. Don’t assume that all of your staff and field crews know how to interact positively with other people. Take the time to add to the employee manual what excellent customer service looks like in your company. Remind your crews about forming positive relationships with your customers as well.
5. Keep in touch with your customers with an e-newsletter. E-newsletters provide a way for your clients to stay up-to-date with your company. It’s also a great place to highlight your crews and offer smart tips to keep sprinkler systems working well throughout the summer.
6. Show your customers how much you value them by giving them a gift. A gift isn’t a company pen, but something related to your sprinkler services. You can offer a free part replacement or some other product or service that benefits your customer.
7. Stand behind your work and encourage your customers with a warranty or satisfaction guarantee. Customers spend a lot of money to get a sprinkler system installed by your contracting company. Give your customers added reassurance that you stand behind your sprinkler services with a guarantee or a warranty.
8. Follow-up with customer questions and concerns promptly. If a client calls and leaves a message regarding a problem or issue they’re having with their lawn sprinklers, make sure you or your account manager follow up with that client on time—within one business day. Otherwise, your customer will feel that you don’t care about their concerns, and you’re only out to make a buck. 
9. Make sure your contract is easy to understand. Your prospects don’t have time to wade through a lot of legalese. Instead, make your contracts easy to understand—stating what you’ll be doing and how much the service cost. 
10. Compromise and customize when you need to. Sometimes, you need to customize your water sprinkler system process to meet the needs of a property. If you can, try to compromise with your client when it’s appropriate. But stick with your standard procedures when it comes to quality design and expert installation. You can add a paragraph in your contract regarding why you need to stick to specific standards for irrigation installation. 
11. Share a project’s progress. If you’re working on a big property or your irrigation installation is held up because of bad weather or another contractor’s timetable, let your customer know. As much as you want your process to be streamlined, life does interfere with things out of your control.
12. Generally, your client will understand the delay, especially if you keep them informed throughout the entire design and installation process.
13. Wow your customers every time. When you can, go beyond the general expectations your lawn sprinkler customer is expecting. Creating a wow-factor to increase customer loyalty. 
14. Show gratitude … always. Finally, thank your customers for choosing you over your competition. There may be a dozen other landscaping contractors in your local area providing sprinkler system design and installation.

 
But your customer chose you. So, show your gratitude every time. It tells your customer you value them and their trust in your services.

Join K-Rain’s Premier Contractor Program to Wow Your Customers

You can provide excellent customer service when you use the best irrigation tools in the business. At K-Rain, our Pro-S Sprays earned the EPA’s Water Sense certification.

Your customers will be thrilled to see lower water bills as well as conserving their local water supply. Join K-Rain’s Premier Contractor Program today by filling out our contact form.

Sources:
Folino, Lauren, “There’s No Substitute for Great Customer Service.”
Prischak, Amanda, “10 Ways Contractors Can Deliver Great Customer Service.”
Sloan, Kayla, “10 Ways to Improve Client Relationships.”