Customer Communications: What NOT to Say During a Customer Call

When calling on a customer, choosing the right words is paramount. Perhaps it's more valuable to consider what you should avoid saying instead. There are contractors who walk into their customer's offices and blurt out, "How's the cleaning going?" This is no way to start a conversation!

To provide value for your customers, you need to understand why they're hiring you. Before visiting, make sure you know the ins and outs of their cleaning needs.

When you're not prepared for the meeting, you're implying that they should fill you in. This is a mistake. Instead, focus on what you can do to improve their experience. If you ask the client, they may give you a laundry list of minor nitpicks that could have been avoided if you had taken charge.

Running your business efficiently means anticipating your customer's needs, staying on top of the cleaning and providing a top-notch experience.

As I previously mentioned, the goal of the customer call is to establish trust and build a relationship with them. During the call, you'll discover what the customer wants to discuss. Some may prefer to keep it professional, while others may divulge personal details, such as family or sports interests. Regardless of their preference, nurturing a strong relationship with each customer is key.

As the customer pays for your building maintenance service, they may not be inclined to discuss the service unless an issue arises or they require a specific service, like carpet cleaning. Therefore, it's best to keep your visits genial and brief.

Discussing customer communication with supervisors is important as they interact with them frequently and play a vital role in establishing strong relationships. Sometimes, they may unknowingly make statements that should be avoided. The following statements may adversely affect customer sentiment:

• I wish I had better equipment - I could get this job done a lot faster...
• My boss is always too busy to help out so we couldn't get it done last night...
• It's like a revolving door around here. We're always losing people...

It's best to avoid comments like these that don't reflect well on the company and do nothing to secure the supervisor's job. Instead, invest the time to train your supervisors and employees on good customer communication, and you'll reap the rewards of having a highly loyal following.