I remember, as a young boy, watching a cartoon show every Saturday morning that culminated with a bold statement by the main character:

“I…….HAVE………THE…………POWER!”

After yelling this, the man received the much-needed strength to take on his greatest rival, and ultimately defeat him and his evil henchmen.

For those of you born in (or before) the late ’70s, you know the guy I’m referring to, and you remember waiting until Saturdays to watch cartoons. If you aren’t familiar with this, Google it.

Do you empower your employees?

What leeway do your customer service, dispatchers, and inside sales reps have at their disposal when it comes to recovering revenue for your organization?

It’s becoming more and more important to maximize every opportunity to gain a customer. It’s just as important to save every customer that you can, especially if it means keeping them from going to your competition. After all, a majority of the PHCE customers that we are serving aren’t looking to spend their discretionary income on HVAC, plumbing, and electrical items. That means that if you get the call from a customer, you had better do something with it! They aren’t just calling to chat.

What is your team allowed to do for your customers to avoid losing them, or better yet, make their customer experience so memorable they generate a referral for you?

Have you developed a list of compelling offers to present to your customers, when your team is making outbound calls (you are making outbound calls, right) to your existing customers? Have you given a dollar (or percentage) amount that your employees are empowered to present when they are faced with an upset customer? What other plans do you have in place to help the people on your phones make sure that they are keeping every customer that they interact with?

There is no shortage of stories about service related companies and the wins that have been created due to their employees being empowered to take the extra initiative needed to satisfy a customer. Do a quick internet search for “best customer service experience” and you will find several examples of companies going above and beyond to take care of a customer. Now, count how many of those experiences are directly related to an empowered employee taking the opportunity to impress the customer.

Customers expect to be waited on. They deserve to be served well. When they are treated to their expectations, they generate buzz for our organizations. How much are you really giving away by empowering your employees to serve your customers in a 5-star way?

Publication date: 1/29/2018

Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!