Are you getting what you want out of your contracting business? Are you diversified enough to handle another downturn in our economy? Should you consider adding residential service to your business? A big “YES” is my answer. Besides running my two Mister Sparky locations during the last 18 years and building them into very profitable companies, I have spent the last 12+ years travelling across the United States and Canada doing my best to help my fellow contractors succeed in business. I have met hundreds of electrical contractors, and my goal has always been to open up this side of the industry to them and to help them navigate the journey into a successful service business. Along the way I’ve fielded a lot of questions — here are some of the most common:
Do you include a customer survey with your invoice to measure the performance and professionalism of your employees? If so, do you find it to be a helpful tool?
I think sending out surveys with your invoices or including them with your invoice if you collect at the time of service is a great program for any service company. However, you must also take some things into account when you evaluate these surveys.
What I have found is there are really only two types of customers that will fill out your survey cards and send them back to you — the clients that are really upset or really happy. The clients that are simply pleased with your services aren’t going to take the time to send back your survey for the most part. In fact, in my experience, we only receive about 15% of our surveys back from customers.
Now, if you’re performing at a high level, you shouldn’t have a lot of unhappy clients, so most of your surveys will come back telling you how amazing your service is. That makes you feel great, but don’t let this go to your head. Sure, the positive comments are valuable, but keep in mind you’re only getting a response from about 15% of your customers. What about the other 85%?
A good practice is to follow up your service calls with a call from your call-taker, asking how their service was today. That way, even if they don’t fill out a survey, you’ll have some indication of how you’re doing on each call. Note: Before you implement this procedure, make sure you have a process within your company for tracking the results and for how your customer service representative is going to handle an upset customer. Which problems should they try to fix themselves, and at what point should it be passed over to a manager?
That being said, I think surveys do have a lot of value, even if you’re only getting 15% of them back. First, they show your clients that their opinion and their feelings really do matter. Whether they take the time to fill out the survey or not, they will know you care. Secondly, when you get those positive comments back, it’s a great way to encourage your team. In our company, we post all of those positive comment cards all over the wall so everyone can see what our customers are saying. Third, the negative cards that do come back will alert you to a situation before it becomes even more serious or happens again. They allow you to address problems with your team.
Our surveys allow our clients to rate our phone representative, how the work was performed, our employee’s appearance, and our employee’s attitude on a scale of 1 – 5. Then, we simply ask standard questions regarding whether they would use us again in the future and if they have anyone they would refer to us for future work. Your survey doesn’t need to be too complex. Simply give your clients some space to fill in their opinions.
Overall, there are few downsides to offering your clients a survey with your invoice. Just be sure to keep it in the proper perspective.
Through a random drug test, I recently learned one of my best technicians uses drugs. I have a zero tolerance policy, but this employee is always on time, I’ve never had a complaint from a customer about him, and he really knows his stuff. What should I do?
This is always a difficult situation, and what makes it worse is that this employee is your top producer. I hope you have taken action by this time because these are never the type of scenarios you want to leave unresolved. However, as I see it, you have two options.
First is to uphold your policy. If you have a zero tolerance policy, then you must have a zero tolerance policy. I have a zero tolerance policy in place in my company, and unfortunately I’ve been in your situation a few times. In every instance, I’ve let the individual go. I absolutely hated doing it, but it has made our company stronger. If you don’t enforce your policy, what message does that send to the rest of your team? They’ll see you don’t do what you say and that you don’t enforce your policies. What’s worse, this employee will think he now gets preferential treatment.
Your second option is to amend your policy, but this may be even more damaging. Other policies I’ve heard of allow an employee who is caught using drugs to undergo mandatory drug classes. He must then pass recurring random drug tests for a given period of time. However, the rest of your team is respecting your policies. So what message will you send if you change your policy now for this employee? That’s not to mention the impression your clients will get if you had been publicizing a drug-free workplace (and you should).
Overall, as much as it hurts to do it, I would say let this individual go and uphold your policies. You’ll only improve your team’s morale and work environment, and you’ll eventually attract another superstar who will remain drug free.
How should I go about establishing relationships with other service contractors (HVAC, plumbing, etc.) that might be able to refer their customers to me?
Partnering with other business owners in your area is always a fantastic idea. You and other contractors are in and out of clients’ homes all day, and your marketing touches many more. You and a plumber might be in the same house, but you aren’t competing against one another. That gives you a great opening to create a mutually beneficial relationship where they can refer their clients to you and vice versa.
I would start by identifying the company that you feel is the absolute best in your area in a given trade. Who is the best plumber? Which firm is the best HVAC company? If you would feel comfortable having them work in your home, then they would probably be a good partner for you.
Start by contacting the owner of the company and meet with him or her. Tell them about your company and start things off by agreeing to refer customers to one another. After a three- to six-month period, when you have had time to better evaluate their business and how they handle customer service, you may decide to jump into joint marketing projects where you both share the cost of reaching the homeowner. This has been a very valuable lead source for our company. Keep in mind that you will need to constantly remind your office and field staff to refer these companies to your customers every chance they get. If the plumbing or HVAC company is getting a lot of referrals from your company, then they will be more inclined to refer you too.
At Mister Sparky, we take that a step further by having some of our company meetings in the same facility — either theirs or ours. That way, our employees and their employees get to know each other. It’s a lot easier for your technician (or theirs) to refer each other when they have an established relationship. When a customer says they have a plumbing or HVAC problem, your technician will be able to say, “Mrs. Jones, you should call XYZ Company. They are great. Ask for Mike, he’ll take care of this problem for you.” This is good for everyone involved.
We advertise together now. We have a notepad and a refrigerator magnet that has all three companies’ logos on them but with only one phone number so it’s easier for the customer to call us. This also reminds each customer when they call that “our home services group” can fix any of their electrical, plumbing, or HVAC problems for them. This number is set so that when a customer calls it, they get three options: press “1” for electrical; “2” for plumbing; or “3” for HVAC. We track this number carefully, and today it is one of the best lead sources we have — and by far the cheapest.
That’s a short answer to the process of partnering with other contractors. It’s a great idea for widening your service base and reaching even more homeowners in your area.
Kennedy started Mister Sparky in 1996 in Atlanta. That location is now one of the largest and most successful residential electrical service companies in the Direct Energy Services portfolio, based on sales volume. Kennedy currently owns and operates the Mister Sparky franchise serving the greater Sarasota, Fla., area. He can be reached at [email protected].
