Customer Care: 2.5 Things That Matters The Most

Why do you solve your customers’ problems?

Is it because of the sum they pay you after you render the service? Or is it because you’re genuinely compassionate in providing the best possible solution for their predicament?

If the latter, congrats, you’re already halfway to becoming a loved business in your category.

Customer care is all about understanding the needs and priorities of your customers and finding ways to meet those needs. It’s not just about offering them a generic solution that favors you more than it favors them. Your customer satisfaction is the accurate measure of your company’s success. Without customer care skills, you’ll likely end up with less satisfied clients and, ultimately, a damaged reputation.

The role of customer care extends across all your business touchpoints. For this reason, having your customer care skills down to a T is more crucial than ever.

In this article, we’ll share with you what you need to know about customer care. We’ll tackle the six main things that matter most to customers (and the 2.5 things that matter even more).

What Does Matter to Your Customers?

Customer care should always be at the forefront of any residential home service contractor’s mind. This means providing solutions that meet customers’ needs and delivering those solutions with excellent customer service. Moreover, how a contractor interacts with customers can make or break their experience, impacting the overall business.

Acquiring customer care is one of the good skills to have in any business across industries. 

Why?

Because customer care is relevant in all your business touchpoints. From the sales journey to the negotiation process, down to your customer service — customer care must manifest. Doing so allows you to display empathy which earns their trust, leading to customer loyalty and repeat business.

The question is: how do we ensure customer care’s role pervades our business?

Simple. Figure out what matters most to your customers.

Customers are riddled with priorities, preferences, and wants. Different customers mean that these desires also come in varying shapes or forms. Do they want:

• Competitive prices?
• Good customer service?
• Fast-acting delivery?
• Quick problem-solving skills?
• Attentive and grateful businesses?
• Capable, knowledgeable, and welcoming staff?

As a business, it’s your job to prioritize those wants and needs in your proposed solutions. Sometimes, this can be difficult if you don’t know your market well. However, an expert business strategist can help you discover what truly matters to your customers.

If you need support in uncovering those, Wizard of Sales® can help. I’ve helped residential home service contractors in their customer care endeavors for many years. By deeply analyzing the market, I find customers’ deepest pain and pleasure points, along with their underlying felt needs. Book a call today, and let’s start giving customers what they want.

Six Main Things That Customers Care About

I’ve worked alongside countless businesses and immersed myself in their industry and market. There’s no doubt that customers care about many things. For instance, one buyer may prioritize this specific aspect, while another prioritizes something else entirely.

Although what complicates things is when customers need more awareness of what they truly want. For example, imagine a customer that seeks out a roofing contractor. In this scenario, the customer sought the roofer to “deal with” his roof problems, but what exactly does he want?

Does he need a roofing diagnosis, roof repair, or roof replacement? Moreover, what type of shingles does he prefer? Asphalt, metal, stone-coated steel, or rubber slates? Is he looking for a dependable roof at an economical price or a high-quality roof sold at a premium?

Countless questions riddle a customer’s buying decisions.

Helping customers navigate through their confusion is called customer care. This requires the contractor to truly listen to the problem to understand the best solutions for the customer’s needs.

In my years as a business consultant, I learned that six things matter to customers regardless of industry. Here they are:

Safety

One of the things customers care about is safety, and this desire for security covers a lot of bases. Let me explain.

For one, customers want safe products and services for their families. Expect that they’ll reject anything that remotely puts their loved ones in harm’s way.

Another form of safety they want is knowing they’re buying the right solutions. The last thing customers want is to purchase solutions that won’t satisfy their pleasure points or soothe their pain points. Furthermore, customers want value that justifies their underlying felt needs in terms of money, energy, and time. 

Finally, the last form of safety is knowing that they’re in the right hands. Customers want businesses that put their best interests above all else.

Performance

Another essential element to consider is how your solutions perform compared to others. 

Do you offer a perfectly fair competitive advantage that outweighs other providers? What makes your offer more advantageous compared to the ones sold by your competition?

Consider how you can showcase your solution’s performance in a way that defeats all others.

Appearance

Appearance matters a lot to customers.

Can you imagine having your lawn spruced up only for it to look like ten typhoons went over it? Or do you want a ductwork system that defiles the beauty of your house’s interior? Exactly.

Appearance matters, so how you deliver the finished product matters too.

Moreover, if your branding is presentable and your business has a good reputation, customers will want to work with you. Why?

Because your good image influences and reinforces the appearance (“perceived value”) they want their peers to see in them. In other words, if your business makes customers look good, then they’ll want your services. However, don’t expect any deals if your business somehow taints or damages your customer’s branding.

Comfort and Convenience

Do your services offer competent convenience that serves your customers’ energy?

You promise to render your service in the quickest and most hassle-free turnaround time. A part of customer care is valuing their time and energy by not delaying the project or causing any inconvenience.

This can also translate into the product’s features. Smart thermostats, radiant heated floors, and low-maintenance roofing materials are all examples of delivering comfort and convenience. 

Economy

There’s no doubt that residential home services can be pretty expensive. 

Not every homeowner has the means to finance repairs or costly replacements. Economy means that your services fit well within their budget without compromising the quality of work. Customer care also entails finding solutions and options that cater to their financial capabilities.

Providing the most economical solutions rarely means being the cheapest upfront price. Longer-lasting, lower-maintenance products are often more expensive, but save your customers money in the long run. 

People want to buy things that are not only economical to buy, but also have a lower cost of ownership. 

Dependability or Durability

Customers are entrusting their financial resources to you. They trust well enough that your solutions will finally nip their problems in the bud and never again resurface. Customers are looking for dependable solutions to make their investments worthwhile.

Moreover, durability means that homeowners can trust that you are providing products that last longer than the alternatives. 

The 2.5 Things that Matter

Catering to all the six elements above matters in customer care. Ideally, you should try to strike the perfect balance that addresses all six. However, there are moments when you deal with complicated clients that have yet to learn what they truly want. In that case, customer care tells you to find the 2.5 things that matter most among the six choices.

Allow me to explain.

Sometimes you’ll deal with indecisive clients who also need clarification about what truly matters to them. Other times, you may find yourself negotiating with many decision-makers with varying priorities on what they care about.

Customer care tells us to help them navigate by finding the top 2.5 things to prioritize among the six:

• Safety
• Performance
• Appearance
• Comfort/convenience
• Economy
• Dependability/durability

(Don’t be confused! The “2.5 things” is just another word for “finding their priority”)

It falls on your salespeople to cut through the confusion and dissect their most relevant motivations. Instead of throwing a generic solution for their problem, help them navigate their confusion to find a consensus.

For example:

Are there things they want to prioritize first and foremost, or are there elements they want to avoid? Are safety, economy, and performance more important? Or do dependability, comfort, convenience, and appearance matter more?

Customer care is all about guiding customers into an agreement. When we get a deal from the parties involved, it illuminates what solution will fit their needs and desires best. That’s how you close the sale.

The Higher Chance of Elevating to the CLOSE (Sales Closing)

I wholeheartedly agree. Customer care ensures all your business touchpoints exhibit genuine care toward your customers. However, there’s more to customer care than just that. Customer care is also about helping customers discover what truly matters to let you serve them at the highest level.

When you’ve pinpointed the 2.5 things they care about most, the fruit is already ripe for picking. All that’s left to do is guide the conversation toward closing the deal and securing the sale. That’s the power of customer care.

Businesses that don’t care about customers will be itching to get a sale without regard to what customers truly want. 

That’s the wrong way to do business. Because if you value your customers, you will love what they value, too — customer care.

If you need help in establishing a culture of customer care or acquiring customer care skills, we can help. Wizard of Sales® is an expert business consultant and strategist who can align your business touchpoints with customer care.

All it takes is booking a free call to learn more.