— but also to measure their level of satisfaction
and to feed that information back into your or-
ganization so improvement can be made.
In this month's issue of Qualifed Remodeler,
we are pleased to work with the customer satis-
faction experts at GuildQuality, namely Geof
Graham, Jerrod Butler, Kathryn Ewing and
Alex Overall. Teir team
helped us prepare a frst for
the industry: A heat map
of the hot button issues on
which remodeling satisfac-
tion hinges. Tey created
this heat map based on
tens of thousands of online
surveys with consumers
who had recently remod-
eled their homes.
SIGNIFICANTLY, NOT EVERY remodel-
ing job has the same hot buttons. It stands to
reason that during bigger jobs, like room ad-
ditions, communication, problem resolution,
punchlist completion, schedule and trust are
most important. Meanwhile, a less intrusive
project, like a new deck, has an easier bar to
clear. Only 'problem resolution' was anywhere
near a red-hot issue. It carries a pinkish hue
along with 'communication' and 'professional
and organized.' For those not surveying their
clients — this information may open your
eyes to the kind of useful information you
can gained by doing so.
We also worked with GuildQuality to iden-
tify 60 frms who not only measure customer
satisfaction, but who also have very high "rec-
ommend" rates. Tose 60 ofer their take on
how best to satisfy remodeling customers. We
think customer satisfaction is a remodeler's
key performance indicator (KPI) — right after
proft percentage and revenue, of course.
|
hether you measure it or not,
customer satisfaction is a high
priority for you as a remodeler.
Reputation is everything in a
business where marketing sometimes takes a
back seat to craftsmanship and other key de-
liverables. A satisfed customer creates referrals
and positive mojo in your
service area.
Many successful remod -
elers inherently know how
to satisfy their clients: Be
on time, communicate
clearly and often, do what
you say you will do and de-
liver a quality job. If you
do these things, clients will
generally be happy.
But here's a question for
those of you who operate on instinct and do not
survey your customers: Without asking, how do
you know they are happy?
HERE'S ANOTHER QUESTION: By not
surveying your customers, are you missing po-
tential feedback that could help you improve
your level of client happiness and generate more
revenue per customer? Tat's right. Research
has shown that the diference between "fully
satisfed" customers and "somewhat satisfed"
customers is 2.6 times the revenue on average.
Depending on your cost to acquire a new cus-
tomer (if you know the cost), that is a huge boost
to your return on investment.
In today's hyper-connected world, the impor-
tance of measuring customer satisfaction is grow-
ing with each passing day. Online ratings and
reviews are both the currency of the realm and
the lingua franca. Negative reviews are very tough
to combat. Tat is why it is not only important
to satisfy your clients — as you have always done
A Remodeler's
Key Performance
Indicator
W
Without asking,
how do you
know your
customers are
happy?
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR'S NOTE
8 July 2015 QR QualifiedRemodeler.com | ForResidentialPros.com
Patrick L. O'Toole
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SOLA Group, Inc.
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Publisher and Patrick L. O'Toole
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