Radiant Floor Heating Blog

Problem Resolution is Key to Creating Loyal Customers

2016-04-08

The latest (Dec 2015) Qualified Remodeler Home Improvement Pro (HIP) survey shows the top two revenue sources are repeat business and referrals. According to the poll, 200 top remodelers reported that 29% of their revenue was attributed to these two lead sources.

It doesn’t take a poll to convince those of us in the remodeling industry of the importance of repeat business and referrals. Contractors live or die based on their ability to generate repeat business and referrals. Imagine what your business would look like if revenue decreased almost one-third for failure to retain repeat customers and build referrals.

Returning and referring customers are loyal customers, and customer loyalty begins not only with a satisfied customer, but also a happy customer. Prerequisites of a happy customer include good quality materials and workmanship, a problem-free job completed on time and on budget, and meeting or exceeding expectations. Unforeseen problems are inevitable in remodeling, and how those problems are handled is critical to customer satisfaction. Creating a loyal customer often depends on how the customer is taken care of when problems arise.

Problem resolution trumps all the good things a business does to reach and create a customer. If the customer feels slighted in the resolution of a problem, nothing else matters, and repeat business and referrals are unlikely. What’s worse, a bad review can drive away potential new customers.

More than anything else, customers want assurance that their contractors stand behind the job and the related products and services. Contractors in turn need suppliers who will stand behind their products. It doesn’t mean that contractors and suppliers need to give away the farm every time a problem arises. But it does mean fair and equitable solutions, and it might even make sense to invest in future repeat business and referrals by foregoing a profit or taking a loss on the job. Over time, the return on that investment could aggregate to one-third of your business in the long run.

At ThermoSoft, we are dedicated to delivering best customer experience, from beginning to end. We greatly value our customers and continuously strive to provide them with the best customer service and radiant floor heating products in the industry.