Tips for Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations on the Job Site

The construction industry is a service industry, as such, it’s important that your company is meeting and exceeding customer expectations. The construction industry is a mix of one-off projects and continual partnerships, which makes it hard to know where the next project might come from.  Since this industry is built on these relationships every company has to focus on meeting and exceeding customer expectations.

Tips for Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations

Meeting and exceeding customer expectations should be the focus of every project manager and business owner. The way a project goes determines whether your company can find referrals from that customer or client in the future. As such, it’s important to build and maintain relationships for every project. From communication to marketing, there are many different areas that your business can use to help build those relationships. These 5 tips for meeting and exceeding customer expectations should help your business build its loyal customer base.

1. Communication

In any service industry, like construction, it’s important to really listen to what the customer wants. Sometimes the customer isn’t sure what they want or doesn’t know how to articulate it. In some occasions what the customer wants isn’t something within their budget, or physically possible. This is why building rapport with new customers is so crucial. Once you build an understanding and communication with the potential client, it’s easier to understand their needs and what you should do for meeting and exceeding customer expectations.

2. Showing Up Early

No one likes to be left waiting, and the same goes for new or potential clients. When meeting potential clients it’s important to show up early. It goes a long way to make a good first impression. It shows clients that you’re interested and invested in their project and partnership.

Of course, that courtesy extends to all clients as well. When they want to come to see the site, ensure that you are there early. Depending on when breaks are, show them your crew busy on their site. Clients will feel like they are paying for quality.

3. Find Ways to Save Money

Clients see contractors that come in under budget as meeting and exceeding customer expectations. One of the ways to accomplish this is through ensuring that the project stays with the schedule. While this isn’t always possible, there are many times where it is. Researching site conditions, weather patterns, and using information from similar projects can help you build a better timeline. From there, it’s the small things you can do to reduce costs without compromising on quality. Sometimes avoiding overtime can help keep the project on or under budget.

4. Marketing

Marketing might seem odd on a list for meeting and exceeding customer expectations. However, what people believe about your company will be their expectation. While the finished product still has to be a quality product, the marketing helps persuade them of it. If your reputation is for delivering quality product then your clients are more likely to see a quality product. Using customer reviews and statements, you can put together a marketing campaign to highlight your customer satisfaction rate.

5. Use Feedback

While feedback can be a way to build a marketing campaign and get your name out there, it can do even more for you. Feedback is a great way to continue meeting and exceeding customer expectations. By the end of the project, you should have a certain level of rapport with the client that asking for feedback should be okay. Their answers will be limited to that project, but they can be helpful. If they had a problem getting a hold of the crew or getting information then that might be something that must change. However, if everything was fantastic then there is nothing you can really do.

The construction industry is built on relationships and reputations, that’s why it’s so important to continue meeting and exceeding customer expectations on every job site. It’s a service industry, even if it doesn’t feel that way, as such customers and clients are the lifeblood of the industry. A bad reputation from clients can be detrimental to any business, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be turned around or salvaged.