Asking for referrals or asking if you can provide any extra work for a customer is not the most fun part of being an owner or a manager. But it is a necessity for field service businesses to continue to increase their revenue, and grow their client base. If you sit back and don’t take the initiative, your competitors could swoop in and offer services you hadn’t yet tried to upsell. Worse yet, your customer may choose to go to your competitor for all of their services to get everything done through one company.
However, over-asking can also be a potential issue. You should not reach the opposite end of the spectrum where you are continuously calling or looking for upsells. You want to keep the relationship you have going and not burden your customers with sales pitches.
One of the best ways I have found to reach out and offer upsells is to complete check-ups on your customers. By doing check-ups, you are accomplishing a few different things:
- First, you are able to provide great customer service by showing interest in the customer and how their property is doing. Checking in, addressing any concerns or issues customers had with how the job was, and just simply asking what could be done better are all great things to address with the customer. Hear what they have to say and really take it into account for the next job you do. Your customers are your source of information. If you cannot be at each job site, they can be the next best thing to tell you what they like and what they don’t.
- Secondly, if your customer is pleased with your company and the job done, you are able to personally ask for referrals when you are on site. Sending out an email or postcard is a useful tool, but asking in person seems to stick with people just a little bit more. Ask your customer to refer any friends, relatives, or neighbors they have that could benefit from your lawn care services. They may not have anyone right that second, but if you drive a company truck that is detailed with your logo and contact info, you are also setting yourself up for other potential customers to see you and your work.
- Thirdly, you can attempt to upsell at this point. But DO NOT be a pushy salesman. Your customers like you and work with you because they are comfortable with you. If you start to make them uncomfortable or they start to dread your phone calls for fear of a sales pitch, you will lose that comfort level, and in turn possibly even that customer.
Lawn care software is a great tool to keep track of all of this data. You can look up the customer’s history to see if they had issues or concerns that you should check in on. You can also see what work has previously been done at their property and offer suggestions as to other services you provide that they could benefit from.
It’s never easy asking for referrals or upsells, but by doing check-ups with your customers, you give yourself an easy in. You are on the property, giving you the advantage of seeing first hand what customers may need or benefit from. You are also showcasing your business and your work with your truck parked outside the property. Use the technique of check-ups to make the task of upselling and referral asking easier.