Many of our customers are – you guessed it – pretty busy this time of year. Sometimes that leads to the classic “boom or bust” model: there’s more work than you can handle right now, but come summer (or the end of your busy season), it’ll all dry up.
So how do you lay the foundation for work this summer? You just need to ask this one question on every maintenance or seasonal service job: “Is there any other work we could do for this customer?”
I know, it seems obvious, but here’s why that obvious question is worth a blog post:
- You need to train your technicians to ask it – and record the answer
- You need to have a process to store that “data” so you can efficiently find it later
- You need enough details to make contacting that customer more than a cold call
If you’re using paperwork (bad, bad paperwork), then include that question on the work order, or add a second sheet as a “system assessment”. This way you have the data, and you can give a copy of it to your customer as a complimentary service with their seasonal maintenance. Add in a few things about how their system checks out, and what areas may need attention. This way, when you call the customer this summer/next season, they’re already prepped for it!
You can also tailor the question to your industry. For example, if you’re in the green industry (irrigation/lawn care/landscaping), rain sensors – or full smart systems – are a great way to upgrade a customer. Have your technician answer the question “does this customer have a rain sensor?” Then you can reach out to them with a brochure on eco and cost friendly irrigation practices for their home, and by the way we’re offering a special price this month only on rain sensor installations! Voila!
Your seasonal maintenance, as busy as it may be, is an opportunity to secure work for your slower periods. Don’t waste it!
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PS. If you are using paper, consider talking to us about our field service management software. It allows you to automatically trigger questions like these, plus track all your time on each job. And the answers go into our CRM database, so you can easily find all this work when the time is right. Give us a shout to learn more.