The tough economy seems to have refocused a lot of the businesses I interact with – from restaurants to contractors and our vendors at the shop – on good customer service. Smart businesses never take a customer for granted. But a slowdown in business is a good reminder just how important each customer really is, and is a good time to establish or review your shop's customer appreciation efforts.
We try to let everyone who comes through our door know how much we would appreciate their business – and then thank them personally when they do choose us.
After all, a J.D Power and Associates survey last year of customers who have had an auto insurance claim found that customer satisfaction levels were 100 points higher (on a 1,000-point scale) among the 50 percent of customers who said someone followed up with them after they got their repaired vehicle back.Here are some of the ways we're letting our customers and potential customers know we appreciate them.
1. We had some cards printed with a collage of photos of all 10 of us who work at our shop. We handwrite a personalized note on one of those cards that we mail to potential customers the same day they come to the shop for an estimate. We thank them for bringing their vehicle by for an estimate and tell them we would like to help them with repairs. We invite them to call us if they have any questions. The cards go in the mail with a car-related postage stamp (when available) on the front of the handwritten envelope, and a sticker on the back that invites them to "get to know us" by visiting our Web site.
2. In addition to thanking them in person as they pick up their car, we also use an imprinted magnet and a rearview mirror hanger to let them know that we are making a charitable donation for every car we repair this year as part of our thank you to our customers and community.
3. We also send a handwritten card to customers thanking them for their business after they've picked up their repaired vehicle. Inside, we include our referral reward card, where we offer them a coffee house gift card (good for about a week's worth of espresso drinks) for every customer they refer to us. (The person they refer receives a gift card as well.) We've found the reward is effective not so much because they refer just to get one, but because it gets them thinking about referring others and lets them know how important customer referrals are to our business.
4. Our customers also receive a follow-up customer satisfaction survey call, and we receive that feedback the next day, which allows us to respond immediately to any concerns a customer may express via the survey. Any time a customer has to bring a vehicle back in for any reason, we follow up with a phone call about a week later just to apologize again for the inconvenience, to thank them for coming back in and to make sure we addressed the issue.
Our customers often tell us (and others) they like doing business with us, and we think our appreciation efforts are part of what keeps them coming back and sending others.
