American Home Shield 2004 Annual Report Download - page 17

Early on in my career, I learned a very important lesson from a customer. We were going
back and forth about something — I can’t even remember what — but I refused to give in
to his request, because I felt I was right. This customer called back a second time, still
trying to get what he wanted and I just dug my heels in deeper. Finally, he said, “John,
remember — I’m retired and I need something to do.” That said it all. He had all the time
in the world to call me and try to get what he wanted. I, on the other hand, was failing to
honor something that was obviously very important to him, and was also taking valuable
time away from my other customers.
Getting the first chance to satisfy customers is the easy part. After that, you have to earn
their continued satisfaction. Several years ago, I was in the doctor’s office for a physical.
When the nurse found out where I worked, she said, “I love you guys!” That kind of
reaction didn’t come from one call — it came from years of showing her what we could
do for her and her home.
Of course, I can’t make these things happen without great employees. I help keep them
focused on doing the right thing for the customer through a lot of communication. It’s
easy to lose focus unless you keep the priorities front and center for them — everyday.
The challenge of excelling with customers comes when you’ve made a mistake. One of
our customers called us for a basement remodel after their basement flooded. During
the job, we changed the location of some water pipes and needed to cut out some of the
paneling. Usually, this wouldn’t have been a problem except that we didn’t communicate
the relocation and the customer wasn’t expecting it. We took a big financial hit on that job,
but I didn’t want to risk doing the wrong thing for the customer. She had her expecta-
tions, we fell short of them, and it was our responsibility to make her whole again.
As well-known as we are in the community, we still have a lot of competitors that we have
to work hard to beat. To distinguish ourselves from them, we try to make the customer
experience as pleasurable and hassle-free as possible. For example, we keep extended
hours, we honor the ARS 2-hour arrival window, and we offer a very reasonably priced
service agreement. We clean up after ourselves in a customer’s home, too. Some have
said that we’ve left it cleaner than it was when we started! We’ve had customers who’ve
put off having a job done, but we try to make it easy for them so that when we’re finished
they’re left wondering why they waited so long.
I’ve worked with some customers for so long that I’m now working on their kids’ homes.
I like to think that I’ve come a long way since my retired customer taught me that lesson.
essays on values
Excel with Customers
John Aliano, Branch Manager, American Residential Services