Top 5 customer pet peeves

Working in a service industry means you are dealing with customers on a daily basis. Good businesses thrive on happy customers, and happy customers love to promote good businesses. If you learn to provide excellent service without any hiccups, customers will continue to come back.

We recently surveyed various HVAC customers and discovered their Top 5 pet peeves. Avoid these deal breakers, and make every customer's experience a positive one.

1)    Arrive on time. You can never be reminded enough to arrive promptly. The customer's time is precious and so is yours. Don't get started on the wrong foot by showing up late to an appointment.

2)    Know your stuff. Be able to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to fix the customer's problem. Nobody appreciates calling a technician for help, to later discover they can't actually help. If you aren't able to provide adequate service, point the customer in the direction of someone who can.

3)    Be honest. If you don't know the answer to a question or how to fix the specific problem, let the customer know. Honesty is always the best policy in these situations. Also, be honest when evaluating the amount of work that needs to be done. Do not try and up-sell customers for services/products they don't need. In the end this will result in the loss of the customer's trust and their future business.

4)    Advertise properly. Do not advertise a special or promotion and not honor it. Keep a close eye on how long your advertisement is running and plan your specials accordingly. Nothing irritates a customer more than being robbed of a good deal.

When customers complain, don't get defensive. When working in the sales industry, your golden rule is: the customer is always right. If a customer is unsatisfied with your work/service, do not get defensive. Instead, correct the mistake while being kind and apologetic.