Recently one of our customers ordered a picture window unit for what she called her “dream bathroom.” She chose the decorative glass from a catalog knowing it would cost more and take longer to get than a unit with frosted glass.
After we installed the window, the client called to say, “This isn’t the window I ordered.” In fact, it was the window she ordered but the size and proportion of the opening didn’t produce the visual effect she’d seen in the catalog. After some discussion, she said, “Well, I guess that will be OK” — a sure sign that it’s not OK. So we asked more questions. It became clear that she wasn’t really happy and felt we had let her down.
We could have walked away, but when a customer feels they didn’t really get what they wanted, you can forget about any future work or referrals. So we looked for a solution. We asked the manufacturer to create renderings and worked with the client until the unit looked the way she wanted. This took several months, and we communicated with the client by e-mail or phone every seven to 10 days.
When the new window was delivered to our office, we double-checked everything and installed it within 24 hours. The homeowner was ecstatic and called to say that her dream remodeling job was now exactly as she wanted it.
The extra time and effort spent solving this problem was worth it in the end. If we hadn’t listened carefully, worked on a solution, and communicated well with the homeowner, we would have lost any future business and referrals.
—Alberta Leone is sales manager at Franzoso Contracting, in Croton on Hudson, N.Y. Franzoso Contracting monitors customer satisfaction by surveying all their customers. To see a complete summary of their customer feedback, check out their GuildQuality profile.
