5 ways a digital wrap is better than a truck wrap
You may have seen the story behind this image that has been spreading through television and the Internet. In case you didn’t, the short version is that a plumber in Texas traded-in his company truck, thinking he had an agreement with the buyer that they would remove the truck wrap before it left their facility. […]
Is going completely paperless the best customer experience?
Many of our prospective and current customers tell us that they want to go completely paperless. On this surface this sounds desirable, but does it really make sense, and is going completely paperless the best customer experience? I relate this to my experiences when going to a restaurant. I had the perfect mix of a […]
Highway to success: The power of customer satisfaction
Your service contracting or field service company is a car casually driving down the highway to success, but the online giants are changing the rules and the road at a breakneck pace. For example, our blog post Google Home Services and its Impact on Small and Medium Businesses summarizes one of Google’s latest changes that […]
Customer experience is more important to your service business than customer service
Let’s play a word association game. When I say “customer service” what comes to mind? For me, it’s a toll-free phone call, entering a bunch of information on the telephone keypad, then retelling it all to a human, once you get through to one. Customer service is often limited to service delivery, or where you […]
The rocky road to crazy customer loyalty – practical tips to brand freedom
No one can serve two masters, and sometimes the road to serving only one can be rocky and painful. This difficult transition was illustrated to me in colorful detail recently by a shrewd and successful service contractor in the kitchen equipment service industry. During the course of an entertaining conversation, I proclaimed that the role […]
Nearby now & ServiceTrade can improve your local search results
Consumers no longer turn to the yellow pages, newspaper ads, or direct mail to find the best service contractors. Instead, they turn to Google to answer the question “Who should I call?” To address this change ServiceTrade is happy to announce an integration with Nearby Now, a tool that helps the best service contractors showcase their great reputation online and improve local search results. […]
What is an inspection worth? About 2X what you are being paid!
I recently went to Vegas, but I was not there to gamble away my kids’ college funds. Instead, I was participating in the annual western region meeting of the National Association of Fire Equipment Dealers (NAFED). During the meeting, an interesting narrative regarding the value of an inspection job versus the value of repair work […]
Selling services? Consider adding fine wine and Artisanal cheese
As the Internet shrinks the world and arms consumers with information on how much things should cost, the service contractor’s service area will shrink as well. Customers will have information on which contractors are nearby, and they will make judgments on who can likely deliver the service for less due to lower expenses for travel time. Customers will also […]
Amazon plumbing? Google HVAC? Navigating the digital service contracting landscape.
What does it mean when two of the biggest names in Internet technology jump into the service contracting business? It means that service contracting is a huge and lucrative market that is due for a shake up (or a shake down, depending on your perspective). Amazon and Google are both taking on initiatives that will […]
Introducing the digital wrap: Deliver more service calls to get more service leads!
Want More Service Call Leads? Deliver More Service Calls! There is an old saying in sales “Activity yields Activity”. The more outbound calls you make, the more inbound calls you receive. The more conversations you have, the more clients you will gain through the insights those conversations yield. The same holds true for service calls. […]