The Secrets to Follow-Up Calls

When it comes to customer
follow-up calls, let’s first talk about “who” you should call. You should call
all first-time customers (even if they just came in for an oil service) to
thank them for choosing your facility. Secondly, you should call all
“repair” customers to confirm that the repair, and the quality of your service,
met with their expectations.

Who should you not call?
Repeat customers who had nothing more than maintenance service provided. We’ve
found that most customers don’t appreciate follow-up calls regarding “oil
services.”

Who should make the calls? In a
perfect world – the service advisor. Not only does he or she know the customer
and the service that was provided, but when the doctor calls the patient, it
sends a strong message that the doctor cares. The exceptions are when a sale is
lost, or you sense that there may have been an issue with a customer. In
these cases, the owner or manager should call.

And of course, owners or managers
should still make random follow-up calls to ensure that the service advisors
are doing a great job with the customers, and accurately reporting.

If you hire an outside person to
make the calls, make sure that you pay them by the hour and not per call.
Otherwise, you’ll run the risk of having them rush through the calls.
When these calls are made, you need to learn three things: If the customer was
pleased with the service, if the repair met their expectations, and what
you can do to improve your services.

When should you call? Early
the evening is typically best. When answering machines pick up, you’ll need to
leave a professional message that closes with, “If you have any questions at
all, or if there is anything else we can do to help, please don’t hesitate to
call us at 858-756-3102. That number again … is 858-756-3102.”