Make every interaction count to help build your overall customer experience

“Make every interaction count, even the small ones. They are all relevant.” – Shep Hyken

The pandemic has forced some industries to the brink of extinction while allowing others to flourish at unprecedented levels. One of those industries is home improvement.

As people found themselves at home more than they’d ever been before over the last year, they started to notice the “imperfections” of their environment and suddenly the industry exploded.

Halfway through 2020, searches for home improvement companies were up almost 50% and according to Porch.com, 3 out of 4 homeowners surveyed completed a major renovation project since the start of Covid-19, and roughly the same percentage already have one scheduled.

With this flurry of new business, one might hope that home improvement companies have not lost a critical business practice – to make every interaction count. To be attentive to customers and responsive in a timely manner without insulting the customer’s intelligence with insincerity. But sadly, they have.

When companies are as busy as they are right now, they’re not concerned with building their pipeline of new business, because they already have more business than they can manage.

But that metaphorical “line of customers” will not be there forever and at some point, the bottom always drops out of the market and you’re left wondering why you suddenly have no work on the books into the foreseeable future.

I’ve been in marketing a long time and if there’s one thing I’ve learned that’s been invaluable in so many situations it’s this. If you want to create an amazing customer experience, the customer needs to know that you’re listening to them not some of the time, but all of the time.

My wife and I have begun our own home improvement journey. We’ve done the research, taken the time to educate ourselves on processes and procedures, and felt like the time was right to engage with a home improvement company to begin exploring options.

Thus far, the process has been anything but pleasurable. Yes, I understand that companies are busy, overwhelmed even. I also understand that I’m just one more “project” in a long line of other projects. But that doesn’t mean I deserve to be ignored when I reach out to you or made to feel as though I’m taking up your precious time when we finally do connect.

Far too many companies today have forgotten just how important it is to make every interaction count. To provide a customer experience that goes beyond their expectations to build your brand through word-of-mouth marketing (the most valuable and least expensive kind!).

The overflow of customers that home improvement companies are enjoying is not the norm and someday soon they will fade away with another calendar year.

Companies should remember to make every interaction count by making sure that everyone who reaches out to them for a new business request is validated, recognized, and heard.

Customers may forget what your gallery of images looked like online, but they will never forget how you made them feel.