Wisler Plumbing and Air

Serving Roanoke and surrounding areas.

Menu
Schedule Online
or call (540) 483-9382

The Most Counterintuitive Lesson That Helped Me in Business

customer satisfaction

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

When I think back to earlier in my career, I realize I was a very task-oriented person. Because I just wanted to get things done and move forward quickly, I’d get very frustrated by just ‘sitting around and communicating’. But over the years I’ve come to value communication more and more—being able to slow down and communicate with the team allows for things to get done at a very high level. This is one of the most counterintuitive lessons I’ve learned. It’s been said that you need to slow down to speed up. It’s true—I didn’t know it would work so effectively, but it has really come in handy over the years.

Without good communication, execution just doesn’t happen very well. Over the years we’ve tried to give more attention to making sure that the line of communication with our team members is well-established. Everybody needs to make the conscious choice to set aside time to train and get better. If we’re too busy to train, develop, and grow, then that means we’re definitely way too busy. We can all go a long way by just sharpening the axe and making sure we’re moving forward in the right direction.

Things are getting really busy right now in our industry, and it’s probably going to get even more challenging as the year goes on. That’s why it’s so important to have a culture that recognizes the importance of training. A lot of the people we hire value ongoing learning. In fact, we have two people dedicated to nothing but training within our organization. Training might not always be something that we want to get done, and it’s challenging to actually make time for it. The secret is to put it on the schedule and actually commit to carrying it through.

I also make myself very available to any of the team members. Of course, I can only be face-to-face with so many people, but our employees definitely have managers that they can turn to. They can also go straight to the training coordinator and request training directly from them.

If you have any questions, or if you need our team to address a plumbing or HVAC issue, just reach out to us by calling 540-483-9382 or requesting an appointment online.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Satisfaction guarantee is such a broad term for a company to use, so I want to talk about what it means to me and give some concrete examples. We’re in the customer service business (which is also a very broad term). If one of our clients is dissatisfied because we’ve failed them in some way, or if we set an expectation that we didn’t live up to, it takes a lot of humility to acknowledge it and say, “We failed you and we’re sorry.”

We make mistakes even though we strive so hard for perfection. Our teams overlook things, which can be easy sometimes with everything that’s going on. The mistakes we make—or our inability to deliver an expectation that has been given—is going to cause dissatisfaction. We always welcome a client to let us know if they aren’t satisfied because we really want to step up to the plate and do the right thing. We make it a high priority to try to respond to the customer within a few hours of learning their concern.

Over the last 6 to 12 months there’s been a couple of areas in the teams where we’ve struggled. It’s happened due to many different reasons—we’ve had a really wet, rainy year, and we’ve also had some staffing challenges. That has led to us not meeting expectations, with excavation being one example. When we dig a hole or work in someone’s yard, not getting the compaction done causes the dirt to settle. Around a month after a job, the settled dirt can result in a low spot in someone’s yard. (That’s definitely very frustrating for a client.) The wet year has been challenging for us because it’s very hard to compact mud. We’ve had a couple of clients call in and say they weren’t happy with the end product. We had to go back out and make sure we got the yard up to an acceptable level.

When we do a job, we’re focused on doing it right for our clients (even if that means losing money). Many times, the measuring stick of the client’s satisfaction is the best way to determine whether or not we did do the job right. We started offering HVAC last year and we now have a full year under our belt. There were (and still are) definitely challenges around staffing and growth in that area. As we hire new employees to join the HVAC team, we’ll see mistakes happen simply because a new employee may not have the full experience we anticipated. If a diagnosis was made improperly and the client tells us something isn’t working, we try to get right back out there. If there’s any uncertainty, we’re going to go out and review any work that was done by that technician.

We don’t want to make any assumptions. In a couple of occasions we’ve had to take ownership of a mistake and go back over everything with a fine-toothed comb. We want to make sure we’re proactive because we definitely don’t want to be surprised three months down the road when an issue has been going on unresolved. Those visits to a home cost money and take away from other areas as well, but we do them in the name of customer satisfaction and making sure we’re taking care of our clients.

If you want to work with a team that truly stands behind the satisfaction guarantee, reach out to us today. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Pricing is one of the more important topics for our clients. Sometimes it even causes us to have a strong emotional response. I think we could all agree that whenever we’re making a choice, especially if there’s money attached to it, we do a better job if there’s not too much emotion influencing our judgement. That’s one of the fundamental ways I think Straightforward Pricing helps our clients. Aside from removing complexity, it results in better decisions for a home’s long-term health.

Let’s compare Straightforward Pricing to time & material pricing, where the homeowner/client doesn’t initially have a clear idea how much the job is going to cost. It can be very nerve-racking and anxiety inducing. After all, the price is always going to be too much. We don’t want to spend anything on a plumbing or HVAC repair. Even if it only ends up costing $50, it’s still too much because it wasn’t in our budget. A homeowner’s anxiety level starts low with time & material, but it peaks at the end when you find out how much it ended up costing. After that, you might have emotions about the technician taking too long, or maybe not being as efficient as they should have been.

With Straightforward Pricing, the actual price is given upfront before any work happens. Your anxiety is going to peak at that point, but then it’s going to be lower as the repair is made. After all, there’s no pressure around variables you can’t control, like the efficiency of the technician, whether they came prepared, or how long they’re taking. I think this helps clients make better decisions simply because the overall anxiety level is lower through the whole process.

Uncertainty is stressful, especially if a homeowner has to wait until the very end of the repair. People like to be well-informed, and they don’t like to be surprised—especially when it comes to money. Time & material and other similar pricing methods charge for variables outside of the homeowner’s control, which doesn’t feel good and makes it more difficult to choose the best option. The homeowner might be forced into saying, “If you don’t have it on your truck now, then don’t bother. I’ll choose another option instead.” It might not be in their best interest, but they choose unwisely simply because they feel pressured to pick the faster and lest costly option.

We also believe giving a list of options to customers allows them to make better decisions. Let’s say you had a toilet that needed to be replaced. If we just asked if you wanted it to be replaced or not, that’s just a yes or no choice. You wouldn’t have any input about the cost of the toilet, or other tasks that might be done at the same time. We give the customer three or four options so they can pick the best fit. Time & material doesn’t allow that to happen because the price is unknown. Straightforward Pricing allows us to easily pinpoint how much each option will end up costing. It enables us to give very detailed options that empower the customer to make a decision that’s best for their situation.

We apply Straightforward Pricing to both plumbing and HVAC. If you have any questions, contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Sometimes companies can be fearful of talking about a topic like satisfaction guarantees for a couple of reasons. One is because if someone is not satisfied, we have to take ownership of our mistake, and that doesn’t always feel very good. Another reason is because we can be fearful of people taking advantage of a company’s guarantee.

Our satisfaction guarantee is there to remove the risk of people doing business with us. If we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, there’s zero risk in choosing us. We’re a team of humans, so we’re imperfect and we do mess up sometimes. As we’ve always learned, the main thing isn’t the adversity itself—it’s how you respond to it that really matters. We’ll do what we need to in order to resolve any concerns.

In my experience, I’ve found that people don’t want to take advantage of you. It turns out that clients are truly concerned that we’ve done something wrong and we need to take ownership of it. For example, we deal with excavation and sometimes rainstorms will cause mud to run somewhere it’s not supposed to be. We try to answer those concerns and get them resolved promptly, but it can be very difficult when working with Mother Nature. Because the client’s satisfaction is very important to us, we try do do whatever we can to resolve the situation.

Not too long ago, we had a job where we were busting up the concrete in a home. We have a process to keep the dust level down, but unfortunately, we dropped the ball in that area and there was a dust issue in the home. We fielded the customer’s concern, addressed the issue, and got the area cleaned up. We did what we needed to do in order to leave the customer satisfied.

I’m working on a situation right now because we subcontracted a pipe lining company from eastern Virginia to line a sewer 12 years ago. We applied the appropriate warranty to the lining, which was 50 years. Unfortunately, the subcontractor isn’t standing behind the work they did. So we are standing behind it. The bottom line is, when I look at the quote that was given to the customer, it clearly and simply states the work done and the warranty we provided. It’s costing us a great deal of money now, but I was personally in that client’s home and I said we would do the right thing to resolve her concern.

The customer agreed to work with us because they had confidence that the problem would be resolved and wouldn’t come up again in the future. Even 12 years later we’re still making sure our commitment is being honored. Sometimes an issue isn’t really resolved and we have to do extra work at our own expense. We must make the choice to do the right thing, even though it might not always be very fun.

If you have any questions, contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

One of the most frustrating things for a homeowner is setting up an appointment for a service person to come to their home and they don’t show up, show up late, or don’t follow directions. We focus on being on time, and we give a two hour window in which we will arrive. We also try to notify people when we’re on our way. I really think meeting our client’s needs comes down to dispatching correctly. It’s important that the people fielding the customers’ requests are well-trained in asking the right questions so we best understand the issue you’re dealing with, how serious it is, and exactly what we need to do. Asking the right questions is vital to making sure someone’s needs are properly met.

Next, we need to make sure we send the right person to your home. We’re very much aware of how the technician we send could make or break the customer’s experience. (Nobody likes it when a technician seems incompetent or when it’s the first time they’ve ever seen the issue.) We assess the task that needs to be done and assign it a skill level. We also assign a skill level to every technician (because everyone is slightly different). Then we try to match up the right technician with the right task to make sure we’re sending a competent person to every home.

A lot of times people think that a company will dispatch its technicians to cover a certain radius. A technician in South Roanoke would just run all the calls in that area for the day, right? Well, not exactly. We do not focus primarily on the location of the call as much as we do the skill level necessary to do the job correctly and meet the customer’s needs. So we may have technicians passing each other by on the way to calls. This is all about making sure the customer has a satisfactory experience.

We make these choices when coordinating our technicians because our time is valuable and our homeowner’s time is valuable. We want to make sure that we’re doing our absolute best. Sometimes we do have to make multiple visits, and sometimes we don’t get everything quite right over the phone. But I’d like to think that the vast majority of the time we’re able to do it well and make sure that the customer’s problem is solved.

If you have any issues with your plumbing or HVAC systems, you can always reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing. Just contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

There are definitely more benefits to a tankless water heater than any potential disadvantages, so I’ll get the two cons out of the way. First and foremost, if your residence doesn’t have either natural gas or LP gas, and electricity is all that’s available, you can take tankless water heaters off of the table (unless you’ve already decided to add gas to your home). This can definitely be a frustration point when choosing a new water heater. Tankless water heaters that use natural gas or LP gas are the only effective option. Unless it’s a secondary getaway cabin that doesn’t get much use, we do not recommend electric tankless water heaters.

The other con is the sheer upfront cost of a tankless water heater. Of course, you’ll get a lot of benefits by investing in a tankless water heater, but it’s going to be one of the most expensive options. You’d have to factor in what you’re actually getting for what you’re spending upfront in order to justify the cost. With those two potential cons out of the way, let’s get into all the benefits you’ll experience by deciding to get a tankless system.

The small size of the system is one of the first benefits that comes to mind. A tankless water heater hangs on the wall, which frees up the space where a larger tank system would be. This is especially useful in an apartment or smaller residence where space is at a premium. (Some tank water heaters can be unusually large in size, too.) In the right situation, like in a closet, it can really make a big difference.

Next, the lifespan of a tankless water heater is nearly twice that of a tank water heater. Yes, it’s much more of an upfront cost, but it starts to pose a very attractive cost of ownership over its lifespan. Going from a 50 gallon electric water heater to a gas tankless water heater can actually save 70% on your electric bill. If running your tankless water heater would cost about $180 a year, an electric tank water heater would have definitely exceeded $600 a year (or more, based on age). It’s a big overall cost savings when you combine the total cost of ownership and overall efficiency.

One of the coolest benefits of a tankless water heater pertains to something we’ve all experienced at least once. Think back to the last time the hot water ran out and you had to take a cold shower. A tankless water heater provides endless hot water as long as you provide some kind of fuel and power. You can fill up a large soaking tub in one go, take a long shower, or let several family members take consecutive showers without running out of hot water. Those things might not have been practical with a tank water heater. It’s really great when you don’t have to wonder if you’re going to have to take another cold shower.

If you have any questions about tankless water heaters, or you’re trying to decide which is best for your home, contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

Diamond Club

Our Ads

Jobs

Blog