Client Expectations: The Risk of Going “Above and Beyond”

As computer repair business owners, most of us have a goal of taking care of our clients and client expectations.  In our eagerness to help, sometimes we set unrealistic expectations.  Once we do that, “above and beyond” becomes “expected and required.”  Here are some typical pitfalls you might find yourself in and how to avoid them. The key is to set policies and make exceptions as needed.

Why Haven’t You Called Me Back?

When you’re first starting out, you’re hungry for clients.  When the phone rings you pick it up in excitement.  The client isn’t sure if the phone even rang.  You immediately speak with them and either resolve the issue or set the appointment.

A few years down the road as your business grows, the client can’t reach you right away.  Maybe your phone goes to voicemail or maybe you’ve hired an answering service or a receptionist.  Now the client is annoyed they can’t speak to you. They feel you’ve gotten too big to take care of their needs and go elsewhere. The client expectations were set too high by you, so when you fail to deliver, they blame you.

Solution:  Don’t Rush, It Can Wait.

It seems counter-intuitive at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense.  Ever go into a restaurant at dinner and see it empty.  Makes you wonder about the quality of the food. Some businesses use smaller parking lots and smaller stores to make the place seem busy.  People are attracted to successful businesses. The way you handle the caller on the phone determines whether you convert them to a customer.

If a client is so impatient that they can’t leave a message, then the first time you don’t immediately pick up, they’ll go to a less-busy company.  They’re not loyal.  Set a standard window for callbacks, let your clients know and even put it in your voicemail message.  Once you set that expectation for callbacks, you can always exceed it.  The bonus I’ve found in waiting a while for a callback is a client might solve the problem themselves.  At first, that seems like lost revenue, but if the problem was that simple, they would have canceled the service call anyway.

Immediate callbacks by the business owner or manager aren’t sustainable long-term.  If you’re already doing it, stop.  Get in the habit of waiting or using a service. I hate answering services when I call a doctor or another professional.  The service doesn’t know me so I explain a bunch of details.  When I can just leave a message, I’m more likely to give more information.  Your mileage may vary. Some computer business owners swear by answering services while I tend to swear at them.

I Don’t Care If It’s the Evening, Weekend or a Holiday.  Call Me!

It’s a weekday evening and you’re at your child’s soccer practice.  For me, it’s dinner with the inlaws.  You can only check Facebook so often.  We’re looking for an escape and then the phone rings.  Saved!  It’s a client so you have to take this call. Just like your callback schedule, when you return calls outside of your business hours, people expect it.  If you don’t return a call in the evening, they’ll keep calling. They’ll text.  Heck, they might even stop by your home.  Yes, this happened to me once early on.  You’ll find this more with residential customers, which may be one reason to fire them.  Small businesses though often work after hours, so it’s no guarantee they won’t expect that extra service.

Solution:  Tell Clients Your Callback Hours.

Right on your voicemail tell them the phone support hours such as “We return calls from 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday.”  Feel free to charge people for emergency callbacks.  If you want to take those kinds of calls, go for it.  Realize it’s something extra of value to clients and they should pay.  Most professionals charge double rate for after hours.

Once you set those expectations, feel free to make exceptions.  As long as the client knows it’s not typical for an after-hours callback, call them back.  After all, you want an excuse to leave the table sometimes.  I often tell clients “I was trying to get a jump on the day tomorrow and saw your message.”  They appreciate the callback and sometimes compliment me on my organization.

If you call the client back without explaining your policy, they’ll start to expect after-hours callbacks.  Not only do they not know the policy, but you are reinforcing their behavior with the callback.

Why Can’t I Call or Text You Directly?

You know this client.  They call your mobile phone or your technician’s mobile phone rather than call your business number.  They might just text. This creates more work for you since you need to fill out a ticket to track time and billing.  You’ve shifted the responsibility to yourself and taken work off the client’s plate without billing them. While that’s generous of you, it’s not the way to run a business.  If you don’t establish boundaries not just in time, but communications, clients believe they can contact you anywhere.  I made this mistake early on.  Clients stopped me during dinner, at religious services, and even my home.  Yes, a client saw my car in the driveway and figured out where I live.  One client even called my spouse at work when I wasn’t answering.

Solution:  Don’t Reward These Behaviors

It’s simple enough even a dog can learn it.  You wouldn’t think of giving a dog a treat when they behave badly, only when they behave properly.  So when you “reward” your client by responding to such messages they don’t know there is anything wrong.

While we support texting as a method of contacting us, we don’t allow clients to text or call our technicians directly.  Clients do it but aren’t rewarding with a response.  They may call to complain they didn’t get a response.  We like that complaint because then we can educate them on the best ways to reach us.

I Have To Wait How Long For My Fix?

Just like your phone procedures, early on you’re fixing computers as soon as possible.  Same day?  No problem!  Within the hour?  Sure!  As you get busier or get more complex problems, that client is balking they have to wait 24 hours for a repair.  Even if everyone else in town is quoting 3 days or more, the client’s upset it took so long. Their first interaction with you set the client expectations, so you can’t blame them for the next repair taking twice as long for the first.

Solution: Underpromise and Overdeliver

Sure if you’re busy you can get it done that day.  If you’ve got a large project later in the week it might be advantageous for you to do it right now.  That doesn’t mean you have to tell the client that.  If you’d like them to expect a 3-day turnaround, then quote them that.  If you want to charge an extra-fee for quicker delivery, charge that fee consistently even if you aren’t busy. We’ve covered some of these options before.

If you get it done ahead of schedule, let them know that while it is usually a three-day turnaround, you’re delighted to have been able to do this a little faster due to the project load.   They’ll keep that mindset of three-days when scheduling repairs.  If they give you the “but last time” then you can remind them the quote remained the same but the delivery was an exception.  You didn’t charge them last time for a quicker turnaround, but they can certainly pay for that if you offer it.  Be sure to check out more tips to manage clients who are in a hurry.

You Didn’t Charge Me Last Time For This!

Those quick questions can pile up.  Clients don’t always know that a question is complex.  Sure, if it’s a simple yes or no you might not charge, but the client doesn’t know what qualifies as a simple question.  The classic “have you tried rebooting?” probably shouldn’t be billable, but that’s only if it fixes the problem.  If rebooting doesn’t fix it, you’ve got a service call on your hands.

Solution:  Bill Them, But Then Don’t Collect

Instead, even yes or no questions should be tracked in your CRM.  Even if it takes more time to track than it does to answer, you still want that information.  That helps you know if someone is asking for free advice or is a paying customer.  Even if they ask a short question once a week, those calls pile up.  You need to track those and either bill them or offer them a managed service plan.  Tracking those “freebies” lets you document the gift you gave them should they complain in the future.  You can tell them exactly how much you gave them for free.

If you don’t charge for the answer, still provide them with a ticket and an invoice.  That sets the client expectations:  they’re billed for your time even with small questions. Come up with the amount you’d charge them if they called every day with that type of question.  If you have a minimum service charge, apply it.  Then if you want to give it away to the customer, mark the invoice as paid.

I mark this as a marketing expense.  It’s like free samples you get at the grocery store or a coupon your local restaurant might put in the paper.  Discounts and gifts help you build loyalty with a customer and thank them for that loyalty.  The client needs to know you’re giving something away of value, otherwise, they may not appreciate it and even take advantage of your generosity.

Key: The Ability to Surprise and Delight

While that might be a buzzword in marketing, the fact is customers love it.  When you’re at a restaurant and you randomly get a free dessert or your barista tells you “it’s on the house” you appreciate it.  If the coffee’s always free or dessert is always included, it’s no longer special but expected.  If suddenly they run out of dessert, you’re probably disappointed.

Set Client Expectations and Exceed Them on Occasion

Once you’ve got your client’s expectations in line, feel free to do something special, literally.  If they offer to pay you for a quick question over the phone, tell them you appreciate their business and let it slide. That doesn’t mean you don’t document it.

If they have an emergency and you respond after hours, you might decide not to charge them this time.  They’ll appreciate the fact you appreciate their business.  Just let them see the bill if you would have charged.

Your time and knowledge are valuable.  If you’re successful as a computer repair business owner, you’ll need to teach clients that right at the beginning.  If you’ve been in business a while, there is no time like the present to start reminding clients of that.  The longer you wait, the harder it will be to retrain them.

Written by Dave Greenbaum