You Won’t Like This, But….Your Customers Care More About Their Experience Than the Work You Do

It’s real talk time….

More often than not, field service pros tend to think that the most important part of their job is providing excellent quality work and doing a good job in their chosen field. So if you’re a plumber that means unclogging drains and replacing piping with expertise, if you’re a carpet cleaner that means cleaning the carpet to sparkling perfection, etc. Make sense, right?….You take pride in your work and in your carefully honed professional skills. But….hear us out field service pros. Was there ever a time where you did amazing work and you received a bad review?Probably.

We all know that reviews can make our break our business. So, here’s a little known secret that’s going to change the way you interact with your customers and run your business: Your customers care more about the level of service they’re getting — and not just about the service itself. Yes. It’s true.

Don’t believe us? Let’s check out a few customer reviews on popular review sites to see exactly what we’re talking about (we’ve redacted all identifying information to ensure customer and company privacy.)

Here’s what your customers REALLY care about — in their own words

Review #1

What caught our eye:

• Field service pro was honest and professional
• Created trust
• Assessed the problem and came up with the best way to fix it
• Transparent about the job, work required and the method they used to fix the issue
• Has done several jobs for the customer

Review #2

What caught our eye:

• Field service pro broke their commitment
• Didn’t communicate delays / need to reschedule
• Customer was ghosted
• Customer’s trust was breached and no longer trusts the company

Review #3

What caught our eye:

• Field service pro was friendly
• Job was perceived as dirty / difficult by the customer
• Showed up on time
• Kept customer updated on work and progress

Review #4

What caught our eye:

• Field service pro was on-time and friendly
• Same day service
• Easy and fast service
• Very good at what they do
• Field service pro seems honest (don’t try to sell you something you don’t need)
• Will recommend to friends
• High chance they will reschedule with this company

Review #5

What caught our eye:

• Exceeded customer expectations with same day service
• Efficiently booked service with little hassle
• Polite
• Arrived early, waited until customer was ready
• Helped customer with work beyond the job description

Notice something interesting about these reviews? Because we did….

Most of the feedback left isn’t about the work performed — it’s about the level of service provided to customers and managing the expectations of customers. Or in other words: Your customers care just as much, if not more about the customer experience you provide them with, as the job you’re actually sent out to.

Don’t believe us? Take a look at any popular review site and see what customers are actually writing.

Most of the comments left will be about the service level you offered and not about the actual job itself.

Now, here’s why…..

Customers lack the technical knowledge to rate your job performance

More real talk: Most customers aren’t all that technically sophisticated, otherwise they’d actually be doing the job themselves.) Unless a customer professionally studied plumbing or roofing, they usually have no way to tell if a service professional really is “a true professional” or really did find the “best way to fix” their issue. For example, a customer has no idea if you’ve used the most top-of-the-line piping or the cheapest piping that will fall-apart in a year. Because of this, customers tend to rate your service based on the things that they can judge and criteria that they do understand.

At Workiz we call this the “non-work criteria.” So what does this “non-work criteria” include?

When it comes to job performance: Customers only notice what you tell them to

This is especially true in field service jobs that are “under-the-hood.” Think electricians, plumbers, alarm and security repair services, appliance repair, etc. Customers don’t have the technical skill or know-how how professional your work actually is.

But….

Customers will notice a job well done if it’s pointed out to them. How do you do this? Transparency. Don’t assume they know about the job you’re doing. Describe the difficulty level and the possible courses of action. Involve your customers. Describe why you’re choosing to go the route that you are. Answer any questions that they may have along the way. Yes, it might seem annoying at first, but this is necessary. Why? Well, because you’re marketing yourself and your professional expertise to your customers. Make sure your customers know what you do and remember what you do.

The “non-work criteria” that customers use to evaluate service

This is especially true in field service jobs that are “under-the-hood.” Think electricians, plumbers, alarm and security repair services, appliance repair, etc. Customers don’t have the technical skill or know-how how professional your work actually is.

But….

Customers will notice a job well done if it’s pointed out to them. How do you do this? Transparency. Don’t assume they know about the job you’re doing. Describe the difficulty level and the possible courses of action. Involve your customers. Describe why you’re choosing to go the route that you are. Answer any questions that they may have along the way. Yes, it might seem annoying at first, but this is necessary. Why? Well, because you’re marketing yourself and your professional expertise to your customers. Make sure your customers know what you do and remember what you do.

1. Punctuality
2. Excellent communication
3. A seamless booking experience
4. You’re neat, well-mannered and approachable
5. You seem fair

Can you think of ways you can improve the “non-work criteria” that customers use to evaluate your service? Do you agree that customers care more about their overall experience, rather than the work that you do? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.