|
David and Helene Blowers hired a handyman to replace the bay window in their Charlotte, N.C.-area home two summers ago, and the job quickly turned sour. Even after feeding him a home cooked meal, the handyman left the couple with a gaping hole, an exaggerated bill and a backyard full of trash. “It was a complete nightmare,” Helene says.
It’s experiences like the Blowers’ that have made general repairmen the third-most-complained-about industry in America, frets Andy Bell, founder of Handyman Matters, a contractor franchise company. “It’s embarrassing,” says Bell, whose business has spread to 110 markets nationwide since “
There’s a huge gap between consumers’ feelings about craftsmen and vice versa, and that creates a lot of wreckage for the industry. Our mission is to transform expectations.”
The market is ripe for change. In the next 10 years, the number of homeowners is expected to grow from about 73 to 84 million. That statistic, combined with the ever-increasing age of the average home, currently 33 years, is spurring home-improvement spending exponentially. And not everyone is a do-ityourselfer, so businesses such as Handyman Matters, Mr. Handyman International and a host of others have stepped in to meet homeowner demand with know-how, experience and etiquette. That’s right — etiquette. Gone are the days of overlooking late arrivals, crude behavior and the infamous plumber’s crack. Consumers expect today’s repairman to be courteous, professional-looking and display manners that would make mom proud. “Bad etiquette is a showstopper,” says Chris Koch, owner of a Handyman Matters franchise in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. “It doesn’t matter how good the product is — bad etiquette will ruin the experience for someone and remove the possibility of a return call.”
“We emphasize quality above all else, but when you add polite and pleasant, it makes for a much better situation,” adds Bell, who instructs his contractors to leave project areas cleaner than when they arrived. “It is a complete intrusion to have someone operating in your home, and we can minimize that intrusion by being careful, confident and clean.”
Chris Seman, national director of operations for Mr. Handyman International, ranked in 2004 by Entrepreneur magazine as the fastest growing company in the home repair industry, agrees. “The service culture in this country has declined with more emphasis being placed on price,” he says. “Our focus from day one has been to return a high level of customer service to the homerepair industry, and within a couple of years, I think we will have achieved that 100 percent.”
Seman says many of today’s repairmen come from a non-service background, having worked on crews without much personal contact, so he places great emphasis on training his technicians in the ways of customer service, and no action is overlooked. “You’d be surprised how many repairmen don’t even take their sunglasses off,” says Seman, who instructs his employees to make eye contact and smile throughout every conversation with the customer.
Dale Hutchison, who co-owns a Mr. Handyman franchise with his wife, Marlene, in Charlotte, N.C., trains his technicians to remember they’re working on someone’s home, not merely a house. “Communication is key,” he says. “Our goal is to forge a relationship with our customers so they feel comfortable and secure in the idea that we’re providing real value to them. I think today’s consumers have every right to demand the utmost in courtesy and respect from the service providers they invite into their home”.
Bell has created a checklist outlining courteous responses for every situation he can think of. For example, he instructs all of his handymen to take two steps back from the front door after ringing the bell and to have a business card out and ready. And if a mom asks him to watch her child for just a second while she runs out, it’s an immediate “no,” no questions asked. Another zero-tolerance situation is one where just a minor is at home. Bell’s steadfast rule is that if no adults are present, no work is done. “This is a litigious society,” says Bell, whose repairmen have not only been asked to baby-sit but also save animals and put out fires — literally. "We don't want to put anyone in a compromising situation".
Mr. Handyman International technicians are also taught to bring up trash cans if the garbage has been collected; grab the newspaper; walk on the sidewalk, not the lawn; and respect the daily routines of customers. “The majority of our clients are women, so we instruct our guys to knock instead of ringing the doorbell on afternoon appointments so as not to disturb napping children,” Seman says.
Gary Rich, a Mr. Handyman International franchisee in Chicago, says he’s seen customers’ levels of expectation rise just in the three years since he joined the industry. “Our satisfaction scores are consistently 90 percent plus, but there’s always room for improvement,” he says.
Handyman Matters franchisees run background checks on every repairman that applies for work, Bell says, and 70 percent routinely fail. Needless to say, those candidates don’t make the final cut — providing just another example of how the industry is changing for the better. The prevailing rule for hiring a contractor used to be, “Get three estimates and pick the one in the middle,” Bell says. "Today, there’s a lot more to it".
After their run-in with the handyman from hell, the Blowers decided to join Angie’s List in order to find contractors who are honest, courteous, respectful and deliver what is promised. So far, they haven’t been disappointed. As Helene says, “The companies that value the customer and take that extra step [of emphasizing etiquette] are the ones that will ultimately succeed.”
Essential Etiquette
Standardization in the home-improvement industry has prompted some contractors draft a set of rules guiding their conduct and keeping customers at ease in their presence. Among them:
- Wear standard uniforms identifying company affiliation.
- Have a business card out and ready.
- Bring up trash cans if the garbage has been collected, grab the newspaper and respect the daily routines of customers.
- Don booties or put down tarps to protect floors.
- Don’t render services if adults aren’t present.
- Don’t smoke in or around customers’ homes.
- If listening to loud music, wear headphones.
- Be considerate about parking on the property or street.
- Leave project areas cleaner than when you arrived.
- Remove sunglasses.
- Make eye contact with customers.
- Smile.
- Walk on sidewalks, not grass.
- Maintain phone contact with customers on day of appointment.
|
