Remembering a client’s name is a great way to build a business relationship with them. When we started doing domestic plumbing, my dad was always surprised when I recognized the person calling in to book in a job. I’d have a chat about how their kids were going or some random detail that I’d remember from being at their place the last time we called out. After I’d finish the call he’d ask me who I was speaking to and I’d tell him the client’s name and I’d get a blank face. Sometimes he knew who I was talking about. Often I’d explain ‘you’ll recognize them when you see them.’ There were a few different ways I was able to remember our clients. Here are some random things I’d remember about our clients. These enabled dad and I to partially know what we were in for and helped us prepare for the job.
1. Remember something unique about the client’s property. Whether it was a steep driveway or the house was an old Queenslander. I’d find something unique about the property and relate it back to the client. Remembering the property would give us a vague idea of how easy or difficult the job would be.
2. Remember the pets. I could remember the dogs and cat names of most of our clients. To jog my dad’s memory if he didn’t know who I was talking about, I would tell him the pets names and sometimes he would remember. Our conversation would go similar like this
Me: You know, they have the black dog called Coco.
Dad: Nup, don’t remember them.
Me: Yes, you do. Coco greets us at the gate every time we come to the house. And remember you got rid of a dead possum fetus Coco decided to bring back to her mat and the owner kindly asked you to get rid of it for her.
Dad: Oh yeah, I remember now.
Me: Smiling (I didn’t say that bit)
3. Remember the kids or the kid’s names. I’d be nosey about the kids when I’d visit a client’s home. But in good way. I was always interested to see what clients called their children and the children would always be interested in what dad and I were up to.
4. Remember if they paid their bills on time. It’s always good to be on top of who has paid their bills and who hasn’t. One particular client hadn’t paid us for 4 months and requested us to visit her again to fix a different problem. I had to politely decline the job and told her nicely I couldn’t afford to work for her if she couldn’t pay her bills. Remembering the client’s name, saved us from doing more work and not getting paid for it. Again.
5. Remember by the job. Usually I would remember the worst jobs. And if we did a good job fixing a particularly bad or hard job, we would be called again.
Usually a client will tell you their name when they ring you on the phone. It’s always nice to recognize the name when the client calls and ask about their kids or their pet or anything random that you might have learned about them when you visited last time. It makes the client valued if you can remember something unique about them. Although bringing up the reason you visited last time might not be a great idea if it was particularly embarrassing – like retrieving a flushed tampon that blocked the sewer.
Do you think it’s important for a tradie to remember your name if you’ve used them before? What other ways can tradies make you feel valued as a customer?
I’m linking up with With Some Grace for FYBF.
