3 Reasons to Follow up with Your Customers | A Guide for Home Service Companies

For local home service businesses, following up with customers is crucial. But small business owners are juggling a million and one tasks managing every department of the company. It's easy for follow-ups to slip through the cracks.

Following up with your customers should be one of your top priorities, especially if growth is one of your main goals. Here are 3 reasons why.

Keeps your business top of mind

Home services are commoditized. When a homeowner needs a repair or installation, they're probably not going to spend a ton of time debating which company to book the job with.

To them, you're just another plumber or HVAC technician. Sure, they'll read reviews to make sure you're trustworthy. They'll check your pricing page to make sure you're affordable. But ultimately, every plumber and HVAC technician in town all offer the same services. Which means service-based differentiation alone isn't enough to outshine your competitors.

This is precisely why the competition is so stiff among local home improvement businesses. Small companies within this industry must work twice as hard to win and keep customers. It's not enough to assume that a customer will come back just because they booked a job with you in the past.

Following up with your customers keeps you top-of-mind. The next time they need a repair or a tune-up, they'll remember you went the extra mile to double-check that they were satisfied. Which means they'll be more likely to choose you again.

Establishes trust with new customers

Yes, home services might be commoditized. But customers also want to make sure the business they choose will respect their home. Major plumbing repairs could involve extensive digging in their yard or tearing out part of the wall to access a pipe. This is a huge, if necessary, inconvenience for homeowners. You have to prove you're trustworthy enough to enter their private space and carry out the job promptly and professionally.

Once the job is complete, a brief customer satisfaction survey is a great way to gauge the homeowner's experience. Customer feedback provides invaluable insights on how you can improve and better serve your customers. If your customer isn't satisfied, you can work with them to make things right. Making that effort to rectify customer dissatisfaction can win back 1 in 3 customers!

Generates more leads

Okay, so this benefit is technically the result of another benefit. If you follow up with your customer and get a glowing review, you can encourage that customer to refer your business to other homeowners. Throw in an incentive like a credit or discount on their next service appointment or a waived dispatch fee. Then all that's left to do is sit back and watch the referrals come in!

Clever ways to follow up with your customers

Following up with your customers doesn't have to involve calling them or sending a customer satisfaction survey after an appointment. (Although these aren't bad tactics, either.) With all the digital marketing tools out there, it's easier than ever to connect with your customers on their preferred platforms. Here are a few clever customer follow-up strategies that deliver value while asking for nothing in return.

Educational content

The average homeowner typically has limited knowledge of how to maintain their plumbing and HVAC systems on their own. Educational emails on common problems like fixing a jammed garbage disposal or reasons for a high energy bill can help homeowners anticipate, identify, and fix problems by themselves. Having that information will save them some time and frantic Googling when an issue arises. If the issue is outside of their expertise, they're more likely to call you in since you helped them in the past.

Birthday and holiday gifts

Show your appreciation for your customers with birthday and holiday gifts. These don't have to be particularly elaborate or expensive. Partner with another local business to offer a seasonal gift like a voucher for a free dessert. Give them a free maintenance appointment that they can redeem up to 6 months after their birthday. These are just a few examples — the possibilities are endless!

Giveaway announcements

Everybody loves free stuff. If you're running a contest or giveaway around the time of your customer's service appointment, don't forget to let them know. Even if you're not running a contest or giveaway at that time, it can't hurt to let your customer know in a follow-up call or email that you regularly run giveaways and contests to show your appreciation for your customers.

The importance of following up with your customers: wrapping up

Following up isn't rocket science. It's minimal effort that yields maximum rewards.

But for home service business owners managing every element of the business, implementing a follow-up process is yet another intensive task on a never-ending list. How helpful would it be to have a tool that handled customer follow-ups for you?

That's exactly what the ZyraTalk Growth Suite does: balances authenticity with automation to create smarter customer interactions. Stay top-of-mind, establish trust, and generate more leads — all without having to think about it or lift a finger.

Let ZyraTalk join your team and we'll handle customer follow-ups for you. Intelligent email automation, industry-specific email copy already written for you, hybrid web chat, reputation management — we thought of everything so you don't have to. Our platform is tailor-made for local home service businesses like yours. We've made it our mission to remove major marketing tasks from your list so you can spend more time and energy on what you do best: serving your customers and running your business.

Get in touch to discover how ZyraTalk can help you build better relationships with your customers to unlock explosive growth.