Asking consumers for their opinion of your services at the time of service is the only way to know what they really think of your performance — before they speak to their friends who tell them they could have gotten it done cheaper. It’s at that time that they really appreciate what you have done for them. As time goes on, their memories fade or their opinion is influenced by outside forces.

Nosy neighbors, friends, etc., always seem to pop up after consumers had service rendered to tell them that if they had called them before making an appointment for service, they could have had the service performed cheaper, better, etc. Of course, those people are never around when service is needed. 

The word “could” does not mean “would.” Whether the service from another PHC service contractor would have been cheaper and better is pure speculation based on circumstances that were not reflective of the conditions present at the time, and the services you provided to the consumer. 

By having consumers rate your company in writing at the time of service, you will not only have their real opinion of your business, but you will also have documentation of their real opinion. 

Survey consumers to gain insight

Set up an easy-to-use form that allows consumers to express their feelings about your business. Their opinions, when good, will positively affect your confidence and, when bad, will show you where change may be wise.

At the beginning of the form, an explanation of the reason for the form shows your good intentions. 

For example: We want to deliver the best service possible, and we need your assistance. Your opinion of our company is important. Please take a moment to tell us how we are doing by completing the questionnaire below and giving it to our technician at the time of this service. Your signature authorizes our firm to quote your ratings and comments to others. Thank you. 

By setting up the form with check boxes for their opinions on specific issues and allowing consumers to select from a range — outstanding, excellent, good, fair, poor and no opinion — makes it fast and easy to fill out.

The issues:

• Office helpfulness.
• Office courtesy.
• Timeliness of appointment.
• Technician appearance regarding neatness and cleanliness.
• Technician attitude regarding pleasantness and courtesy.
• Technician work style regarding neatness and cleanliness.
• Services performed.
• Professionalism.

Then, include the question that is always on everyone’s mind: What is your opinion of our prices at the time our technician performed your service(s)? For this issue, the consumer’s range should be more than expected, about right, less than expected and no opinion.

During my 40-plus years as a PHC contractor, I found that more than 90% of the time, consumers chose about right or less than expected. It should be noted that I wasn’t the cheapest guy in town. That was due to the fact that the aforementioned issues were more than 95% of the time seen as outstanding or excellent by consumers.

The next question to ask consumers is one that allows you to grow your business: Would you use our company again? Their choices should include yes, no and maybe. With this inquiry, you could add “or recommend us to others.”

Finally, leave space on the form for consumers to make additional comments. Giving them room for written comments will also shine a light on your company’s performance. Some of this information can help you with technician performance evaluations.

By tracking the results of these polls, you will have insight into what you are doing well and where you are not up to par in the consumers’ perception. You must take into consideration that some people will never give the highest mark, while others will.

Additionally, you must be able to rate their answers objectively. While it is their opinion of the subject, sometimes their answers are suspect. For example, if your technician arrives at the consumer’s home or business within an hour of the initial call to you, and the consumer does not rate your response time as outstanding, something is wrong with their mindset.

 As long as you perform top-quality work, you will probably be pleasantly surprised at their answers. 

Always have them sign the rating sheet and note the invoice and date to which it applies. This is important in protecting your ability to CYA — cover your assets.

Protect your reputation with documentation

As I have previously stated, I wasn’t the cheapest guy in town serving the public during my more than four-decade PHC contracting business experience.

That’s because of my ability to identify and calculate my true and legitimate business operational costs and to apply a proper profit margin to those costs. This placed my prices higher than those of mathematically ignorant so-called contractors who charged the going broke rate of equally mathematically ignorant contractors who followed the mathematically ignorant contractors who preceded them — and so on and so forth.

In those four-plus decades, I experienced the pleasure of being brought to court four times for my prices after consumers found out that they didn’t avail themselves of the services of the mathematically ignorant contractors who were not available to them when they wanted them. That’s about one every 10 years for a business that had seven service vehicles.

If each service vehicle performed for three consumers per workday, 21 consumers would have been served every workday. 

Since there are 244 workdays in a year, 5,124 consumers would have been served annually. That’s 51,240 in a 10-year period. 1 consumer ÷ 51,240 = 0.0000195%. That percentage is infinitesimal.

Because of my ability to run a business in a professional and exceptional manner, my prices were all quoted to consumers in writing that contained the prices, terms and conditions to which both my business and the consumer agreed prior to commencement of any service. And those contracts/invoices were signed by the consumer prior to the commencement of service.

You would think that consumers really had no legitimate cause to sue. And you would be right. The judges in each case agreed. My business’ documentation was beyond reproach.

In those cases, I presented the contract/invoice and the consumer survey that not only claimed that the consumer thought our prices were about right, but they also showed that our performance in all categories was, at the least, excellent. And each of those four consumers claimed they would use us again.

In one case, as one judge rendered his verdict in our favor, he comically added, “I don’t think they will be calling you back.” 

That complainant rushed out of the courtroom. And I didn’t, and wouldn’t, ever miss him again. When I was telling the story to a contractor friend, he told me that the same complainant had taken him to court for a similar reason. 

That consumer probably needed PHC services after that incident, but would never darken our doors again because he knew we were right. That was fine with me; I just wonder about the unsuspecting contractors who had to put up with him from that time on. 

Protect yourself, your reputation and your business by documenting your dealings so that you can CYA. Use contracts and invoices that are legal and binding with documentation such as the consumer perception form to back up your end of the story.