References/Testomonials

Boogga

I'm looking into putting together a form so at the end of a job I can hand it to the owner so I get a testomonial of them. Does anyone have examples and examples of questions you'd ask on the form? Or do you ask for them to write up a reference? How do you go about recieving it? Thanks, talk to you all soon.

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RCPainting

http://www.contractortalk.com/showth...ustomer+survey
Mike made some excellent points here.

Ed the Roofer

3 other things to remember about the end of job evaluation for customer satisfaction form;

Add a line at the bottom that states that if it is not returned within 7 days, the job wil be considered satisfactorily completed.

This prevents the never ending punch list scenario.

Also, have a 2nd pen available and hand it to them and say, "Here, fill this out while I am completing your warranty paperwork." If you just leave it there for them to mail back in the future, it usually does not get done.

Have a spot requesting 1-3 peoples names that you can send an introduction letter to as a referral to build up your direct mail data base.

Leave plenty of room for them to fill in their own comments besides the basic yes/no or 1 through 5 rating questions.

That becomes your written testimonials pages then.

Ed

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DavidC

I like Ed's approach, sounds very professional and includes a safety block for the punch list.

Our approach is less formal. I will conduct a closing interview after receiving the final check and ask these 4 questions.

1. What did you like the most about this entire project?

2. What did you like the least about this entire project? (brace yourself, sometimes needed info is presented here)

3. If you were to do this all over again, what would you do different?

4. May we add your name to our reference list?

They usually say yes. Then I remind them that I strongly urge people to call at least 3 names on the list, just like I did with them, and if they would rather not receive these calls I understand. Then they usually say yes again.

Last Friday I repeated this process at the conclusion of a window job. Their answers to 1-3 was nothing, you guys are light years ahead of the other 2 outfits we talked to. And of course yes to the reference list.

When I finished the husband looked to his wife and said, "They do bathrooms too." She very excitedly said she wanted us to redo both of theirs, no need to talk to anyone else.

Good Luck
Dave

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Boogga

Very good, Thanks for all the info. A great start.

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jkanclerz

What about using the best testimonials on your website?

If you do that I suggest making the customer aware of the possibility, letting them know their name may be used, and give them the choice to opt-in into having their name used on the site.

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Carport King

Yes we ask for opinions from our clients in 4 departments of our company.
1. Design consultants.
Was our design expert punctual or inform you of any appointment changes. Excellent___Good___Fair___Poor___

Was he informative when answering your questions?
Did he explain the job in detail?

Scheduling Aluminum Work.
Did our scheduling department effectively communicate with you?
Did our scheduling department notify you promptly of any changes?
Did scheduling return your phone calls in a timely matter?

Grade our installers.
Were you happy with our installers?
Appearence?
Courteous?
Was the jobsite clear of debris?
Quality of work?

Then we have the same question about our concrete/paver crews.
We also have a comment section.
This is mailed to our clients with a return stamped envelope back to the president of our company. We then put them on our web site on a monthly basic.
I hope this can help. Thanks

carlsore

Testimonials can add credibility to any website... But here are some thoughts to ponder.

#1. Make sure your customer gives you permission.

#2. Ask for a photo of your client and take a photo of the job completed to be included with their testimonial.

#3. If they agree maybe get their testimonial on video while standing and admiring the work you've done. If you really want to blow potential clients out of the water think how impressed they'd be if they could see and hear your references right on your website...? It's a little more work but for those who put in the effort it positions you in a very postive professional light.

Hope this helps!

Carl Sorensen

margs

The best testimonial is one written in the customer's own words, not a form filled with tick boxes or rating numbers. Think about how the testimonial will be used - on your website, a letter you send to customers, in your profile on a listing in a 'find a contractor' directory, etc. HOs like to read whole sentences and reviews that sound like neighbors really wrote it, instead of selecting from "great, good, okay, and adequate". Don't worry about a form, ask the HO to write a paragraph describing her/his experience with your team and her/his feeling about the quality of the work. You'll be amazed (and hopefully pleasantly surprised) at the prose that comes back. Forms just restrict customers and take the fun and interest out of their opinions.

Ed the Roofer

My form has some questions that I feel should be answered, but it is actually a Dual purpose form.

I also have the bottom 1/4 page for them to write their own written comments down.

Back to the secondary purpose:
By asking all of the right questions on the End Of job Evaluation For Customer Satisfaction form, I have thwarted any attempts for them to voice displeasure with the final invoice amount.

Its incredible how many people do sign for extras that they want/need done during a job, and even though the amounts are listed in the Update To Specifications Change Order form, they do not realize the grand total, even though it is in black and white, until they get the final invoice for the job. Not that the amount of people who do this and object to the totals is really that great, per centage wise, but even if only a few do it, it boggles my mind.

I also have a spot written on there, if they do not feel like filling it out, that they have 7 days to voice any objections to the workmanship and after that time period, then all work will be considered acceptable as is.

To your point about the written comments, I feel that it is invaluable. Those testimonials are like Gold to me.

Ed

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Mike Finley

I'd eliminate that whole mess with one change to what you are doing :

Change orders
Payment as follows: 100% at signing of change order for work outlined on this document.

You'll never run into another final invoice issue caused by a change order again. The Final payment is established right from the moment we collect a deposit, in other words before work even begins. That final payment amount is a pre-meditated percentage number designed to eliminate 'issue' at the end of the job. That percentage is a low number pre-meditated to reduce the temptation of someone doing something stupid at the end of the job. Allowing a change order to change that final number which so much thought has gone into doesn't make any sense.

If you do progress payments and want to be a nice guy then do this:

Change orders
Payment as follows: 100% due at next progress payment for work outlined on this document.


Do anything, but whatever you do, don't tack change orders onto the final payment. Do anything other than that.

Ed the Roofer

Mike,

Our typical jobs last 2,3 or sometimes 4 days. The longest residential job ever, was 3 weeks.

Do you think that I should be having them pull out the checkbook every night for whatever rotted plywood we replaced that day, or prior to doing that?

I would like to do that, but it just seems a little greedy to be hitting them on a daily basis.

Many times when we are replacing plywood, I know how much was delivered, but it gets a stack on the roof, which is usualy covered up with a tarp and one on the ground and some in either one of the vans or dump truck, so, until the job is over, I don't have the exact total left over.

I agree absolutely, especially on larger and lengthier jobs.

When a home owner did not pay his next payment on a job 1 1/2 years ago, I pulled off with a proper 7 day notice for him to get back in compliance with the contract for the amount that was now due and he never came up with it, so we are going through the court system to get the money we deserve and that was agreed to in every change order, plus the cost of temporarily tarping his home without instaling the shingles.

Ed

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George Z

This is one use of our handwritten testimonials http://www.ecopainting.ca/testimonials.html

We also have copies of them in a binder for the sales call.

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Boogga

The way we do it is we ask clients to fill in tick the box forms during the project. And then on completion, ask them kindly to write a testomonial of a paragraph or two in their own words to express how the job went etc.

So Marg, I totaly agree with what you do. I thnk that is the best.

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