The Customer Experience

During my High Performance Contracting Workshop I spend approximately three hours discussing the "Customer Experience" and "Creating Loyal Customer Relationships". The best way I can illustrate "The Experience" is by the following example:

Imagine you're sitting at home and getting hungry. You realize you have several options . . . You could go into your kitchen and throw a hot dog in to the microwave, you could make a sandwich, maybe eat some fruit, either one of these will probably meet your needs. You also have the option of getting into your vehicle and driving to the local fast food drive-thru or, you could take a bit of time, get dressed up see if you could get a seat at your favorite restaurant. Why you may even decide to go out and eat in luxury at the most expensive restaurant in town.

Any choice you make will satisfy your fundamental basic need to eat. So what point am I trying to make you ask? Well, the only difference between any of these choices is the fact that each experience of eating will be different from the others. Also, the price you pay for each will be very different. Your cost for eating may be anywhere from three dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars. It is all in what type of experience you want to have.

Many contractors and technicians fail to understand this fundamental fact. Customers will base the value of what you did, not on whether something works or does what it is supposed to do alone, But on the entire experience, from the moment you answer the phone, to the point when they write a check for your services. Everything you do in between will determine whether or not you meet or exceed their anticipated satisfaction level.

More to come on this subject later.

Louisville June 24th Workshops Rocks!

Ninety people attended our increasingly popular workshop on June 24th, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. Thank you to all of you for the great turnout. We had to set up three projectors and screens, a great sound system, fantastic picnic lunch and a great program that was definitely a great investment of time for everyone who attended!

Booth 1133 at Comfortech in September

Clients, Fans and Potential Customers for life!
I will have a booth at this years Comfortech. Please come by to see me and some exciting new products that will change the way we do business! Visit Our Booth At HVAC Comfortech 2009!

Click below to register or to find out more about the show.

June 19th Workshop Great Success!

We had a great turnout with a total of 65 attendees in our High Performance Workshop at the Holiday Inn, Cincinnati Airport on June 19, 2009. Some of the comments on the evaluations included the following: "This is my first time attending one of your classes, thank you for some great information" - "Frank, you are the best" - "I though it was going to be another sales pitch for a product or service, I was wrong! Thanks for helping me realize what I need to do in my business!" - "Please call me, I need you to come to my company and speak to my partners and employees" .

I believe a had one of the best audiences in a long time, a lot of great ideas, excellent comments and recommendations. For all of you who attended, a big Thank You for a very informative and interactive workshop. I do appreciate your business and comments very much!

Experiential Marketing

Heard a new term today . . . Experiential Marketing. Well it is not the first time I heard it, I guess I never really knew what it was, until today. Although I have been preaching it for over a year now, I didn't know that it was the latest thing in marketing. So what is it, you ask. It is the process or method you use to market your product or service that focuses on what the customer will experience when they do business with you. For example: If you are hungry, you have the choice of either; a. eating at home, b. eating fast food or c. eating at a nice restaurant. You will meet your objective with either choice, but the experience you encounter with each will be different, along with the price you pay.

When I speak about customer service, I focus on the experience. What do you do in your business to make your interaction with your customer a positive and enjoyable experience?

Las Vegas , , ,

Just flew in yesterday afternoon on a Southwest Airlines flight. Seemed like eternity, the longest flight of my life. I had to put up with a group of approximately 10 people who had never flown before, and from what I heard and experienced, have never been in a public place before either. I'm not going to bore you with all of the nitty-gritty, but just for an example, one of the first things said from the loudest of the group was "These fu----- airplanes sure are a lot smaller that what you see in the movies!" so that kind of set the pace for the entire five-hour flight. So I sat there, with this group directly behind me, clenching my teeth and sitting quietly. Of course I did find some peace in the fantasy I had of getting up, turning around and beating this man with a baseball bat until he could no longer speak.

Once we landed, all I wanted to do was eat and take a nap. After checking in at Mandalay Bay, I did just that. Although I only expected to nap for an hour or so . . . I woke up realizing I had just napped for 6 hours. So I was awake and ready to go at 2AM, Las Vegas time. Walked around the casino, had a coffee and Baileys, watched all the guys trying to pick up women, and so on for an hour or so. Now I'm back in the room, getting ready for another nap.

I'll set my alarm this time.

It's Time To Give Thanks!

I want to thank all of my customers for making this the best year ever. The second half of last year was looking very gloomy for my company. . . Sales were down, barely being able to pay the bills, I was getting more and more depressed, avoiding answering the phone (bill collectors), you know the drill.



I believe I just got sucked in to the doom and gloom that we kept hearing and reading about in the media, gas prices were crazy, the real estate market was crashing and it just lead into an unbelievable depressed feeling amongst everyone. So who in their right mind was going to spend money unless it was absolutely necessary? Well. not me, I didn't even spend it on advertising.



After some prayer, asking my Lord for help, it suddenly came to me. I was in control of my destiny and I had the freedom to due whatever I need to do, and if it was meant to be . . . It would be.



So, I of course listened to myself, yes the same things I speak about in my workshops, (somehow, I did not hear it last year, Imagine that!) You loyal clients know what it is . . .

1. Begin with the end

2. Stay focused on your objectives

3. Choose your destination

4. Create a path to your destination

5. Do the tough things first

6. Always do what's right

I added a new one . . .
Do it so well that they will come back and bring their friends - Walt Disney

Well . . . .I came back to reality in January and decided to practice what I preached. So here I am, moving forward again . . . But without you folks, my loyal fans and clients . . . it couldn't happen.

Thank You!

Problems! Sorry!

Just found out that many folks have been trying to register for workshops on-line and could not do so because of technical difficulties. Sorry! We are working on it and hope to have it corrected and working properly by end of day June 5th.

In the meanwhile if you want to register call us at 888-538-5383 and tell one of the pleasant phone reps what date and location you want to go to or . . . Fax us at 502-762-0067. Or. . . . email us at trainingzoom@bellsouth.net.

Sorry for the inconvenience!


Frank

Coming Soon! We Keep Getting Better!

Thought I would give you, my clients and friends, a few hints on what's coming soon from The Training Source.

1. Customer Care Plus - A new and much better method to measure customer experiences.

2. More On-line training - Yes we plan on expanding our offerings to include many more online offerings including the following: NATE training, CFC Certification, Learn HVAC Online, NEC Updates, OSHA, ASHRAE, RSES plus much more. Check back every week or so and watch us grow.

3. Yes, we plan on taking a tour through Texas next fall and winter with our workshop.

4. Florida continuing education workshops planned for locations in the panhandle this fall and winter also!