In the August 2016 issue, Michael Boeck discussed how one option for improving customer service and employee satisfaction was to decline some business. Here is a sample list of qualifying questions a company should ask potential clients to help determine if a customer is the right fit.
- What services are you looking for?
- When are you hoping to have the work started?
- Is there a date by which the project must be complete?
- What is your budget? (Big question that requires digging deeper. Don’t be scared to be direct.)
- Have you received other quotes?
- Do you have a design already? Do you require a design?
- Our process includes x,y and z, for which we charge, $x. Are you okay with that?
- We require our customers to provide us with a plat, or architectural drawing of the house. Do you need one to be prepared?
- The elements that you expressed interest in generally cost from $x to $x. For the whole project you could easily be looking at a price tag of $X. Is that in line with what you had in mind?
- We require a site survey fee of $x, and this is why. Is that acceptable?
- Our schedule projects that we can’t get to your job until a certain date. Is that acceptable?
