How do you make your company stand out from the rest? It’s all about customer service, says Jamie Willsdon, Future Group.
How do you make your company stand out from the rest? It’s all about customer service, says Jamie Willsdon
Your residents have a problem with their lighting. Bulbs are constantly blowing because the fittings are outdated and constantly overheating and the flat owners are worried that someone will take a tumble because their stairwells are dark half the time. As property manager there are any number of lighting companies that you can call on to solve the problem, so how do you decide which one’s for you?
At Future Lighting we believe wholeheartedly that customer service should be top of the list. We established our business in 2014 to promote the advantages of LED lighting to the residential block market. LEDs offer huge cost savings when compared to the then-standard fluorescent & Halogen lighting that featured in many blocks. They save on energy bills and they are easy to retro-fit. Five years on and the market is flooded with LEDs – they are yesterday’s news. They still offer all the same benefits and our list of happy clients is growing exponentially year-on-year but now everyone is fitting them.
The product may be the same but the fact is, not all lighting suppliers are created equal. The problem many of our clients have – and the one we are proud to solve for them – is the fact that the service they receive from lighting contractors is often less than perfect. Once your new lighting has been installed, what about maintenance services you can rely on? What about call outs – how are they charged? When you call with a problem, do you have to talk the engineer though your requirements every time? Does the warranty cover the labour costs? Time and time again we hear that clients are having to cover costs for labour to swap-out failed LEDs covered by good warranty only… So be careful.
We are personally seeing boxfuls of faulty LED fittings already coming into our offices for recycling where client have been miss-sold low-quality fittings based on price alone. Sadly, these third-rate LED lights had replaced lights that had been in situ of decades.
Our solution is this. First, we build strong partnerships with our clients – no matter how big or small their project may be. We take a curation approach to developing a personal business relationship with each of our customers. The property managers we work with all have a dedicated client relationship manager who acts as their unique point of contact. That team member knows their buildings, their residents and the services at each site, providing a complete customer service package. We are happy to meet with residents to help get buy-in for the projects we work on – and that includes attending out-of-hours meetings and Q&As.
Second, all our installations are guaranteed for five years, with no maintenance and no call-out charges. Other charges are outlined clearly to clients from the outset so they know exactly what they will be paying for and when.
And finally, when we receive a complaint – which all businesses do from time to time – we have a rapid, robust procedure for dealing with problems as they arise.
Our approach to business has won us two ARMA awards and our customer base is growing. But the best service in the world still won’t win you clients if your offer isn’t right.
Jamie Willsdon is a Director at Future Group. Find out more about the services they offer at www.future-group.uk.
