First impressions matter, but it’s important to think about the importance of the impressions left behind long after a project is finished. Just doing the job well isn’t enough to keep clients coming back. It’s the quality of all client interactions, from day one to completion, that can turn a one-time project into a lasting, profitable relationship.
IT’S THE LAST IMPRESSION THAT COUNTS
The easiest business to acquire should come from repeat clients. To earn their trust, it’s key to nail every opportunity to make their lives easier and to get all the details right.
Take turnover packages, for example. How much thought is put into each one? Is the information in an easy-to-read digital format or is it spread out across an untidy jumble of CDs and ring binders or thumb drives?
Look at the situation from the client’s perspective. Imagine that months or years later, something goes wrong, and the client is scrambling to find warranty information and operating instructions for a leaking water heater in a disorganized, pile of papers. Sounds stressful, doesn’t it?
It doesn’t matter how well the contractor did its job, that messy turnover package will be the most important, lasting impression of the company. If the contractor wants to stick the landing, it will want it to look professional and make sure the turnover package is easy to use and understand.
GETTING IT RIGHT
Even if the contractor gave the original project owners advice on finding documents in the package, chances are that knowledge evaporated once they turned it over to the operators.
Contractors will want to craft the turnover package with the same kind of care and quality that goes into the rest of its work. The first step is to go digital. Skip the ring binders and paper-based deliverables and provide neat, hyperlinked digital PDF files that let the owner or operator find what they need, when they need it.
Look into software platforms that can help automate project closeout, which streamlines document collection and makes it easy to compile the information into impressive and easy-to-use turnover packages. Digitizing and standardizing a turnover package workflow will make the process easier, faster and more efficient. Once contractors establish a format, repeat clients will be able to act on the information much faster, as they’ll understand the organizational structure from previous turnover packages delivered.
A REPUTATION FOR QUALITY
Remember that the actions at the end of a project can have repercussions long after the contractor walks out the door.
Making sure the turnover package is useful and helpful is the last chance to create a positive impression of quality work. It is important to create a quality customer experience from the first interaction all the way to the last—and beyond. By making the last impression count as much as the first, general contractors can build a solid reputation that will keep clients coming back, time after time.
