For Moving Companies, playing the long game with customer interactions is the way forward. It might seem CRM is not applicable to the Moving business as there is typically a long period (often years) between the times when a customer needs moving services. However, that would be the short game way of looking at it.
To put it simply, if you think about a Moving job as just a job, the value of that customer is capped at the value of that job. However, if you focus on engaging a customer in a relationship, you increase value that can be created through referrals, increased effects on your social media and marketing efforts and an increased likelihood of repeat business.
Here are 4 tactics Moving Companies can do to build better relationships with their customers and reap the benefits of these relationships
1. Get Liked, Get Followed, Get Retweeted
This might one of the simplest and most important things all Moving Companies should be doing. Social media actions are the new currency for the web. When customers “follow you”, “like” you, retweet you. It is an endorsement to their social circles. But what is more important is the SEO benefits that will accrue to Moving companies that have accrued these sorts of “social” endorsements as search engines like Google now factor in tweets, likes, google pluses into the search ranking factors.
Moving companies can run small Facebook campaigns where potential customers receive a percentage discount for a Facebook like. On Platforms like Twitter, running prize contests can be a very effective way to build followers and generate favorable mentions
2. Ask for Survey Responses (Be Minimalist )
If you believe that a moving job is more than just a one time transaction (and you should). Then you should always send customers requests to fill out surveys about their experience. However, please be minimalist with your survey questions. You really just want to know the answer to one question as the more questions you ask reduces the probability of a response because people have better things to do than filling out surveys. Just ask a single question… “How likely are you to recommend us in the future? That is all. it answers every meaningful thing you need to know about if the service was good, if they will do repeat business with you and if they will recommend you.
3. Build an Email List of the Happy Customers
Remember the survey responses you got above from all those happy customers? Well, don’t just pat yourself on the back, you need to start building an email list of all these happy customers, they will be your best sources of organic and referal growth for years to come.
Your goal here is not to become an email-blaster, your goal is is to get them to remember you when they need your services again in a couple of years or more likely when their friends and family needs moving services. Moving is a stressful time and people trust referrals more than even the best reviews on sites like Yelp or Angie’s List.
By sending an occasional email blast about your company every couple of months to your list of “advocates”, you ensure you stay front and center whenever anyone in their social circle needs a Moving company.
4. Follow-up with the bad
Unfortunately, no matter how hard Moving Companies try, not everyone will be happy. For those customers that have expressed they would not recommend your service, it is extremely important you know why, to understand any trends that may threaten your business going forward. So if you don’t know why a customer is unhappy with you, you have to call them up and simply ask. The knowledge may not help with that customer, but helps with future customers.
Oh, and remove these customer’s from your email lists, they won’t become happier by getting emails from you and you probably want them to forget you.
In Summary, none of these may change how your business performs tomorrow, but Moving companies that take this approach and play the long game will be positioned to experience higher average customer lifetime value in the long run