We get quite a few customers saying that they can’t get people to call them back. They don’t understand why contractors who want to earn money don’t return calls or follow up. Why could this be happening?
This is a field that is very difficult to predict for concrete contractors. At the beginning of the year you have very little work because of the region we are in. Here in Nebraska concrete contractors must take the Winter off or find another trade to keep our business and families in good economic standing. We must wait until the frost is out of the ground which is usually around late March. That is when we call our customers that we couldn’t get to last year before the ground froze. March is also the time new customers start calling in. Let the bidding begin!
Before you know it, there are many jobs in the works and more calls coming in. Usually only one or two people are manning the phones and the job sites. It’s a lot to handle when you are trying to chase leads, schedule estimates for new customers, manage the job sites your employees are currently on, ensure customer satisfaction with your current customers, and so on.
- The contractor may not have a good follow up system. At our company, we have a three-call follow-up rule. Even if we leave a message; we follow up a second and third time before we file the information away. Occasionally, there may be circumstances when we are not able to follow our own customer service rules. However, this is one of our systems we work to maintain.
- For other contractors, it could be that another more profitable job comes along or a better opportunity is coming. We believe in building relationships with our customers. We have assets that we can use for smaller jobs or if we get bogged down with many jobs on the schedule.
- Sometimes contractors don’t want to appear too pushy. They may just be waiting for you to decide.
No matter what the reason, If the contractor does not follow up with you, feel free to follow up with the contractor.
Please keep in mind, although estimates are generally free, if the estimator has to make more than 2 trips (including the initial meeting) and/or rework the estimate more than twice the contractor can charge a fee for each time they have to make a trip or rework the estimate.
Every contractor is different. Finding the right contractor for you is the key.
Please let us know if you have any questions or thoughts. We would love to hear from you.