Difficult as it may be for some of us to accept, nobody is perfect. This was vividly made plain to me (again) the other day, when a customer of long standing called me to point out, that what in his opinion, was a mistake on the part of one of our service technician’s diagnosis of the problem(s) we found in his HVAC system.

     Now mind you, we have 6 technicians, who average 5 service calls/day…for a total of 30/day. 30 x 5=150/week. 150/week  x 52 (weeks) = 7800/annually. Actually, the number is nearer 10,000 annually as a service tech (1) many times completes more than 5 calls per day and (2) the above figures don’t include Saturday or after hour calls. So I know as well as any one, that nobody's perfect and that's a fact, not an excuse!

     But if I’ve learned anything in these many years of providing service to homeowners, it’s that no matter how successful we have been in reaching our goal of “great service”, it’s how we respond to our service failures, that means just as much (if not more) than the overwhelming number that are fixed correctly. And when that rare occasion does occur…that just correcting the problem and offering an apology…then assuming that all is well, is a grave mistake…that customers can be left feeling that their problem wasn't addressed seriously, even though the initial problem has been corrected.

     I think the reason for this is, that next to having the problem corrected, fairness is typically the biggest concern of customers who have lodged a service complaint. Many of them had to take a day off from work or make other arrangements to have their equipment serviced and that even if the problem has now been corrected, they are certainly disappointed with the inconvenience.

     Customers often want to know within a reasonable time, not only that their problem has been resolved, but why the failure occurred and what the company has done to make sure it doesn't happen again.

     We’ve found that a customer's faith can be restored using this kind of an approach and we’ve learned something else…that many times, customers who have experienced this kind of service and personal attention, is someone who now has increased confidence in our integrity and helps us by “word of mouth” to grow our business as quickly and as effectively as any other form of advertising.

     We long ago recognized, that there is something far worse than a complaining customer. It's the silent customer. They're the easiest to lose. The dissatisfied customer that doesn't complain…just "votes with their feet" by walking away, taking their business with them never to grace our premises again. We may not even know they've disappeared until they show up as someone else's customer.

     For these reasons, we've tried over these past 55+ years, to roll out a broad red carpet for our customers to air their complaints. Initially, we mailed out a printed form entitled "Are We The Best We Can Be?" for each new installation of a HVAC system.

     With the advent of the Internet, we've been able to make it even easier (and more convenient) for a customer to voice an opinion, for now with just the click of a computer key, they can:

	1.	Evaluate a New Installation (Are We The Best We Can Be?).
	2.	Evaluate a Service Call (How Do We Measure Up?).
	3.	Evaluate Our 250+ page website (Report Card).
	4.	Report Website Errors on each web page.

     If you have a complaint or a suggestion as to how we can improve our services or our website, why not click on the appropriate link above. I'd love to hear from you.

     The purpose of all these evaluation opportunities, are two-fold. (1) To solicit the customer's opinion of our performance. Did we deliver all that we promised and more importantly, all that you expected? (2) and if not, to provide a clear channel for customers to voice any complaints so that we will have an opportunity to redeem ourselves in their eyes for any errors made (for we realize we are not perfect…yet!).

     Does this mean that when you have a need for HVAC services you should search for a perfect company, a company that doesn't make mistakes? Don't waste your time…there aren't any.

     Then what is your best bet? Well, it seems to me that a company that actively seeks feedback, especially if it's negative, and the knowledge that as president of Climatemakers, I value the feed back from our customers so highly that I personally read every customer email, would make us a very strong contender.

Only 24 days left:

     Already you have missed the deadlines for the whopping 40% & 30% discounts for our annual 32 point, preseason “Tune-up/Check-up” to get your heating system ready for winter but you still have 24 days left to get the 20% discounts which “ain’t” bad either!

     See the benefits for yourself! See it in writing, not only the name of each of the 32 points BUT the effect each point has on the performance of your system (and why you should not settle for less) by going to our website . Click here. We believe we are safe in saying, that no other local contractor dare match that list!

     But you must act promptly and don’t forget, there is an additional $5 discount for scheduling online. On line reservations can be made by clicking here. Reservations can also be made by phone. Call: HOT-COLD (757-468-2653)

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