I recently enjoyed a trip on The Ghan and their motto is “Service beyond excellence” for the 47 staff members on the train, and I found that they could certainly lay claim to this being correct, as the quality of their service was exceptional!

After speaking with members recently it was encouraging to hear how busy many of you are!  The future for our industry is looking great, so in the lead up to Christmas, there are many opportunities that we can all take advantage of, including providing “Service beyond excellence” on your existing contracts and offering living seasonal decorations.

The green environment is the way of the future, and many new building designs have large amounts of greenery included, this provides Interior Plantscapers with many opportunities for innovative designs that will require high standards of service.

There are many ways your company could offer exceptional service and I am sure most of you are doing a great job, but if you would like more ideas here are some of my thoughts on how to achieve outstanding service.

Communication has always been the key factor in our customer service protocol. Why not email after each visit to tell your client what has been done in their service, and advise them of changes pending.

Improve the design and functionality of your invoicing making it easy for clients to understand and process prompt payment. Many of these types of initiatives can be done by apps on your mobile phone.

Another initiative could be to annually send out a survey to your clients to find out how you can improve your service. Most large service providers do this regularly, so they can tailor a service to meet the client’s requirements and improve on their overall customer standards.

Offering living seasonal decorations is a great time to upsell new decorator pot designs, new styles of decorative mulch and to be creative with your install. It is also an excellent time to thank your clients for their loyalty.

We are rapidly approaching the silly season and as it is a short period, full of a lot of extra hustle and bustle it can also be a creative, profitable experience. As you spread holiday joy and cheer around, have fun with it!

Until next month,

Arthur Stacey

2018 President