Being Client-focused in the Construction Industry Safety Talk

For employees not in a management role may not give much attention to the term “Client-Focused”, but in the construction industry every employee should consider the importance of being client-focused.

THE MEANING CLIENT-FOCUSED

Client-Focused means keeping the client’s (or project owner’s) best interests in mind when completing your work. In the construction industry, the general contractor or project owner almost always has a high regard for safety for all subcontracted employees on their worksite followed by productivity. If a worker is client-focused then keeping the client’s best interests in mind would mean they are approaching their work both safely and efficiently as best as they possibly can.

Regardless of the size or industry type, companies universally depend on consumers for direct business, referrals, feedback, and overall success. Customer service is imperative to businesses trying to obtain, or maintain, a loyal consumer base. When people think of the construction industry, however, customer service isn’t a primary characteristic that comes to mind.

CUSTOMER-CENTRIC CONSTRUCTION

Fast, friendly service sounds more like a characteristic of your local barista than an employee of a construction firm. Customer service is on the decline—not specifically in the construction industry, but across the board.

There is a belief that customer-centric construction costs too much and, in a hard-bid environment, it is less important than efficiency or safety. Customer-focused activities differ from marketing, in that the focus is on driving more intimate relations through project delivery and the interactions of the team with the customer/contractor/end-user. Expenses involved in customer-focused activities are minimal to none and may even add value through enhanced productivity and realized value by the customer. Once viewed in this context, one can see that taking a customer to a ball game or other social activity does in fact have a cost; however, fast, friendly service does not.

Many firms do an excellent job of courting a customer in the preconstruction phase only to lose a customer through poor performance. Some of the most cited observations when it comes to poor performance issues include:

• Poor communication from the project team
• Change orders with little back-up or documentation
• Schedule overruns
• Poor safety track record
• Poorly kept site

Staying close to your customers means staying close to the market. To put it simply, it will allow you to gain valuable insight of what are the main issues and concerns of people working within construction. Additionally, it will offer you the chance to elaborate a more precise industry profile and keep a close eye to the new points of interest within construction.

KEEP YOUR CUSTOMERS HAPPY

Below are some smart ways to how you can make your customers in the construction industry happy:

1. Be open

You will agree and support the fact that each and every project and client is always unique. This being the case, it is strongly advised that you being open and exercise various customer care solutions since this would help make sure that you are able to work for and with any client without problems. More specifically it is strongly advised that your customer care team be open and in continuous communication with the rest of the team.

2. Communicate concisely, often, and honestly

Always feel free to find out from your target customers how they are doing. The best way to do this is to solicit reviews and provide feedback as well on your website since such would go a long way in helping promote your business. Just so you know, the more your target clients come across clients who are happy with your services, the more likely they are of giving you an opportunity to serve them. In short, communicating often and honestly would go a long way in making sure that you maintain relationships with your clients. Just come up with ways never to be forgotten especially after the work is complete.

3. Never delaying completion

The best way to make sure of this is to always stay one step ahead. More specifically, always prepare for any eventuality and be able to anticipate problems even before they actually occur.

4. Keeping your work space clean

This is self-explanatory, it is strongly advised that you always keep your work site extremely clean since doing so would really help make speed up working. On top of that, it will drastically reduce the risk of accidents on site. All in all, it will increase the credibility of your construction company.

5. Never trying to be misleading

Never ignore problems or look for ways to smooth them is not the way to go. Instead, be upfront and honest with your clients. Explain what is happening and how you plan on making things get back on track. Take time to make it abundantly clear to your clients that you are fully aware of the problem.

6. Put together a competent On-boarding Team

Having a strong On-boarding Team is considered a must. Especially in cases where construction software is involved, it’s critical that you offer to your new clients the guidance that they need.

FINAL WORD

The best source of customer satisfaction is great communication and top-notch planning. Productivity actually drives customer service higher. Doing the work expeditiously and being congenial in the process not only makes the contractor more money, but also improves satisfaction.