As a business owner or manager, you are constantly being urged to try new marketing and customer-service techniques. Internet ad salespeople call by the dozens, and those pushing for e-mail campaigns lurk around every corner. Before making a new, seat-of-the-pants business choice, don’t forget to make sure you’re taking care of the basics.

If your competitor and you both have great plumbers, and your trucks, company image and the other points of contention are neck and neck, set yourself and your company apart in other ways.

Leave No Traces

I always remind the staff of my Boston plumbing company that our clients will never know what we didn’t do for them. It’s important to care for the customer’s home or business as you would your own. Leaving the hardwood floors as dirty as they were when you arrived won’t always get you a complaint call, but leaving the kitchen or bathroom floors cleaner than your customer ever expected may earn your technician a compliment and your company a referral or a positive review.

Leaving no trace is a simple gesture that your client is likely to notice and appreciate.

Be Grateful

If you write thank-you notes for gifts you receive in your personal life, it should come naturally to say thank-you to the customers that gift you with their regular business. Use this oft-forgotten, small gesture to create enormous goodwill with your customers. If you made a large purchase from a home-service company, wouldn’t you want to be treated like a great customer?

To set your company apart, develop a personal relationship with your clients and not just a sale. Try sending a gift certificate to a local restaurant or a set of movie tickets. You may be surprised how many companies are already extending their gratitude in these ways.

Consider sending greeting cards other times of the year when you are likely to be noticed. Wish your customers a happy spring and thank them for their business, don’t just remember them during the winter holidays.

Allow The Customer To Buy

ing potential clients very uncomfortable. In the plumbing industry, especially for residential service sales, we typically can fly under the radar of this stigma and you should use this to your advantage. It is very easy to cross that line, so remember to be patient with your clients and allow them the time they need to decide.

When your customers either say no or delay a decision regarding a sale, remember the feeling they have about you as they walk away is what will bring them back. If they felt comfortable with you, they are likely to give you their business. They will avoid the pushy salesman at the other shop. Try taking a passive-aggressive approach.

Don’t forget basic sales training. You should always ask for the sale because customers need help with their buying decisions, but don’t beat a dead horse. If your clients say they don’t want to make a decision on your time schedule, let them know you are there for them when they’re ready. You’ll find they appreciate the non-sales approach.

As a small business, we try to make the most out of every service call and a good business model doesn’t just end with that visit. Making the most begins with an impression. It is this impression that creates loyal customers and repeat business. Customers that call you back and sing your praises to their friends, co-workers and family are what keep you business. The daily work can become second nature and, while it seems simple, customer service can easily be forgotten.

Focusing on some of these simple service skills will set you apart from your competition and keep that phone ringing!