Do you know what your customers want from your business? This company does.
We are in a ‘this old house’ phase where every major item seems to be breaking, decaying or rotting. The most recent replacement expense was the fence. The original, came-with-the-house, white picket fence was long overdue to be replaced. It was staying up on a prayer. Fast forward from the quote phase to the installation phase and what does Reliable Fence have? A very happy customer who wants to share their experience with the world. Contractors have a reputation for being horrible about follow up and follow through. When I have an experience that ‘wows’ I need to share.
So, why am I blogging about Reliable Fence? Frankly, as a marketer, I am not impressed with many businesses. Their brand is weak, their logo is not legible, there is no thought on color scheme, their customer service is lousy, their phone systems is equivalent to voice mail hell…the list goes on and on. So many business owners don’t get “it” , they dabble, they cut corners and ultimately they leave a bad impression. I am impressed when a firm gets it and I feel part of my marketing evangelist role in life is to spread the good news of companies that I recommend because they do the important things well.
Reliable Fence is my latest example. First reason: Marketing 101. They put a sign up in our yard prior to doing the work to market their business to all runners, walkers and neighbors. Smart. Yep, basic, but smart. Do you know how many companies assume our little cul de sac is not worth putting up a sign? Silly assumption. They should see how many people walk and run and bike and our homes are all the same age so HELLO? They likely will need your service too! Ok…back to Reliable Fence.
Second reason for a shout out to Reliable Fence. Material delivery phase. Pretty basic stuff, right? What could go wrong at this simple stage? Well, let’s see, have you ever had a business unload something right in front of one of your garage doors for days? Or directly on the lawn to kill the lawn or in a flower bed? Not with this company. The lead guy came to the door, introduced himself (basic, but often does not happen), remembered my name, reviewed the job with me and asked great clarifying questions. He was friendly, professional, and focused. He confirmed where he could leave all the materials and confirmed the timing of the job and their expected duration. He and his partner unloaded all the materials and I could immediately tell they were organized by area and out of the way from causing any harm or hassle. Nice.
Third reason for shout out to Reliable Fence: They were neat and thorough. They used our garden hose to wash off the fence sections as they got them done. At the end of the day, they put the hose back where they found it. They picked up all their trash as they worked. Yes, really.
Final reason for shout out to Reliable Fence: they worked really hard and never complained. They had to move 4 granite posts into place and there was no close access for them to drive the posts to the needed location. These posts were heavy (so I am told!). My husband came up with a solution using our lawn tractor and a neighbor’s tractor trailer to save their backs. They were so appreciative! This work was hard and it was hot. It was Friday afternoon in the summer and they were grinding it out. They could have cut out on a Friday and said they would be back on Monday to finish the job. (sound familiar?) Nope, they stayed until after 7pm on a Friday night and the two guys lived in Western MA – they had a long drive ahead of them and never complained. They did not cut any corners to start their weekend. Instead they reviewed the finished work with me, patiently reviewing the gates and keys and never indicating that they needed to get out of Dodge and start the weekend.
Have I mentioned the fence? No, because at the end of the day my expectations were that the fence would be what we had contracted for. The fence is their product, but the reality is HOW they did the job was more important to me than the baseline expectation of having a new fence installed that would be properly installed to last for years and look good.
Marketing Message for today: learn from Reliable Fence. I expected their fence to be reliable. That was not the ‘wow’ factor. I was pleasantly surprised with the professionalism of the team and the manner in how they conduct business. Kudos to you, Reliable Fence. I can see why you have been in business for over 50 years. May others learn from you how to deliver on what is most important to their customer vs. delivering just what was contracted for. Thanks for great service and a great fence.