What is a Hugger, why you do need them?
Regardless of the size of your landscape company, there is someone responsible for making sure you get new business (hunter) but do you have someone (could be the same person) responsible for making sure your customers are being taken care of (hugger). Who does the hunting and hugging in your landscape business? It’s a no-brainer that you need to have a salesperson or several of them. This is generally the owner in cases with smaller companies. In larger companies, dedicated salespeople are critical to the future success of the business.
Do you have account managers (huggers)? The hugger works directly with your clients to ensure your standards are maintained and that each project receives the attention it deserves for each and every job. This role demands interaction with a wide range of people and has a broad skill set, which means it’s not the right role for everyone. If at any point in time clients have a question about a project, they will go through the account manager to find their answer. It’s important for every landscape company to place a high degree of importance on the creation and maintenance of professional client relationships.
Here are 5 ways that significantly contribute to a better overall customer experience:
- Listening to each client to gain an understanding of their individual needs during and after their project build
- Managing customer expectations along each step of the way
- Communicating with the team and discussing the direction or their involvement as required
- Resolving disruptions quickly in order to win their repeat business – pretty much the person that is empowered to put out the fires
- Participate in generating new business – existing clients are an incredible source of business. Think maintenance after a new build or enhancement project, think spring and fall cleans, think snow (if you do that). This is the “would you like fries with that” approach!