In all the field service industries, few professionals do more roadside and emergency rescues than a locksmith. Their work orders often involve people who get locked out of their car, locked out of their home, or unable to open their business.
Calling a locksmith is usually something done as an act of desperation. They've tried everything else to rescue themselves, often including percussive maintenance to no avail. That lock just isn't going to open.
When this happens, more often than not someone is stuck outside in the weather with nothing but their mobile phones to help them. They are desperate, agitated, and eager to get into their car, house, or business and get on with their lives.
As a professional locksmith, this is your chance to come to the rescue with speedy vehicle dispatching, expert work, and superb customer service. This gives you the best possible chance to create a happy customer with a potential for referrals and additional work orders in the future.
So today, we're here to talk about the best practices for providing roadside and emergency locksmith assistance with a fast fleet and a considerate approach.
Send the Right Person and Vehicle
The first thing that happens when you get an emergency call is recording their location, the kind of lock they have, and the surrounding circumstances. Be aware if the job is in a neighborhood at night, near fast traffic on the side of a freeway, or in a busy parking lot.
You give an estimate of how much the service will cost and how long it will take for a locksmith to get to them. Now comes your first customer service decision: who to send and which fleet vehicle they drive out.
Make sure that the professional you send is comfortable with the circumstances, well-experienced with the kind of lock involved, and in the right emotional head-space to put this customer at ease.
You may have a pro on the team who's great at roadside rescues but doesn't like a big mid-day parking lot audience and another who's got a better track record with house calls. Whatever the situation, emergency work order management starts with choosing the right technician for the job.
If it's an emergency, send your best technician in your fastest vehicle to help reduce the time your customer spends worried and waiting outside.
Timing is Everything
While many of your calls may be perfectly relaxed residential and business requests, locksmiths also receive a very high ratio of emergency work orders that must be addressed with haste.
When someone is waiting for you stuck outside their car or home, the more promptly you can get a fleet vehicle and technician to them and begin rescue operations, the better. For this reason, you'll want to optimize both your time estimates and your dispatching as much as possible.
When giving an arrival time estimate, remember to account for traffic, weather conditions, and bad luck with any traffic lights between you and the customer so consider at least a ten-minute padding on how fast you think you can get there.
If the customer asks for your realistic arrival range, be honest and let them know that it's possible you could be there in the shortest time but it's likely that it will take you a little longer.
When driving, use GPS and advanced navigation software to plan the most efficient route between your workshop and the customer. Dispatching software can off the control you need to even plan a custom route that dodges known traffic slow-downs so that drivers can get to emergency work orders ASAP.
Stay In Contact
If there is one truly terrifying experience, it's waiting for the locksmith outside your car, in the dark, wondering if they'll ever show up. While the customer may be too polite or freaked out to call you back when they get nervous, you can do them an incredible favor by keeping them updated.
If there is a certain amount of desperation in the customer's circumstances, ask if they'd like to be notified of progress and if they'd prefer phone calls or texting. This gives HQ the ability to offer updates and assurances while the locksmith is en route. Some customers may even prefer to be texted every ten minutes of the wait, just to be sure that help is still on the way.
Staying in contact will help worried customers not to panic and will ensure that no scam artists pretending to be their called locksmith will be able to fool them.
Putting the Customer At Ease on Arrival
The next question is how you deal with arrival. It may be tempting to be gruff and serious in the face of a serious situation but remember, nothing eases a customer's worried mind like a confident smiling professional.
Every work order should start by greeting the customer with a smile and if it seems appropriate, ask if they're alright. This may be the right time for a few jokes and stories about other lockouts or friendly small talk to help your customer feel normal after their unpleasant situation.
One amazing customer service trick is to keep a pack of cool water bottles in the car. Sipping water can help customers calm down and will allow you to take over as the 'host' of their work order while the problem is resolved.
If customers are truly rattled, consider offering them your passenger's seat with the lights, air, and radio on while you work. Just the ability to wait 'inside' can be enough to restore their sanity and good mood.
Of course, not all customer will need or want to be taken care of when you arrive, no matter how upset or even frightened they are about being locked out. Judge each work order circumstance independently and do your best to be charming and reassuring while also quickly attending to their lock.
[To be Continued ... contact us]
