In building your business success, communication is key. So, it’s important your pest and building inspection reports are accurate and simple to understand. You want rapid reporting and the customer wants a clearly written report. Plus, your report writing needs to be compliant with Australia Standards. How to make everyone happy?
Read on…
How To Do Quick, Compliant Reporting for Happy Customers
Good impressions help a business flourish and succeed. When paying customers don’t understand what a job involves, they can be left wondering “am I getting value for money?”
It’s important your pest and building inspection reports satisfy the customer’s needs as much as they do yours. These types of inspections require specialist knowledge that’s alien to the layperson. You need to somehow tell them what they need to hear in a way that makes them understand. And the report writing must be done in a way that helps you avoid any complaints, or a costly insurance claim.
A report writing app can tick a lot of boxes. As will the rest of these report writing recommendations that help save time and boost business.
Rapid Reporting With An App
A report writing app can make reporting while working on the go quicker and so much easier, with less room for human error. Gone are the days of photocopying checklists, scanning documents, writing by hand, and typing out later while referring to scribbled notes. Build your report on your phone or tablet as you move throughout the job site, noting all the necessary defects, issues, risks, obstructions and limitations.
Then, send your report directly to your customer. Or, have a team member check it from their own computer as you go if your app automatically synchronises reports done in the field with the desktop version back in the office.
Photos on the go
With a good reporting app you take and upload photos all while you’re doing your inspection, on your phone or tablet. So too, with site maps. Look for rapid report writing with that functionality so you can also accomplish this while moving through the job. Remember to tag the location and details of each photo, to ensure your customer sees what you see, be that termite damage, or obstructions that require removal to properly inspect.
Here’s our other big reporting tip: Before you send the report to your customer, check to see if the information includes the 4W’s.
The 4W Rule for Report Writing
One of our resident Rapid Trainers and urban pest control expert Jay Turner says to make sure your report answers the 4W’s. These four ‘W’ questions are a simple way to check if you’ve covered the basics of a job. If you’ve answered them in your pest and building report, your customer’s more likely to be satisfied.
These 4Ws will help you communicate simply and accurately from your customer’s point of view:
- What is the problem?
- Where is the problem?
- Why is there a problem?
- What are your recommendations (and the relevant limitations)?
If what you write in your report ticks the 4W rule, you’re a long way to making your customer happy. If you’ve used ‘plain speak’, even better – put yourself in your customer’s shoes.
Give our ‘tips for making report recommendations’ blog article a read too.
Remember, your report also serves as a legal document. So, if your customer has a complaint down the line, you can reference your report to show what was communicated (well!) and agreed upon. This will help your insurer immensely.
Communicate well to promote understanding
When you’re satisfied with your report because you know you’ve answered the 4W’s, share it with your customer via a well-written email. Use bullet points to summarise the report’s main points and encourage them to open and read it.
It’s always a good idea to phone your customer to follow-up, making sure they’ve received and understand the info in the report. At this time you can also confirm if they have any further questions, particularly regarding recommendations you’ve made or high risks you’ve identified.
Never underestimate the strength of a follow-up phone call. It heightens your professional customer service and customers love it! Even if you can only leave a message, take the time to tick this box.
And for those who want to give real five-star service, take the time to meet your customer on site to talk through the steps to a solution. Don’t be surprised if they refer all their friends to your business and become a life-long advocate.
Speaking of lifelong advocates, you’ll find many of our Rapid Solutions customers are just that. If you haven’t already, seriously consider safeguarding your business with our professional indemnity insurance and general liability insurance. WHy not get a quote today?
