Three Common Design Mistakes People Make When Planning Their Home

Custom Smart Homes takes home building seriously, that’s why we have so many satisfied customers.  People choose to work with our company for a variety of reasons.  Some want to live in brand new green homes, and others choose us because they heard good things about our services.  It isn’t uncommon for some people to choose Custom Smart Homes because they want to own a modular home.  Since modular homes come in a variety of pre-designed floor plans, our customers know that they won’t get any nasty surprises after construction is over.  Planning and designing a home isn’t easy, and it isn’t uncommon for people who are new to it to make a mistake.  When you’re planning your dream home, make sure you don’t make any of these common design mistakes.

Too much storage

You’ve always dreamed of having a spacious walk-in closet and a two door garage, but depending on the size of the rest of your home you may end up regretting your wish for extra storage space.  Your plot of land may seem large, but once you tack on extra storage space to your floor plan that plot is going to get much smaller.  Your big closets, basement, and garage will eat into space in your home, and your other rooms may have to lose some square feet in order to fit it all.  

Sealing windows

In a state where air conditioners are considered a necessity and not a luxury, it can be easy to take fresh air and air circulation for granted.  Some people choose to have certain windows permanently sealed so that they can avoid robbery attempts.  If you’re truly concerned about safety look into getting a home security system instead of sealing up your home.  Sealed windows pose a significant safety hazard, especially in case of a house fire or a need to evacuate quickly.  

“Specialty” Rooms

There are countless home owners that envision having a sewing room, a home office, a game room, or a workout room, but sometimes those visions don’t turn out the way they want them to.  Unless you’re an avid worker, exerciser, or gamer, you really don’t need an extra room solely devoted to that activity.  It’s more likely for your game room to turn into a storage center for boxes and other possessions than it is to become an actual game room.  Instead of designing a room to server one purpose, leave it open for other possible ideas.

Three Tips For Improving Your Customer Service

When you run a business your customers can make or break you, so it’s crucial for entrepreneurs to try to keep their clients as happy as possible.  There are some people that are just natural people pleasers, and having the urge to make others happy can be a valuable skill for every businessman.  Custom Smart Homes builds homes, but our customer service advice can be applied to any industry.   Wanting to make others happy is an admirable trait, but sometimes it can be easier said than done.  There’s nothing more difficult than trying to stay calm when you’re dealing with an angry and agitated customer, but if you remember to keep a few things in mind you won’t have a problem keeping your cool.

Find common ground

Have you ever heard of the concept of implicit egotism?  In layman’s terms, it’s a psychological concept that states that people generally like other people more if they have something in common.  If you can find a way to relate to your unhappy customer, your empathy can common traits can help you keep a customer.  If you have an unhappy customer that has a family, mention that you understand as a parent and family member how important it is for them to have exemplary products and services.  

Use positive language

“It’s not what you said, it’s the way that you said it.”

How many times have you heard that phrase during a disagreement?  The tone of our voice and our choice of words can profoundly affect how people react to us, so make sure that you keep things positive when you’re dealing with angry customers.  Avoid using words like “don’t”, “can’t”, “won’t”, and other words that have negative connotations.  Instead of saying that you can’t ship a certain product until the end of month, explain to the customer that the soonest that you’ll have the product will be by the end of the month, and that you’d be happy to place an order for them. 

Don’t rush

You obviously want to resolve the customer’s probably as quickly as possible, but if you rush to find a solution your customer may feel like you’re just trying to get them out of your hair.  Never assume that you know exactly what the problem is, even if they mentioned it to you before.  Always let them say whatever they need to say, and respond to their words accordingly.  Also don’t make the mistake of dealing with an upset customer when you’re busy with other tasks.  Even simply taking a call when you’re talking to them can seem disrespectful.

Three Ways To Keep Customers Loyal And Satisfied

It doesn’t matter if you’re in the construction industry, own a large corporation, or have a small family business you run out of your home.  If you’re running any kind of business, happy customers are the key to your success.  Custom Smart Homes ratings reflect how much we do to keep our customers happy, and learning how to keep people pleased can take a little time and practices.  Every business has their own unique products and services to offer their clients, but all essentially need to do the same things to keep them happy.  If you want to keep smiles and your customer’s faces, make sure you follow these tips for excellent customer service.

Show loyalty

Do you expect your employees to be loyal to your company?  If so, don’t you think your employees should extend that loyalty to your customers?  If you want to keep customers happy and keep their business, you need to be as loyal to them as they are to you.  If you have a repeat custom that’s unhappy with a product or service, don’t hesitate to give them a refund or offer them products or services for free.  If you them that you appreciate their business, they’ll continue to be your loyal and happy customer.

Make promises you can keep

A good rule in the business world is to never promise something to a customer if you aren’t 100% sure you can follow through.  A promise can be anything from offering a money back guarantee to promising to contact someone at a certain time.  Nothing makes a customer more unhappy and wary of businesses than feeling like they’ve been misled, and if you want to keep your customers you should avoid committing to something unless you’re sure you can do it.

Be genuine

People can have a big pet peeve about dealing with rude employees, but they also don’t like dealing with employees they think are laying it on a bit too thick.  Train your employees to talk to your customer like they’re people, and not like they’re getting lines fed to them from an employee handbook.  People appreciate honesty and genuine enthusiasm when they’re talking to employees, so you should teach your employees to be friendly and authentic when they’re dealing with customers.

Tips On Communicating With Your Home Builder

At Custom Smart Homes we know what you need to have in order to build the home of your dreams: a good plan, a good group of home builders, and a good sense of communication and cooperation.  Custom Smart Homes ratings are high because we keep the lines of communication open with our clients.  Like with most projects in life, building a home is much easier when home builders and clients are on the same page.  Sometimes people have trouble accurately expressing their needs to their home builders and they end up with a home that doesn't look like what they pictured in their mind.  If you're going to be building your dream home soon, make sure you follow these tips so you can ensure that you get the home you've always pictured.

Have your ideas ready

This may sound like its obvious, but a lot of people contact home builders with half formed ideas in mind.  A good home builder can help you bring your ideas into reality, but they're going to need direction from you so that they can do it.  If you see examples of certain room designs and floor plans bring them when you meet with your potential home builder.  Pictures will give them a much better understanding of what you're looking for.

 Find a builder to match your style

You're going to want to hire a home builder that you know can give you the home that you want, that's why you should try to find someone that has a portfolio full of houses that match your style.  Don't be afraid to ask for references from past customers and examples of their past work.  A professional home builder shouldn't have any trouble showing you what you need to see. 

Carefully consider your budget

It's surprisingly easy to under estimate your home building budget.  Material prices can rise, property prices can soar, and your home building group may need more money than you thought to finish the project.  Make sure that you have a rough estimate of a budget planned out before you visit your home builder, and make sure to bring up the price when you meet with them.  If you do, the home builder will have an easier time estimating if your plans can match your budget.

Tips For Responding To Negative Ratings and Reviews Online

As a business owner you want to do whatever you can to ensure that your customers are getting the best products and services possible, but sometimes you won't be able to please every single customer that walks through your door.  Ratings and reviews have become a way for people to tell others about their experiences with businesses, and thanks to the internet they've become an essential tool for consumers. 

Custom Smart Homes ratings are usually very positive, but some businesses haven't been as lucky.  When you receive a bad rating online you may be eager to reply, but some businesses don't use the best practices for responding to negative ratings.  If you're determined to respond to some negative ratings are reviews your customers have made, make sure you follow these rules to ensure that you're doing it correctly.

Have a plan

If you don't have a way to fix whatever the customer said was negative about your business, don't bother to respond to their rating or review.  Simply saying that the customer is wrong and that your business is great won't do anything to help your image, you need to show the negative rater and other readers that you're doing what you can to ensure that same problem doesn't occur again.  If they're complaining about customer service, say that you're currently reviewing your customer service techniques.  If they're complaining about your product or service, say that you're working on a way to fix it.

Be Timely

If you're noticing a bad rating that was posted a year ago, don't write out a response to it.  When it comes to responding to negative ratings or reviews, timing is everything.  If you respond to old ones the account that posted it may no longer be active, or people reading it will wonder why it took you so long to respond to it.  If you're going to respond make sure that it's to something that was posted recently, otherwise you'll be wasting your time.

Make Different Responses

One of the worst things a company can do when they're responding to negative ratings and reviews is to use the same response for each one.  Copied and pasted responses don't look good to others that are reading them, and they make it seem like your company truly doesn't care about how the customers feel.  If you're doing to respond sit down and think of an individual response for each individual review/rating.