The art of interviewing the customer is a critical skill for the professional restorer. The first interview will provide you important information necessary in the delivery of your services as well as an opportunity to establish trust between you and the customer. Barbara Walters is known to us as having mastered the interview process and although the purposes are different, the techniques can be similar. TV Interview Tips by Glenn Halbrooks presents four things to consider:
When the phone rings at your company, the first critical step in managing that job has begun. The person who conducts the interview should be trained on the various types of losses/calls, be able to show empathy and care over the phone, answer questions and gather critical information. The person in your company who is assigned the job as “interviewer” can gain valuable skills from attending restoration-related classes or cross training within your company. It can be very frustrating for any customer to be interviewed by a person who can’t answer simple questions or does not seem to understand the context of their questions.