The BSkyB Guide to satisfied Customers

The BSkyB Guide to satisfied Customers
July 2004

Please note that information in articles was correct at time of publication.
You should check if you are unsure of current accuracy.
Views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of Riggers Magazine

Bill Collins, from BSkyB, writes that independent aerial installers have never been the most adept at advertising their services, marketing being a dark art that's best left to others. For that reason, if for no other, professional installers who are otherwise very technically competent tend to rely heavily on word of mouth for new business. Having a satisfied customer recommend your business to a friend or neighbour can be the most effective advertising of all; the only difficulty comes from knowing how to generate sufficient customer satisfaction to produce those recommendations.

Customers tend not to notice the technical brilliance of their installation. All they want to know, from a technical viewpoint, is does it work flawlessly and will it continue to work like that? Technical details matter to the installer and so they should as it's only by getting the technical details perfect that the system will work flawlessly but customer care matters to the client. It's customer care that generates satisfaction.

Whilst preparing for this issue someone asked for a 10-point checklist for customer satisfaction - a list of ten things that, if correctly ticked off during, for instance, a satellite install would result in not only a good installation from a technical point of view but also a satisfied customer. If only it was that simple, however on the left is a ten point list.

Was the customer telephoned early and told what time to expect the installer to arrive?
Was the customer involved in the antenna placement and cable routing decisions?
Has the dish been properly aligned and securely fixed?
Has only benchmarked cable been used and is it neatly and securely clipped in place with the connectors sealed?
Have the TV and set top box been connected up via SCART for best picture
and sound and has the automatic switching been explained to the customer?
Has the phone connection been checked as OK and a callback been
done?
Has the Sky remote control been programmed to work the TV and has this been explained and demonstrated to the customer?
Has a software update been performed on the set top box?
Has all the mess and bits of install rubbish been cleared from both inside and outside the customer's home
Is all the customer's original equipment, TV, VCR etc still operating perfectly?
Is the new Sky system working flawlessly?
Did you give a good demonstration and explanation of the system?
Did you show Channel 998 and recommend occasional viewing as a good information source on new features?
Did you show how to operate the Interactive menu and Customer Service with its free technical and other help? Installers may be very familiar with the contents of the technical help pages but they can be gold dust for a customer. It should be remembered that this frequently updated help might easily save the installer an unnecessary (and unpaid) service call.

OK, the 10 point checklist has extended to 14, and we never mentioned the broken TV, keeping the ladder out of the flowerbed and keeping the customer's three year old son out of your tool kit. Nevertheless, a 'yes' check against all these points will not only ensure a technically good installation, it will raise the human contact between installer and customer. As a consequence it will, if nothing else, substantially raise the customer's opinion of the installer as one giving good customer care.