Movers Sound Off on Customer Service

Among relocation professionals, it’s no secret that lifting boxes is only half of the job. In reality, the smallest touches to the moving experience can often make or break business.

So, we decided to ask a few of our clients about their approaches to building customer experience strategy, along with a few stories about how they’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty to help their customers.

What does your company do to ensure your customers have an excellent experience?

The team at Maffucci Moving & Storage (with locations including Amityville) understands the importance of offering multiple solutions to cater to customers based on the reason for their move. "Moving is one of the most stressful times in people’s lives. While it may be easy to offer one solution, the truth is everyone is moving for different reasons," says Judd Levine, President and Owner. "Some may be moving for positive reasons – a  new job, getting married or going back to their family's hometown. Others may need to move for not so happy reasons – death, divorce or lost a job. We try to cater to each customer based on their needs and work with them personally to ensure the smoothest move possible. " 

Merit Moving Systems, Inc. is proactive in their quest to do a good job. Maybe that’s why they’re continually in the top 5% of over 500 United Van Line agents in their Customer Choice recognition program. “Our objective when a problem arises is to move swiftly to resolve problems in a way that satisfies the customer,” says Tom Hezmalhalch, Vice President of Merit Moving Systems, Inc. “We send surveys to our customers, encouraging them to tell us what we did right as well as wrong.”

Jeff Nogg, VP of Sales and Business Development at I-Go Van and Storage, says providing an excellent customer experience is all about tailoring the move to the customer’s individual preferences:

“Customers want to work with a company that truly listens to them, customizes the move based on their personal preferences, keeps them updated on developments during the process, and follows up during every day of the move to make sure that the customer is happy with the move experience.”

Why is the customer experience important to you?

Brent Evenson, Senior VP of Business Development at AAA Movers (with locations including Lake Zurich and Minneapolis), writes, “As a 50 year old company, we realized a long time ago that our reputation was the lifeblood of our business. That's why we strive every day to make sure that our customers know how much they mean to us. They expect more than just a moving service – they’re letting us in their homes and trusting us to relocate their most treasured possessions and memories.”

The team at WM Meyers Movers knows just how much time and effort their customers put into their moves and go to extra measures to be considerate of their time. “Lots of planning and coordinating go into every move… from change of address, to managing utilities, making travel plans, to assistance with shipping vehicles and pets, etc.,” says Amy Miller, Operations Manager. “Thanks to Updater’s concierge, we now can offer some of these services to our clients. We’re helping by saving them time, and in the long run... money.”

Has your company ever done anything out of the box to help a customer?

As a relocation professional, you know that the job often includes going to great lengths to satisfy your customer. Would you risk a plunge into a frozen lake to save a customer’s pooch? A team at AAA Movers did, bringing a whole new meaning to “customer experience.”

“This past winter we were moving a customer that lived on a lake. Their dog wandered onto the frozen lake, got stuck on the ice and fell through,” said Evenson. “The movers on the job saw this happen and worked together, using their moving straps to maneuver one of the crew members out onto the thin ice to help rescue the dog from the freezing water. The teamwork involved and willingness from our staff that day made them heroes.”

What can we learn here? Providing free moving boxes to your customers simply won’t cut it anymore. Moving is all about paying attention to individual preferences, customizing the moving experience accordingly, and most of all, doing whatever it takes to ensure excellent customer experience.