The blizzard brought 12 inches of snow to my region with heavy winds.  When the snow drifts exceed two and three feet, then the home owners with direct-vent furnaces must keep the area around their vent pipes clear, otherwise the furnace will not ignite.

Thankfully, my HVAC contractor sent a reminder e-mail to their customers prior to the blizzard.

This proactive gesture saved them time and money and it kept their customers warm and comfortable.

But what about the contractors who were not proactive?

What happened when their customers called to complain that “my furnace stopped working” on a Saturday?

You can imagine the extra expense, wasted time and tense customer relations that ensued.  And what would it have cost to be proactive?  Pennies.

Proactive customer service work is defined as work that doesn’t have to be done today.

There are similarities between the reactive and proactive model in comparison to the pain versus gain model.  Reactive service usually includes pain in the form of dissatisfied customers, incoming call peak times and system breakdowns.  The human reaction to pain is to end it as soon as possible – hence there is little time reserved for any proactive work.  The proactive service model includes gain in the form of efficiency, follow up and enhanced customer relationships – but only if the manager chooses to allocate enough resources.

The best managers stay one step ahead of potential problems with a proactive stance.