There’s a local coffee shop I recommend to everyone. The coffee is excellent, but it’s almost beside the point. The owner remembers me, the wifi never fails, the music is upbeat and at the perfect volume. It’s not the cheapest place in town but it earns every penny, because every single interaction leaves me feeling good. (Shoutout to @coffeecrowduk Newport Pagnell)

That feeling isn’t one thing. It’s an accumulation of interactions and experiences gathered over time.

Think about the last time you stayed somewhere and the whole experience was great. Booking was easy, check in was quick, the room was exactly as it looked in the picture, and when you needed something, someone answered. That’s a five-star experience that has very little to do with the thread count.

Now think about a stay that wasn’t so good. Maybe the room was ok but the website was confusing, the confirmation email didn’t arrive, and you had to chase someone down at reception to book in. By checkout, no amount of a decent breakfast could fix the mood.

A single rough touchpoint reframes every interaction that goes before and afterwards. Your customer stops seeing the good, and starts looking for the next thing to go wrong.

The specific frustration created by service businesses - the wait

For trades and service businesses, the frustration of having to wait, consistently lets customers down. Someone has booked you, rearranged their day, and is sitting at home with no idea if you’re ten minutes away or two hours away. They feel stuck. And by the time you knock on the door, that frustration has already coloured the whole appointment.

BUT, when you manage that moment well, the effect isn’t neutral, it actively delights people. The opposite of frustration.

A simple text message when you’re on your way is a good thing to do. With Fintrano you could do this automatically and even send a live location link and a photo of who’s coming, so they know who to expect. These signal that you respect your customer’s time. These positive early interactions colour their whole experience with you.

What your touchpoints are actually saying

Every interaction a customer has with your business, from your website to your confirmation emails, reminder notifications and texts on the day, is a sentence in a story they're writing about you. If enough of these touchpoints are good, the story they tell their friends is a great one.

Fintrano is a very simple way to help you get it right with your customers, so when you show up, they are already impressed. You can try it free for a month (including 25 jobs) - and after that, it's only 80p per job, so you get to be delighted too.