First impressions can make or break a relationship. Snap judgements, as unfair as they may be, often lead to enduring feelings, and it takes a lot of work to come back from a botched introduction. It’s just as true in the business world as it is in personal relationships.
We’ve been talking over the past few weeks about what makes TrendSource standout from our competition in the compliance management industry. The TrendSource difference is, of course, the professionalism and reliability of our Inspectors.
As we’ve previously described, for better and for worse, as providers of third-party OnSite Inspections, our Inspectors are regularly associated with our clients. They are often the first person a contact has met after entering a business relationship with our clients.
We know first impressions matter, and with third-party Inspections, it is imperative that companies choose compliance management partners who will represent them well in the field.
Today, we are going to look at the earliest points of contact between our Inspectors and the companies they Inspect.
The Scheduling Phone Call
The very first interaction a contact has with TrendSource is the scheduling phone call, when an Inspector reaches out to the contact to set up an appointment to perform the OnSite Inspection.
These phone calls should be friendly but to the point, efficient and accommodating. These are the standards our clients set for our Inspectors, and we are proud to say they meet and exceed them.
Over the last four years, we have sent an optional survey to each and every contact after each and every Inspection. And they agree with near unanimity that on this initial call the Inspectors have been nothing but professional.
This year, our Inspectors average score is 4.79 out of 5. Last year, in the midst of a life-altering public health and economic crisis, the average score was 4.72. The four-year average score from 2018 to 2021 is 4.73.
Those scores tell us what we already know, that our Inspectors really do set the industry standard for professionalism from the earliest points of interaction. They make a good impression on the contacts they interact with, representing our clients well in the field. That’s the TrendSource difference.
On-Time Arrivals
The next time an Inspector interacts with a contact is at the appointment itself when the actual Inspection is performed.
Like we said before, bad first impressions are hard to overcome. And nothing makes a worst first impression than arriving late to an appointment. That’s why it’s extremely important to our clients that our Inspectors arrive on time and without complication to their scheduled Inspections.
Indeed, whoever said ‘better late than never’ likely did not receive high marks for professionalism.
But TrendSource’s Inspectors do.
This year, our Inspectors’ average score for on-time arrival is 4.72 out of 5. Over the last four years, the average is 4.70, a number dragged down a bit by the fact that, in 2020, our average score dipped to 4.66. But that was during a global pandemic.
In fact, it reflects very well on our Inspectors (and thus our clients) that, even in the face of an unprecedented lockdown, the average on-time score never dipped below 4.66 out of 5, or 93.2%.
The TrendSource OnSite Inspection Difference
Before our Inspectors have even started the actual OnSite Inspection, they are already leaving lasting impressions on contacts by showing flexibility and professionalism when scheduling an appointment, and then by arriving on time to that appointment.
Of course, as we’ve already shown in previous blogs, our Inspectors carry this professionalism throughout the OnSite Inspection process.
But it is important to note that, in the make-or-break context of a first introduction, TrendSource’s Inspectors set the tone for the entire Inspection process.
