Customer Service Starts By Listening

As the Director of Business Development at Destination Motivation, Jacob Berger has a lot of things to cover.  Over his five years with the company, he’s helped build new relationships with clients, increase their productivity & revenue, generate fresh opportunities and assists homeowners with their travel plans.  Juggling a lot of different things at once can be challenging, but the one thing it all has in common is that it requires a lot of listening.

“I think the best thing I’ve learned over the years is that we have two ears but only one mouth,” Jacob shared.  “That means we should do twice as much listening as we do talking! Sometimes all an unhappy customer wants to know is that they’ve been heard and validated.”

Solving customer challenges is an area where Jacob thrives.  He takes great joy in helping turn difficult situations into positive ones, and always find opportunities to grow and learn alongside clients and homeowners alike.  He encourages everyone who’s in customer service to try and understand where their customer is coming from, and empathize with them as you solve their concerns. This mindset helps him relate well to home improvement and home services companies, as it’s a key part of their business as well.

Culture is also something that he’s learned is incredibly important to building strong customer relationships.  Whether that’s sitting across from a homeowner or talking on zoom to one of his clients, building a consistent culture helps drive everyone to a common goal.

“I look at my co-workers, clients and homeowners as part of my family,” he explains. “I love to get to know them personally. If you treat everyone as if they were members of your family, you’ll find they will want to connect with you the same way. That way, when something does go awry, your customer trusts you to have their best interests in mind when finding a solution. It’s a great way to build strong, ongoing, repeat relationships – something that our clients know is important to create with their customers, as much as it is for us to create with them.”