The average customer retention rate in the construction industry is 80%, according to the latest available retention data by industry. To maintain such a high customer retention rate, it’s essential to pay close attention to how satisfied your customers feel.
A handshake at the end of a job isn’t enough. Customer satisfaction is influenced each time a customer interacts with you or your team, from the initial phone call to the final walkthrough.
You can improve customer satisfaction by setting realistic goals and project schedules ahead of time. When the job starts, aim to keep everything on time and update clients if things change. Surprise missed deadlines or extra costs erode trust, which could result in a bad review.
Train your team to communicate professionally and ask for customer feedback at every stage. Also help them present a professional image by keeping your tools and machinery well-maintained and safe.
Ensure you measure customer satisfaction throughout each home-building project by setting up simple checkpoints to determine the customer’s feelings. Don’t wait until the end of the project, as it’s always better to catch issues early when they’re easier to fix.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to improve customer satisfaction in construction companies and avoid common pitfalls.
What Is Customer Satisfaction in Construction?
Customer satisfaction in construction is how people feel about your work and the way you’ve treated them throughout the construction process. Politeness and professionalism are important, but there’s more to it than that.
Customers should feel they can trust you. If they have doubts, it’ll be hard to satisfy them. That’s why honesty is essential, as is setting realistic project milestones upfront and aiming to complete the work ahead of time and within budget.
When people feel they can trust you and they believe you’re doing the job right and quickly, they’re more likely to pay on time and hire you again for future projects. They might even recommend you to new clients, which is like gold dust in the construction trade.
What Is the Importance of Customer Satisfaction in Construction?
Word travels fast in the construction industry. Satisfied customers become your best salespeople, helping you win new business through word-of-mouth and glowing online reviews.
If you drop the ball even once, you not only risk damaging the relationship with your current client but also missing out on referral business because that client is reluctant to recommend you.
Building up high levels of customer satisfaction has several benefits:
Repeat business: Satisfied customers are more likely to use your services again. You’ll increase client loyalty and get more work as people recommend you to others.
Better online reviews & reputation: Happy clients are more likely to leave five-star reviews on Google or Yelp, helping you attract more leads.
Less stress and fewer disputes: Clients who are satisfied and feel heard are less likely to nitpick over change orders or minor issues.
Shorter sales cycles: Happy customers refer others. You can usually close the deal on those jobs quicker because trust is already built in.
Easier to raise your prices: When people see the real value of your offer, they’ll be willing to pay more for better work and higher service quality.
Foundation for business growth: It’s impossible to scale construction firms without making your current clients happy.
How Can You Improve Customer Satisfaction as a Construction Contractor?
Improving customer satisfaction in construction means getting the basics right and doing them consistently. We’ve identified seven ways to improve overall customer satisfaction and reach project success.
1. Be realistic about your goals
Set realistic timelines and pricing based on your experience, site condition, crew, and work scope. This sets the tone for a smoother construction process right from the start.
If you say upfront, “This is how it usually goes, and here’s what we’ll do if something changes,” customers will be more understanding if issues arise.
Avoid ‘toxic optimism.’ Don’t agree to tight deadlines or budgets to win the job, as overpromising and under-delivering can easily lead to trust issues.
When things go well and you’re either ahead of schedule or coming in under budget (or both), the client will be pleasantly surprised. That’s how you get those ‘above-and-beyond’ reviews!
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2. Ensure on-time completion
Aim to adhere to the promised project timeline and manage any issues quickly. Nobody is perfect, and problems always arise, but you need a solid plan to keep things moving.
Tell the client immediately when things slow down or don’t go as planned. That’s true even if a mistake made by your team caused it. Keeping the client out of the loop is worse in the long run.
ServiceTitan’s Construction Management Software keeps everyone informed and on the same page. You can use the platform to plan the job in detail and give your team and the client visibility into what’s happening on a real-time dashboard.
The built-in scheduling feature means you can assign crew members based on availability and skill, so you're not wasting time figuring out who’s free. It also sends automated job updates to your team, general contractors, and clients to keep everyone in the loop.
3. Make communication easy
You should make it easy for your clients, team members, and subcontractors to get updates. If a client reaches out with a query, they should get an answer instantly, or at least within hours, not days.
ServiceTitan’s Customer Experience Software has integrated SMS messaging. Your customers can text your business directly and receive regular updates. The software even streamlines the process by sending automated text messages to remind clients and crew of appointments, answer questions, or reschedule work.
ServiceTitan enables you to add a chat-to-text widget to your website, making it even easier for clients and potential clients to get in touch. Text messages also keep all communication logged in one place, which is helpful if disputes arise later.
4. Train your team
Training your team on professional communication pays off, as it means they’ll treat clients politely and helpfully. Good training also helps them take a problem-solving approach to any issues and communicate clearly with customers.
Here’s how you introduce effective training into your workplace:
Use customer feedback as your guide: If clients keep mentioning things like poor communication or confusion about timelines, that’s a cue to implement new systems and train your team on those topics.
Make it part of your routine: Short monthly sessions or toolbox talks are a good way to remind people about the professional standards and benchmarks you expect. Don’t wait for something to go wrong before addressing it.
Mix technical and soft skills: When training your team, focus on specific skills, such as ‘how to talk to a client who’s frustrated’ or ‘how to explain a delay clearly.’
Lead by example: If you show your team how it’s done by acting professionally on-site and handling disputes the right way, they’re more likely to follow suit.
Document and repeat: Create checklists or SOPs (standard operating procedures) for things you want done a certain way each time, such as responding to a customer complaint.
5. Ask for feedback
Ask your clients directly what went well and what didn’t, rather than second-guessing. It's a good idea to check in with clients before, during, and after each job. If the work fell below customer expectations in any area, aim to address the issue quickly.
ServiceTitan’s Marketing Pro – Reputation feature is perfect for getting client feedback. It automates review requests and alerts you to new reviews so you can respond quickly.
You can see and respond to reviews directly on the platform instead of logging into Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc. A review dashboard lets you see how your reviews are trending over time, so if you spot an issue, you can do something about it.
6. Keep your equipment in good condition
All your gear should be reliable, safe, and ready to use when your team shows up on site. Schedule regular checks and maintenance to keep it in the best condition possible. If a tool is beyond repair, replace it quickly.
ServiceTitan’s Contractor Inventory Management lets you track every item in your toolkit, from big power tools to small components and parts. It saves time hunting for tools or materials, as you can manage inventory across various sites, including warehouses, job sites, and vans or trucks.
ServiceTitan also prevents the headache of running out of essential items, as it can automatically trigger a restock when supplies get low. Managing on-site stock couldn’t be easier with the inventory app, which allows you to scan barcodes.
7. Be transparent about the project’s schedule
Even if you’re only moving a task back by a day or waiting on a late material order, you should always let your customers and project team know. Proactive updates show them you’re on top of things and you’re working hard to solve any problems that come up.
Silence makes people nervous, so aim to send a weekly update, even if nothing has changed. A quick text or email letting them know everything is on the right track gives them peace of mind.
ServiceTitan’s Service Scheduling Software offers all the tools you need to communicate clearly with your customers. They get a live view of the project timeline—what phase you’re in, what’s coming next, and whether things are on track.
The project plans auto-update as work is logged from the site, so customers can always see any schedule changes.
You can spot scheduling issues before they become a bigger problem. Whether it’s a multi-phase remodel or a simple fix that got bumped three times, you’ll always know what’s coming (and so will your client).
How Can You Measure Customer Satisfaction in Construction?
Measuring customer satisfaction means understanding where you’re hitting the mark, where service quality is lacking, and how you can improve.
To get helpful feedback, you need to send out a satisfaction survey to people.
Don’t worry, this can be as simple as one or two questions, and ServiceTitan’s built-in survey feature can send it out automatically.
Let’s look at a few targeted questions and metrics contractors can use to track and improve client satisfaction.
1. Likelihood of recommendation
“On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”
Let’s say you ask this question to 20 clients and 12 people score you nine or ten, five score you seven or eight, and three score you six or lower. This tells you that most clients are satisfied with your work, but around 15 percent of people are unhappy.
You can then follow up with those three clients to determine what went wrong and how to improve next time. This kind of insight supports smarter decision-making across your entire construction process.
2. Overall satisfaction
“How satisfied were you with your experience on a scale of 0 to 10?”
If 15 out of 20 customers give a score of seven or higher, use this simple formula to find out the customer satisfaction score (CSAT):
CSAT = (15 ÷ 20) × 100 = 75%
You should aim for a CSAT score of at least 66 percent and preferably more than 75 percent, which would bring you close to or exceeding the construction average of 80 percent.
3. Problem solving
“How easy was it to schedule, communicate, or resolve your issue?”
Use ServiceTitan’s survey tools to send this out after common friction points (like reschedules or warranty work). You can then review the data to identify workflow snags and improvement opportunities in handling reschedules and warranty work.
4. Project completion feedback
Run structured interviews or post-job calls for more detailed feedback so customers can freely discuss their experience.
You can use ServiceTitan to schedule automatic follow-up calls or ask your techs to log verbal on-site feedback in the app.
What Can Decrease Customer Satisfaction With Construction Companies?
In project management, knowing what to avoid in the construction process is just as important as knowing what to do.
Here are some of the main factors behind customer dissatisfaction and how to avoid them:
1. Missed deadlines
Large construction projects typically take 20 percent longer to finish than scheduled, according to a McKinsey report. This directly impacts client satisfaction and word-of-mouth referrals.
Remember, clients plan their lives around your schedule. Missing a deadline causes inconvenience, stress, and sometimes extra costs. Delays leave a bad taste, even if the work is high-quality, so aim to minimize them.
2. Poor communication
When clients don’t know what’s happening, they get anxious. Unanswered calls, vague updates, or last-minute surprises are red flags. Clear communication builds trust; without it, even minor setbacks feel bigger.
3. Budget creep
Customers get frustrated if they receive a bill that’s higher than expected. Even if the extra cost is justified, it feels sneaky if you didn’t explain it in time, and you could lose any credibility you’ve already built.
4. Low-quality workmanship
Customers are paying for a job well done. If it looks bad, breaks quickly, or needs to be redone, they might feel like they wasted their money (and will probably tell others).
5. Unprofessional behavior
The experience of a job matters just as much as the quality of workmanship. Clients remember how they were treated. A polite, respectful crew earns respect and trust. A gruff, messy one loses both.
Improve Customer Satisfaction With Construction Software
Customer satisfaction is the foundation for long-term success. Running a tight, professional operation focused on clear communication, accountability, and continuous improvement helps win people over.
Start by setting clear expectations and goals and sharing your plan. If you want to meet client expectations, keep your customers in the loop from start to finish with good communication.
ServiceTitan helps build client relationships through clear and consistent communication. The platform allows customers to track project management and progress in real time. You can also send automated updates and reminders via text message or email. It lets you collect feedback instantly and manage and respond to reviews on the platform. Find out how ServiceTitan can enhance your construction business today.
ServiceTitan Software
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