Can you recommend someone? The dreaded question.

How many times does it happen? A neighbour, friend or family member, even a work colleague, will ask you "do you know anyone that could?" or ask you to recommend someone.

Unless you've had a similar home improvement done (and even then, you may not want to recommend that particular company), it can be very difficult to be help. You want to be helpful but either you don't know anyone or you're unwilling to put your 'neck on the line' by recommending someone.

For you, and your acquaintances, help is at hand.

The Home Improvement Quotes service works in 3 ways:

1) Homeowners can get an instant online quote, without ever having to call a company or suffer an pushy unknown company rep' in their home.

2) After using our free online quoting service, homeowners can discuss their project with us, completely impartially, over the phone.

3) If they're thinking of going ahead with the improvement and would like actual written quotes, based on a survey of their home and requirements, we can then put them in touch with the best 3 companies in their area, based on quality and price.

And if they want to read what other local homeowners thought about the companies we were able to put them in touch with, then they can review that written feedback first-hand, before inviting any of the companies into their homes.

This article first appeared in our weekly homeowner newsletter dated 24th October 2011. Click here to read the full newsletter.

photo credit: anthony kelly

Your Home Improvement Company feedback makes the difference

Here at Home Improvement Quotes, we've seen the way feedback you've been leaving on companies we've recommended to you has really changed the way they do business.

After we've matched your details to a home improvement provider from our network, we give you the opportunity to leave feedback on the company, their salespeople, and the job they did.

Through your comments, both good and not-so-good, Managers have gained first hand insights into how their companies are being perceived and how their sales force conduct themselves with homeowners. When that feedback is good, they're able to give rewards to their best sales people, based not only on raw number of homeowner signatures but also on customer satisfaction.

When that feedback hasn't been so favourable, they've been able to make efforts to change their customer service procedures.

Receiving feedback from homeowners also enables us to constantly monitor the companies in our network. If companies start regularly being given negative feedback, we can speak with them directly and resolve issues raised quickly and effectively. On some (very rare) occasions, we've even entirely stopped doing business with companies based on feedback we've received from homeowners just like you.

Of course, good feedback is also vital, as it enables companies to reward their staff - and us to reward the companies.
When we all work together, it all adds up to a service that every homeowner can have faith and trust in, and be safe in the knowledge that your feedback is read and acted upon.

So after you've booked the services of a company we've recommended, don't forget to visit your customer information page to leave feedback.

Customer Feedback update

Regular readers will know that users of the 'Quoter family of websites get unique access to a personalised login area where they can leave valuable feedback on their own experiences with our recommended companies.

Feedback that helps us monitor our database of home improvement companies as well as helping other home owners decide which company will best suit their own needs, based on the feedback of other home owners.

Here's just a small selection of the feedback received in during the Christmas and New Year holidays...

KitchenQuoter
"Phil was very imaginative, and came up with ideas to enhance the kitchen. He was honest regarding the cost of our original plan, and helped us to come up with a final decision where to relocate the new kitchen to another reception room.. I am looking forward to seeing the plans and the quote."

WindowQuoter
"Very efficient service. Very helpful advise. Profesional, but personal service so far. I have placed an order."

"Really professional company. They came and gave us a quote which we accepted immediately, and we are due to start work early next year. Fantastic discounts and friendly salesman. Would definately recommend!"

"Excellent rep who had no problem with any question I asked him, I felt confident that he knew what he was talking about.Chose this company because the product looked and felt to be of a good quality and they use thier own fitters (no sub-contractors)."

"Well presented product with a window sample. reasonable price. the salesman did not pressurise."

FasciaQuoter
"None pushy salesman. Pleasant to deal with."

If you've recently used one of the 'Quoter websites for an instant online home improvement quote and taken your online enquiry through to getting written quotations from our recommended companies, then don't forget to leave your feedback.

Thank you.

Window Quoter customer feedback

Regulars will know we offer an online customer feedback service where users of our home improvement online quote websites can leave comments on the companies we recommend to them.

Your feedback plays an important part in our close monitoring of our approved companies to make sure they continue to offer the highest levels of customer service.

Not only is all feedback left, anonymously fed back to the companies concerned (good or bad), but we also now publish the 5 star (highest level attainable) feedback to other home owners within that companies operating range as a great first hand recommendation from you to other home owners, perhaps even your neighbours!

Here's just some of the recent feedback we've alerted over 100,000 home owners to in the last few weeks....

"Very Professional sales presentation and survey info. Have ordered 9 windows"
West Lothian - double glazing

"Absolutely fantastic. He was very professional and full of ideas. He listened to what it was I wanted, I was able to see and feel the quality of the products. The 3D image on the laptop really gave an idea of the finished product. The price was even better! Will be recommending them to my friends!"
Northampton - fitted kitchen

"Positive initial appointment and competitive quote received. As a result we have agreed to go with them"
Plymouth - conservatory

"Excellent first meeting. Offered a number of alternatives. Was able to provide us with references, copies of certificates etc. Seemed very knowledgable and enthusiastic about their products"
Chester - impressed concrete driveway

"The designer who came out to me was friendly and courteous and went straight into designing my kitchen instead of pushing the sales aspect which was great. He was really innovative and imaginative when designing the kitchen and managed to come up with a design that accomplished more than I thought possible with the size of the kitchen. I have now decided to buy from this company"
Manchester - fitted kitchen

"Excellent company. We were very impressed with them. Gave us time to think things through. Would recommend them to others"
Nottingham - windows and doors

"Good price quoted and good communication, phoned when they said they would etc"
Camberley - double glazing

So the next time you receive a quality feedback alert - don't junk it! The next one you receive may just be for the very next home improvement project you're thinking of carrying out.

Remember - these are not randomly sent spam emails. They are sent only to those home owners that have used our online quoter services and fall within that particular companies operating area.

Your feedback shapes the future of recommendations

How your feedback is shaping the future of home improvement quotes...
Quality feedback alerts – what they mean to you.

The ‘Quoter family of websites are all designed to give you instant online quotes which can later be confirmed in writing by up to 3 approved companies from our database of registered companies throughout the UK.

When a home improvement company asks to join our approved list, we seek certain assurances that they are bona-fide companies with a good and reputable trading history.

Our registered companies are aware that we encourage customer feedback from home owners that we recommend to them. Individual companies receive your feedback (anonymously) to help them (and us) monitor their performance on a constant basis.

Recommendation from a friend is always a good idea so when someone in your neighbourhood leaves 5 star feedback on a company in your area, we immediately email that feedback to every home owner within that specific area that’s used our online service in the past.

If we didn’t share that intelligence, we wouldn’t be doing our job!
So it’s not just on our recommendation (which is impartial) but also on the recommendation of another home owner – perhaps even a neighbour of yours?

The next time you receive a quality feedback alert, please don’t junk it or unsubscribe. If the ‘product’ in question e.g roofing is of no interest to you, simple delete. The next time you are considering a home improvement project, wouldn’t it be nice to make an informed decision?

Click here to read more about our customer login area.