Whether you’re a builder, plumber, electrician or plasterer – growing your business can be tough, especially if you don’t have a lot of money set aside for marketing. Here are a few expert tips for growing your trade business without spending too much cash:
Get work from referrals
Approximately 70 percent of all tradesman business comes from referrals or past clients. There’s no big mystery about what determines whether or not you get referrals – doing a good job.
If you behave unprofessional, make clients feel uneasy, or fail to meet their expectations, you’ll find it difficult to get more work or referrals from them.
Make a good impression
There are several subtle things that determine the impression you leave on a client. Those little things can add up!
- How do you address and speak to your client? (You should let them decide if & when you address each other on first name terms)
- Do yo take off your shoes when walking on their good carpets?
- Do you ask before using their bathroom?
- Do you tidy up at the end of the day?
Make sure they remember you!
Business cards are extremely inexpensive to buy online, so with every prospect and client there is no excuse not to leave a card.
Name a successful trade company that doesn’t display their name & contact details on the side of their van. People do it because it works! The cost and inconvenience is well worth the effort.
It also makes sense to put up a board if you are doing extensive work at a property. It’s not expensive to get boards made with your name and contact information.
Make use of referral websites
Websites like My Builder, Rated People and Checkatrade are some of the newest prospective lead sources. They are not always cheap however, unlike most of the other recommendations in this article. Most of them require a membership fee or charge a price-per-lead. They also require a little effort and patience on your part, as it takes time to build up reviews.
Remind customers when ongoing work and maintenance is needed
There are certain jobs that need to be done on a regular basis and appliances that need to be checked and serviced. You will get more work if you remind your clients by SMS or email when this kind of work is due. If you don’t, they might forget who you were and go to a competitor instead.