Guest Blog – Striking the Right Balance between Finding Work and Doing Work can be Hard for Tradies, or Is It?

27 Sep Guest Blog – Striking the Right Balance between Finding Work and Doing Work can be Hard for Tradies, or Is It?

If there is one thing we can all agree on it’s this: Being a Tradie, not all days are the same.

The beauty of running your own business is that your phone never stops ringing. But as you grow from a one-man-show to a couple of employees, there will be times when you would be paying for your idle staff as there is not enough work coming in.

The slower days would stretch for weeks sometimes and then it all bounces back and suddenly you have no time to even call back customers, and you start to lose potential work opportunities just like that.

Typical chicken and egg situation! Or is it?

Striking the right balance between finding work and doing work does not have to be too hard if you have the right systems in place and a platform where customers can get in touch with you.

1. Be where the customers are looking for you

If you have still not hopped onto quality trade directories, you are really missing out on a huge chuck of potential clients that are looking for licensed and certified professionals like you.

But here’s the catch. Not all trade directories will land you with dream customers. Most of the time you would find yourself competing with lower quotes.

So what do you do? List your business on directories that allow customers to hire you based on your past jobs, customer ratings and business credibility as proved by your licenses and certificates, instead of quote comparison.

2. Never keep them waiting

The quickest way to lose a job: Never get back!

Time lost to admin work is revenue lost. Too many jobs fall into the abyss of nothingness that lies between getting a quote request and never having enough time to call them back. The only option your customers are left with is to go somewhere else.

This new job may not be big enough and may not be your priority right then, but still responding to the call will say a lot about your business and your values.

Work on putting the right systems in place to capture new job requests and send in quick estimates so you don’t have to halt what you are doing and still able to keep that customer from going somewhere else.

3. How you deliver will make the difference

Delivering a great service is more than arriving when promised and not leaving the mess behind.

At the end of the day, it’s the customer experience that matters the most. Good clients are forever! And how professionally, transparently, securely and efficiently you deliver the entire job will determine whether they hire you the next time or not.

Have you thought about enabling your customers so they can track job progress from when the job is scheduled to when the Tradie arrives at their door step, starts, finishes and invoices? Is it even possible?

With so much going on in a day, that seems like too much to ask for. Doesn’t it? The good thing is you don’t have to do it yourself. The Trades Consumer App to manage the entire customer experience is already here and it’s free.

4. Word of mouth still matters

9 out 10 times the job you have delivered would leave your customers delighted. But it’s still between you and the customers. No one else knows. Feel like you are missing out on a good opportunity here?

Yes!

Why not give them a platform so they can rave about the super experience they had working with you. These days, there is hardly any customer that books a service without checking the reviews first. Having your business rated and reviewed on trade directories and social media is a sure shot way to get you new clients while you sleep, literally.

Wrapping up

Automating your processes like quoting, improving customer experience and establishing a credible presence on platforms that directly connect you with your potential client base, not only reinforces customer trust in your brand but also leaves you more time to focus on growth rather than being stuck in the daily routine from looking for work and not having enough time to work in the day.

Learn more about i4Tradies here: https://www.i4tradies.com.au/