Struggling to find growth in your business? Not sure where to start, or where to go from here? We have a few ideas for you. Follow these effective suggestions to learn how to increase sales and expand your business.
Be visible
Can your clients find you? That’s a great place to start. Your business might be struggling to find jobs simply because your community is struggling to find you. As a basis for any company, you should have a searchable website for your business and some sort of active online presence. Whether there is a way for customers to reach out to you so that you can respond promptly, you maintain a consistent social media presence, or you respond to reviews left on websites like Google or Yelp, it’s important that your customers know you are a modern company that is easily accessible online.
Offer pre-service and post-service
Pre-services are a great way to ensure that an interested customer actually follows through. You should have an active phone number that you answer as often as possible to respond to inquiries, or an online form they can fill out for questions and concerns that can be promptly addressed.
At the storefront, have a knowledgeable front desk that can answer questions without having to direct them to someone else. Remember, a customer’s first impression occurs before they even do business with you; make sure you start off on the right foot. Make it clear that you understand their issue and have a plan of how to solve it.
If your pre-service efforts work and you lock in a customer, great! Now it’s time to follow through. Keeping in touch with past clients through email updates, warranty offers on installations, or check-ins on previously serviced problems can build a great relationship and keep your company at the forefront of their mind.
Focus on the customers
Relationships, more than anything, are what build your business. Every job you do has an opportunity to compound business in the future. Say a customer calls you for an unrelated issue and you notice a part or appliance you’re worried about. Your goal is not to sell whatever they might need to them; your goal is to voice your concern and answer their questions honestly.
If you approach from a perspective of building relationships rather than building revenue, customers take notice. Oftentimes their trust in you strengthens after your honest answers, rather than rolling into an unwarranted (or desired) sales pitch. Trust is a great step toward future business.
Prioritize punctuality
Although you should always be patient with your customers, you can’t count on them being patient with you. Timeliness is one of the biggest factors that goes into a customer’s satisfaction of a service. Honor their time in when you show up, in how prepared you are, and in how efficient you work. If you’re swamped and don’t think you have time for your customers, your customers will find a plumber who does. Enlist help. Carefully plan your schedule. Remember that your value of someone else’s time can be the biggest determiner in whether they call you for future needs or they look somewhere else.
Don’t forget about your tools
Your plumbing equipment is what’s keeping you in business, are you keeping it in good shape? Make sure you always have the necessary tools available, not only for particular jobs but at all times. If you have the means, invest in state-of-the-art tools and equipment for quick and efficient work. If not, make sure you’re remembering the upkeep of your assets. Manage and keep track of your inventory so you’re never flying blind through the work week. A truck “inventory sheet” would also be very beneficial to make sure your vehicles go out in the morning fully stocked and ready for the day. You may this can be cumbersome and time consuming, but isn’t it less time consuming that having your guys making unneeded trips to the office and/or supply store throughout the day?
Efficiency, relational effort, visibility, and asset upkeep are all very different but nevertheless vital factors to running a successful business. If you want to see your plumbing company grow, mind every step of the process, from how you treat someone calling you for the first time to the quality of materials at your disposal.
