Business
60 | JUNE 2017
Business
Read online at www. proinstaller. co. uk
FIVE THINGS THAT STOP INSTALLERS FROM GROWING AND HOW TO TACKLE THEM
When you are rushed off your feet running an installation company, it’ s hard to focus on growing the business. Benjamin Dyer of Powered Now looks at some of the things that not only prevent growth but are also very frustrating. Fixing them can only be good.
When everything is running smoothly, it usually means that you will make more money, but you can often have an easier life too. While many get it right, this is hard to achieve consistently. These five tips are intended to provide encouragement to think about how to get things running smoothly all of the time. That nearly always leads to the business growing.
1. First, fix problems fast.
Strangely enough, customers who suffer problems with a job, but have it fixed quickly, are more loyal than those where nothing went wrong. We all make mistakes from time to time, but when we do, they should be fixed urgently and professionally. This usually creates a loyal customer for life. Being unresponsive is the worst possible way to behave and often leads to a world of pain.
2. Get quotes out quickly.
The faster you get your quote out the more professional you will look to your prospective customer. And that’ s ignoring their gratitude – most homeowners will tell you they have real problems getting quotes. Then you must follow up your quotes a few days later to ask if they have been accepted. When you have too much work, still make the effort with quotes but raise your prices slightly. It may also pay to be more choosy about who you will do jobs for. It’ s the way to earn more and have an easier life.
3. Provide reminders to customers.
There are lots of routine maintenance jobs which customers should get done regularly. When they fail to do them on time it’ s bad for them as they may lose their warranty protection and it raises the risk of failure. It’ s also bad for you as you get less revenue. If you provide a reminder to them when a service is due it helps both parties. Sometimes you can use this as a chance to move work to less busy periods, providing an additional benefit. A good computer system can make this painless so you should really consider that possibility.
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If no-one was open to new ideas we would still be using lead pipes and wire based fuse boards
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4. Avoid cheap customers.
You shouldn’ t do business with people that are only looking for the cheapest price. Customers that are ultra-sensitive to price are often the most demanding too, resisting reasonable increases needed if unforeseen problems arise. Working hard for little money as well as getting criticised is pretty thankless. You are best off politely declining their work.
5. Be open to new things.
Running a business is challenging. There is always a horde of people trying to sell you the latest thing. The problem is, while a lot are to be avoided, among them will be gems that can genuinely help. If no-one was open to new ideas we would still be using lead pipes and wire based fuse boards.
Combi boilers would never have taken off. Your job is to find the nuggets of gold among the dirt, not to reject everything out of hand. Being open minded means you’ re less likely to miss out on positive new developments.
It remains for me to thank you for reading this far and expressing my wish that there are some useful thoughts here. My hope is that people in the trade can run professional and successful business – without losing their hair.
About the author Benjamin Dyer is CEO and co-founder of Powered Now. Powered Now’ s mobile app aims to take the pain out of paperwork for installers as well as other trade and mobile businesses.
www. powerednow. com