42 | SEPTEMBER 2020
Business
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
EFFICIENCY WINS - HOW
TO FIGHT FOR BUSINESS
WHEN TIMES ARE HARD
In these difficult times, it’s hard to
imagine that business will be ever be
‘easy’ again. Benjamin Dyer of Powered
Now looks at how to be efficient and
make the most of the circumstances.
Don’t waste an
opportunity
In tech circles, it’s often pointed
out that some of the most successful
businesses started during
hard times like the dotcom bust
and the financial crisis.
It’s unlikely that any of us are
going to end up with multi-billion-pound
companies in the next
few years. But nevertheless, this
crisis represents an opportunity
for ambitious installers. It’s when
times are hard that the bad companies
go out of business and the
best come to the fore. This article
is aimed at helping you to be so
efficient that you can come out of
this time as one of the winners.
Respond to quotes
at warp speed
It’s hard to believe that when
everything is over, unemployment
won’t be higher. Given
the number of airline pilots and
other senior staff being laid off,
lots of homeowners are going to
be harder up. The newly unemployed
won’t be ordering extensions,
new kitchens, new boilers
or other home improvements any
time soon. There is sure to be
less business around.
That’s why it’s crucial to make
the most of every opportunity.
The key point is to get back to
people actually interested in your
work within 24 hours or less. We
know that a big gripe of homeowners
is the difficulty in getting
quotes from trade companies. So,
responding fast immediately puts
you ahead of the competition.
A good app can help. It should
allow you to look up the cost of
materials at the touch of a button.
That way preparing the quote is
much easier. Then you can press
another button and whip the
quote straight to the customer by
email. Job done.
And it’s important to remember
that you shouldn’t let your
availability impact responding to
quotes. After you win, you can
negotiate the start date. Alternatively,
you can get a reliable mate
or subbie to do the work.
Winning business is the first
step to survival and growth. The
only thing more important is
doing a great job.
Be even more
customer centric
Customers decide whether
your business will succeed or
fail. That’s why understanding
where they are coming from is
paramount. Unfortunately, when
times get harder, some customers
will get more unreasonable. But
that’s life.
There are three things which
are critical when closing deals
with customers:
• Really hearing what they are
saying
• Behaving in a way that puts
them at ease
• Setting their expectations
correctly
Listening to what customers
are saying and gently guiding
them to the right conclusions is
an art worth learning. They may
say something stupid, but it’s
important not to flat-out contradict
them. And whatever they
say, there may be an important
nuance that you need to hear.
Behaving in a way that puts
your customers at ease is another
critical skill to learn. You should
be friendly but not over-friendly.
You should take your lead from
how formal or informal they wish
to be with you. Always remember
to respect their home and build
up trust. Things like taking your
boots off, asking before you use
the toilet or better yet holding
yourself in, all goes a long way.
Setting expectations is crucial.
You should try to never be in
a position where the price of a
quote leaves the customer in a
state of shock. That can cause
them to reject you and even go
on to pay someone else even
more.
You need to try to give the
prospect a broad idea of how
much the job is likely to cost and
then see their reaction. If it’s too
rich for them, it may be that the
scope needs to be cut. Alternatively,
they may just need to
adjust their thinking. You should
obviously always mention that
you can’t give a final figure until
you’ve priced up the materials
and labour fully.
Think about marketing
The saying goes that when
times are tough, the tough get
going. Another way of putting
this is that when times are tough,
it’s the time to end procrastination.
All those little things that
can help your business become
even more important. Here’s
some of the obvious ones:
• Buy business cards on the
web for next to nothing and
hand them out freely
• Put your name on every van
• Put up a board outside your
biggest jobs and leave it
there until you are asked to
take it down
• Think about promoting a
professional image with a
company uniform with your
name and contact details on
it. Then try to wear it as much
as you can – you can be your
own mobile advertising
It’s crazy to ever pay for leads
or advertising if you haven’t first
tried these cheap and simple
methods.
Getting your own web site
can be at a very reasonable cost.
Although web sites can be expensive
when you get a bespoke design,
using a service like wix.com
doesn’t break the bank. However,
going down this route means that
you do need to be prepared to do
a bit of the work yourself.
It may still be worth getting a
professional photographer for
some of your completed work
so that you can showcase it. The
good news is that with your own