LOCKSMITH SUPPORT
business by not removing their dirty boots
when coming into the house. Every little
thing counts towards whether you will
make a sale or not. Try to be friendly but
not over-friendly.
Practise very low-pressure ways to ask
for the business. An example might be
“We have some time available the week
after next, would you like us to start then?”
Or maybe, “It takes several days lead time
to get the right boiler, do you want me to
put in an order now?”
You shouldn’t pressurise, but these little
things may be enough to tip the customer
into committing.
Exploit those apps
In this day and age, it is a big mistake
not to be computerised. It will leave you
at a competitive advantage versus those
that use apps. They don’t have to spend
so much time on paperwork.
Marcelle Stoughton is the
administrator for Fencing Services, a
fast-growing trade company specialising
in fences. She recommends using a
system to run the company and says
bluntly: “To be profitable, you must be as
efficient as possible.”
I’m hardly impartial as the CEO of
an app provider but I am genuinely
certain that the benefits far outweigh
the costs of using a system. On average,
our customers save over 4 hours per
week doing paperwork. Running
your business on a system can lay the
foundation for rapid growth.
In fact, my company, Powered
Now, has recently finished giving
presentations to installers all over the
country. This was as part of the Vaillant
Business Clinic seminar series. We have
presented to hundreds of installers and
when we have asked who uses some
software to help run their businesses,
around half have put their hands up.
When we have asked who wants to ditch
their software and go back to manually
producing paperwork there have never
been any takers.
The new generation of trade specific
apps are much easier to use than
traditional PC programs. They can also
be used on-site on smartphones and
tablets. There are many advantages.
These include faster and better quotes.
As well as this, you can virtually eliminate
paperwork with everything, including all
gas certificates, stored in one place with
no re-keying. It makes things easy to find
and saves loads of time. In the trade more
than anywhere else, time is money.
Be efficient
Inefficiency can come from
unmotivated people, wasted time and
wasted materials.
Firstly, you need to get the best from
your staff. To achieve this, here are a few
pointers:
• Take care in recruitment. Look at their
record. Bad employees tend to have
lots of short-term jobs. In contrast,
promotions and long service usually
indicate good employees
• Talk to people. “Nobody asked me”
and “Nobody told me” are always the
biggest complaints in business
• Keep people motivated. Praise in
public and only ever criticise in
private. For any special requests
like family bereavements, say “yes”
whenever you can. It all builds loyalty
The second thing is to spend time
planning each job. Having the right
people, with the right materials, at the job
at the right time maximises efficiency.
If you contact the client well in advance
saying when you are likely to attend, you
can avoid clashing with their holidays or
social events when they may be unhappy
to have you in the house.
Manage your money
You must charge enough to make a
decent profit and charging too little is the
biggest single mistake installers can make.
Of course, you shouldn’t overcharge for
poor work, but when a job is well done,
you deserve the reward.
If you never hear that you are too
expensive and you don’t sometimes lose
on price, then your prices are too low. The
Dacia Sanderos is the cheapest UK new car.
But the roads aren’t full on them because
most people buy on more than price.
Watch your cash like a hawk as running
out of cash means you are dead. The most
frustrating thing is if you run out of cash
because you are growing fast and have too
much working capital tied up in projects.
The other things to watch are the need to
set money aside each month for your VAT
bill and annual tax bill.
The bottom line
The ideas here are not unique and they
are certainly not complicated. The problem
isn’t coming up with them, it’s actually
actioning them. Good luck with that!
Benjamin Dyer is the CEO of Powered
Now. Powered Now aims to take the
pain out of admin and paperwork for
electricians, gas engineers and many other
trades.
www.powerednow.com
JAN/FEB 2020
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