Whatever the type of contractor business you have, it is essential to always be growing. Plumbers, HVAC technicians and electricians usually work for themselves and have trouble growing the business while also getting the work done.
The problem with this is that you aren’t running a business but rather making a job for yourself. Though it’s nice not having a boss, you are essentially slaving away. The way to go is to grow the business so it can be an actual business.
There are a few things that you can do to grow the business so you can focus on the work getting done. In this article, we will cover a few of those things to help.
1. Hire an answering service
When you are a one man band and are usually at a site getting the job done, you don’t have time to answer your phone. This means that potential customers are calling you and likely moving on when they can’t get through to a person.
If they can’t make contact, they will just keep searching for somebody that does answer the phone, losing you business. You should have an answering service that will allow your potential new customer to have a human they can talk to.
You can get a very cheap answering service that will pick up after only one ring and be able to provide some help to the customer. The operator will be professional and help move the caller to your sales funnel if you have one.
2. Use inbound marketing
You need to use some marketing services but picking one is not easy. For a small business that is trying to grow, inbound marketing is likely to be the most effective. It involves a sales funnel that moves people into the various stages of their buyer’s journey.
The way it works is that you have a way for people to find you through some marketing techniques. For instance, the answering service from the last tip can help put people in the tunnel by asking them for their number or email where you can then follow up with them. There are also ads and a blog that work to attract people to your funnel so it pays to have various systems working.
Once you have the contact information of your potential customer, you can then send them marketing material specific to the stage of the journey they find themselves in. In the beginning, they are likely looking for information. Then, they may want to know how much a certain procedure costs. Lastly, they will want to take action when they are satisfied that you can solve their problem.
3. More outsourcing opportunities
You should be looking for others to do certain types of jobs while you do the big stuff. Jobs like call answering and inbound marketing are just the start. You should also have somebody hired to do things like site visits to perform estimates.
