If you’ve set up a small business as a plumbing contractor, then you’ll be faced with the challenge of bringing in more revenue every day. The best way to do this, in the long term, is to look at your processes, and find out how you can offer a superior service.
Let’s take a look at a few winning strategies. Ideally, you’ll be implementing a combination of all of them.
Secure Repeat Customers
It’s much easier to retain existing customers than it is to persuade new ones. Satisfied customers will give you a call the next time they find themselves stuck with a plumbing-related problem, or the next time that there’s a job that requires your skillset. If you leave your customers dissatisfied, however, then you might find that you develop a poor reputation.
Making customers happy doesn’t just mean doing the work to a high standard. It also means impressing people with your soft skills and your work ethic. Turn up on time, leave the space tidy, and go the extra mile to help people out where they really need it. You’ll find that you don’t need to worry about persuading people to invite you back: they’ll do it without your pestering them.
Invest in Equipment
Plumbers often find themselves reaching for quite a specific set of tools. Spanners, pipe-cutters, circular saws, impact drivers – they can all come in handy. Investing in the best possible tools will allow you to perform the work to a higher standard, do it more quickly, and save money in the long-term. After all, quality tools will not fail as often as substandard ones.
To get the best from your tools, it’s worth investing in a sturdy tool chest on wheels that you can easily transport from one appointment to the next. This will ensure that everything is nicely organised, that it’s protected against wear and tear, and that it’s secure against theft.
Hiring Extra Help
If you don’t have the capacity to keep up with the demand, then you might consider bringing in extra hands to get the work done more quickly. This might be an apprentice, or it might be a trusted colleague with whom you get on well.
Find a Niche
If there’s one specific kind of plumbing that you do better than anyone else, then you might consider specialising. This will allow you to charge more, and get a more reliable stream of work. You might, for example, settle into emergency plumbing, where you can be called out at short notice to fix just about any problem. This will suit plumbers who don’t mind being on call constantly.
Use a Marketing Tool
More and more would-be customers are looking for their tradespeople online. Being able to present your business to strangers over social media is therefore critical. With that said, you shouldn’t neglect real-world advertising, either.