When it comes to growing your small electrical business, it may seem like having a solid marketing plan will be the key to growth, but there’s so much more to it than that. We have an article on “How To Market An Electrical Contracting Business,” which will give you marketing ideas and tactics. But the truth is, to grow an electrical business, or any service-based business you need to focus on your team and your systems and processes, or no matter how much marketing you do, you’re likely to hit a wall. Here’s how to grow a small electrical business, by looking beyond your marketing plan:
1. Train your staff to be the best in the market, and become a magnet for top talent.
Only have one technician? That’s fine, make sure they are the best. Have a full team? Provide them top-notch training when it comes to service, skills, and sales. Give them the tools they need to succeed. In addition, make sure to attract top talent. Keep your technicians happy and show other top talent technicians in the marketplace that you are the up and coming business they WANT to work for. This means having systems, processes, and training in place so that your business runs like a well-oiled machine. If you are lacking these systems, processes, and training, they will notice!
When you don’t have a highly-trained staff, your business will get lumped in with your larger competitors and it will be difficult to stand out in your market. Additionally, you won’t get the positive reviews you need, and without those reviews your marketing budget will be half as effective as it would be with great testimonials and referrals.
2. Know how to close sales on the phone.
Phone calls are often the customer’s first impression of the business. Does the person who answers the phone know what the most effective greetings are? Have they been taught how to close sales? When customers come on strong and try to take control do they know how to take control back without sounding abrasive? Do they make the customer feel heard? Your call conversion rate is only as good as the person behind the phone, so make sure they are well-trained.
3. Improve sales with the customers you already have.
Repeat customers are incredibly valuable to a business. Small Business Trends reported that “80 percent of future profits will come from 20 percent of your existing customers,” and that a mere 5 percent increase in customer retention can increase profits 25-95 percent! So, what does this mean? It means that you should be rolling out the red carpet a bit with existing customers. Take extra care by wearing shoe covers when you go into a home or business. Go above and beyond and send them a handwritten thank you note after you complete a service. Small gestures can lead to big results.
4. Be proactive instead of reactive.
If you are only a fix-it business, it’s tough to pay the bills. You need to know your customer well enough to anticipate their wants and needs. Do they have an old system that might need to be upgraded? Get ahead of upgrades. Will they need electrical work done for another property they own? Because electrical businesses are service-based businesses, knowing the customer and their priorities is super important to serving their needs, and upselling what they might need in the near future.
5. Implement marketing plans.
Even when businesses create thorough marketing plans, they often leave them collecting dust. Especially if you don’t feel like you have the funds to follow through. There are many low-cost ways to market your business that simply take time, effort, and patience such as: networking, gathering positive reviews, and creating a strong online presence. You can read more about what to do in our article, “How To Market An Electrical Contracting Business.” But once you have made a plan, you need to implement it. Don’t put off what needs to be done for tomorrow because you are busy today. Every day is likely a busy day, and the first way to stop growth is to delay much-needed change.
Regardless of what strategies you implement, it’s most important to remember that the bread and butter of the business are your technicians. How they interact with customers, the sales training they have, etc. will all impact your company’s ability to grow.
Download a free Breakeven Calculator to see exactly where your profits need to grow.
The Blue Collar Success Group provides training on how to grow a service-based business, including electrical, HVAC, and plumbing. The Blue Collar Success Group has helped hundreds of service businesses grow by providing management training, done-for-you training for technicians, call center training, and sales training, and by helping businesses implement the systems and processes that are important to achieve growth.
