Basic Business Challenges for Tradespeople

[Philippaz]

Hi there

I am hoping some of you can help me. I am busy doing some research for a business school project.

I am looking at the “Basic Business Challenges” facing tradespeople in the UK.


I have already had some great learnings from painters & decorators through my personal network on how they manage their work day-to-day.

Now I am wondering if it’s similar for other tradespeople such as plumbers, builders, carpenters, electricians etc.


Below are couple of questions that got me some insight.

I would really appreciate your help if you could have a look at them!

1. Where do you get most of your business from? (e.g. Directories like yellow pages, checkatrade; word of mouth; commercial contracting work; repeat customers)
   
   
2. How many of the quote requests you get are relevant to your business (e.g. Right location; job size; job kind)
   
   
3. How do you proceed with requests that are not a fit at the moment? (e.g. passing on to personal network, Subcontracting to a business partner, try to delay work for later)
   
   
4. How does your quotation process look like and how many of the quotes you do do you actually win? (e.g. Step 1: Site Visit or on the go, Step 2: Quote per email or in writing; 3: follow up through PA. etc...)
   
   
5. How do you ensure a smooth billing process (e.g. payment cash on delivery; Do you have a PA following up with clients?)
   
   
6. How do you currently make use of your customer base? (E.g. PA following up frequently for new work, asking for recommendations, Seasonal Newsletter?)
   

If you feel that you can help on any of those points, I would be keen to hear your thoughts.


Any questions from your end, please let me know


Thanks for your help!

 

[Ryan Thomson]

I have only recently ventured into running my own business however I can provide some useful answers for you hopefully. Here are some answers from the plumbing and heating side.

1. - The majority of our work comes from word of mouth and repeat customers, I have found that regardless of apps, websites or advertisements the best line of business you can gain is simply through gaining face to face interactions with customers and building relationships with them.

2. - Near enough all of the quotes we receive are related to the business. Very occasionally we have to sub-contract to another trade. An example being if we have to install a whole new bathroom suite, if the customer wants tiling alongside this we would hire a tiler.

3. - Not really sure how to answer this one, you have to be more precise.

4. - We win the majority of quotes, we visit the customer on site and explain the issue or any work that needs to be done in detail, to prevent any misunderstanding in the process we then give the customer an estimated quote on the spot, we make the customer aware that the quote may or may not increase depending on if any other issues arise.

Once the customer is okay with the cost we put the order through on an app called Quilder which the PA in the office receives and works on from there.

5. - As mentioned above, we use an app which allows us to follow and analyse any outstanding or awaiting payments.

6. - We offer customers a variety of cover plans they can subscribe to if they wish. We also encourage our customers to read our blog, sign up to our newsletter and/or even contribute to the 'trade blog' on our website.

Any other questions feel free to ask!

-RT

 

[Philippaz]

Hi Ryan,

thanks so much for your answer. That already helps a lot.

With regards to Question 3.
We learned that that most of our interviewees occasionally are in the situation where they have to turn away quote request from potential clients.

That happens for 2 reasons:
1. They simply don't have the capacity at the moment to take on more work
or
2. The request is of the wrong kind, too distant area or simply not the deal size they would work on.

A tiny percentage solved those issues by subcontracting to other tradesman in the area. (In order not to miss out on revenue)

Also it was quite interesting how many of those we talked to didn't use apps or a P.A. to follow up on quote requests, or payments.
Even though we found that following up on quotes makes the chance to win it rise by up to 30%.

It seems you are very well set up.
Do you think this is representative for your trade in your region or would you consider yourself an exception?

Thanks again for the info.

 

[Ryan Thomson]

Oh, I see!

No, I'm certainly not an exception! I have learnt the majority of the business side of the trade through previous companies I worked for alongside business knowledge I gained through doing a degree at home in Business Management.

Personally I think the "Old School" ways of running trade companies is going out of the window due to new technology, marketing schemes and all-round perceptions of tradesmen/women.

With the increase of "Cowboy's" being outed on television I think companies need to be more diligent in the way they do business.

 

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