Help! Only 1 call in 3 weeks

[largada]

Hiya

Just read through this post and there are some excellent approaches to generating new business, however starting out from scratch as an electrician can take time and prove expensive unless you are comfortable enough to survive on minimum income for a couple of months.

What i would suggest is going and meeting the contracts managers of larger electrical contractors in your area, most of these will use subcontractors from time to time and will prefer to use someone local that they can rely on rather than being forced to use agency staff when they are busy.
This will at least hopefully bring in a wage while you build up your own work.

 

[Adam Loveday]

Hi Pam

There is some sage advice on this thread. I could add/expand on a few things already mentioned that could generate business:

(1) Define your area. What radius of your home/business postcode is your husband prepared to work within. The further you are prepared to travel the bigger the market. Common sense
(2) Identify your customer. There are options, here. Ideally you will need to identify homeowners. Then, there needs to be some form of trigger for them to use your service eg: New movers. People who have recently moved may need sockets moving, rewiring, electric ovens installing etc. Other possible triggers include having building work done etc
(3) You can rent mailing lists that identify your target audience meaning any leaflet drop would be more targeted. Plus a personalised offer (Dear John) coupled with some form of incentive may prove attractive. This can actually be cheaper than advertising and get your message across to those with a higher chance of using your service.
(4) if your husband already has customers, leafleting or contacting immediate neighbours is an ideal way of generating business. Neighbours do talk and everybody needs good tradespeople!
(5) Local marketing knowledge can work best. It would take effort, however, make notes of homes up for sale/sold in your area and prioritise those for a leaflet drop.
(6) Ask for a referal. If you don't ask you don't get! Ifyour husband was to ask current customers, business associates, mates, relatives if they know of anybody having work undertaken or looking to have work undertaken and for a referal you may be surprised what you turn up.
(7) hook up with a residential lettings agency and see about becoming a preferred supplier.
(8) Make sure your leaflet is presented professionaly and stands out. People would be more likely to retain for future reference.

Just some ideas that I think could prove effective and may focus your effort with some good results. Good luck!

Warm regards

Adam

 

[estwig]

Look on your local council website for recent planning applications, write to these people and introduce yourself.

 

[missdetermination]

Sorry if this has already been said (started reading 3 pages of threads last night and I see its gone on quite a lot since then and just rushing out)...

But someone on here recommended Brad Burtons _ get off your ar** book on another thread...being a sucker for readin I got it. I think it may be a good read for your hubby. Its a mix of...yep you sometimes feel down thats okay...but now get off your hindy and get sales/business ...with tips/big on networking etc. May be the pick up he needs to keep him going.

Start ups are never easy, best of luck

 

But someone on here recommended Brad Burtons _ get off your ar** book

Was it Brad Burton.?

Always look at the type of business geniuses actually run before taking advice from them.

Earl

 

[Adam Harland]

I deal in British Medals

I advertise in newspapers alot, but people are only going to ring me if they have something and they want to sell it, or they will cut it out and stick it on the fridge for when they clean the loft or attic out.

The same goes for your husband, they will only call if they need a spark, or they will cut it out and keep it in mind for any future jobs. He will get a few calls 3 to 4 weeks after the advert has ended. Thats what we have experienced


Hang in there it will pick up I'm sure

Adam

 

Hi All

I'm amazed at the number of responses I got Thank you all for some great advice.

What is BNI and BRE??

Regards
PL

 

[deniser]

There's another thread here about someone needing a complete rewire.

 

[which_08]

You don't generally call people up and ask them if they fancy having there house rewired

It's like knocking their door and asking if they want their drive tarmaced

I have to say that one cracked me up too.

 

[maxine]

Hi All

I'm amazed at the number of responses I got Thank you all for some great advice.

What is BNI and BRE??

Regards
PL

They are both business networking organisations. You should be able to google BNI for example then your local area to find the relevant websites

 

[MJBMI]

Does hubby specialise in any certain type of electrical work ? rewiring, ovens, heating, etc

Preferably He or you, write 200 words on why someone should use you over any of your local competition , put it on here

Where abouts in Lincs are you and what radius is he looking to work?

 

[Call Tracker]

Where did the one call you did get come from? Build on this small acorn of success - better than none!

Breakfast meetings, seek out new developments and offer your services. Build up a local profile and talk to other tradesmen to find out how they get work. Drive around the area and put your flyers in doors of houses that are undergoing renovations.

Good luck.

 

[steve the fitter]

kitchen fitters and barthroom fitter normally need sparks. My sparky normally gets at least one job a week out of me. Id say one out of 4 of the jobs my spark does for me leads to more work direct with the customer. Also gas men etc. Big kitchen companies like moben always need sparks. as you can see im basing this round kitchens as that is what i do but i have another mate who specialises in conservatories electrics. Very good profit in that.

 

[Striver]

Hi, I empathise with your husband's situation, my advice is to get a cheap website that will rank him highly on google. Then when people search for the relevant service, that site should be there on the first page and people will click on it.

I have a firm that specialises in this and I dont want to plug my firm, so you wont see a link to it anywhere or in my profile or anywhere at all here, but we have clients like your husband and this kind of solution works well for them.

Beware service providers who cannot deliver what they might promise though.

Good Luck

 

[sitandstay]

Where did the one call you did get come from? Build on this small acorn of success - better than none!

Breakfast meetings, seek out new developments and offer your services. Build up a local profile and talk to other tradesmen to find out how they get work. Drive around the area and put your flyers in doors of houses that are undergoing renovations.

Good luck.

I like the idea of putting leaflets through houses that are undergoing renovations. You are sure to get some work from that

Have you also though about car magnets to put on the side of your car. I have done this and it has seemed to have work well.
Plus when you are driving around a lot of people will see them.
They say that the normal car is seen by an average of 4 million people per year!!!!!!

 

[OnlineMenusCornwall]

I hope things pick up for you but in the meantime, try contacting web-design companies and ask they need any electrical work doing in exchange for a decent website.

I can appreciate you have done the website yourself but it definitely needs working on and what better way to exchange work for it

 

[dragonflies]

It is really easy to become disheartened when you first start out for yourself and especially now when the building industry is still on its arse!

I would definitely suggest that you get on twitter and start using it as a networking tool for larger professional companies in your area who might use it. I still think that the typical tradesman has little or no time to use twitter and so places where tradesman go, i.e. B&Q, Travis Perkins, Howdens etc will be a better target. Just watch for the sign written builders vans to turn up at the carparks, get out, give a business card over and introduce yourself. It might be something that takes you totally out of your comfort zone, but I reckon fellow traders will respect the fact that you are getting out there and actively seeking work - whatever it takes.

BNI meetings are good, but costly! Its also difficult for tradesmen to go to breakfast meetings as they are usually one mand bands who have to be up and out and on site at 8.00 - not still in a business meetings. But perphaps it might be a good exercise to arrange to go as a guest to 5 different chapters in a 10 mile radius - you just never know who you might meet at one of these introductory meetings.

In terms of professionalism and creating the right image, I can't stress how important it is for your website to be as clear, concise and as up to date as possible. A friend of mine has a building company and his website has images which are well over 5 years old and as a stranger considering using his services, it would say to me that he hasn't had any recent work of lately or else he'd photograph it and put it on the website. People these days want images, they want evidence and you need to give yourself that edge over your competitors. I know its hard to build a list of testimonials when you are just starting out, but think back to over the last 18 months when hubby has done a job for a friend/family/neighbour - they are just as worthy as a testimonial as anybody else! Also, when you put the testimonial up, make sure you date it and maybe give a very brief description of what work the company undertook.

Its also worth while doing a separate page giving potential customers some advice - a little bit of free advice goes a long way. Maybe tell them a little bit about the stringent laws in the electrical industry and what training and qualifications hubby has and how customers should ensure that they make sure any tradesman entering their home has the relevant credentials otherwise it could result in a serious accident if the said tradeesman doesn't install as per the guidelines. Most of us laypeople don't have a clue about what the correct ampage is for an 8.5kw electric shower.

In a nutshell, think of a trade you could utlilise in your home and think about what would make you call them after seeing their website.

Somebody else mentioned a picture of hubby - great idea, and maybe tell a little bit about hubby and his past employment and what led him to go self-employed. Personalising your website is a great way to inspire people rather than a faceless organisation.

Good luck

 

[Luisgab1]

Oh Pam, tell your husband that those "old" advertising methods don't work anymore! You guys actually did great getting a website because many people nowadays search online for a local business. In fact I quickly searched how many people search for electricians in lincoln (curiosity ) and about 300 people per month are searching (no joke!). so you guys should consider advertising where your customers are (just sayin).

What I recommend you guys to do is rank your website at the top of google for keywords such as "Electricians Lincoln". That way you will receive a great amount of the people that are searching electricians in lincoln to your website. And BAM, you got youself customers ringing you!

Take Care
Luis Gabriel

 

[business partner]

i understand that it is very confusing on your stage right now. here are the steps that can give you a guaranteed result:

-define your target market
-leaflets and news paper helps but telemarketing is the best
try to get a good but not so expensive telemarketing company. they will provide you leads depending on your target market. lots of available good telemarketing options online.
-if you choose to get this service make sure to create a business strategy ahead including the cost of getting the service. this can really give you a good output.

hope this helps.

 

[Striver]

This is excellent advice.
To rank highly on google will require quite a lot of reworking of the average site, everything is very competitive.

But if you manage to do it, I think this is a great way of advertising for the kind of customers you are looking for.

Alternately, it might be worth approaching some of the building or renovation companies that are active in your area, they might have some work available on an ad-hoc basis.

Or go to lighting shops and leave a business card, and ask if they can give the details to anyone who buys a light or fixtures that need hanging.

Oh Pam, tell your husband that those "old" advertising methods don't work anymore! You guys actually did great getting a website because many people nowadays search online for a local business. In fact I quickly searched how many people search for electricians in lincoln (curiosity ) and about 300 people per month are searching (no joke!). so you guys should consider advertising where your customers are (just sayin).

What I recommend you guys to do is rank your website at the top of google for keywords such as "Electricians Lincoln". That way you will receive a great amount of the people that are searching electricians in lincoln to your website. And BAM, you got youself customers ringing you!

Take Care
Luis Gabriel

 

[djwellis]

When I first started, I dedicated 100% of my business day to marketing (for I had no customers and not a lot else to do!)

When I got customers, they took up 10% of my time - not a lot, but I then spent 90% of the time on marketing.


So basically - spend every momnt you have on marketing and promotion.

By marketing, I mean - leaflet drops, busienss networking, asking eveyr local shop you find if you can put an A4 poster in their window (our local Spar charged 50p a week - I gave them £4 and 5 years later, it's still there!)


Also - a word on leaflets. Delivery costs seem to be £30 - £35 per thousand delivered for you. My leaflets cost me £60 for 10,000, and we receive approx. 1-3 customers per thousand.

Hope this is helpful to you.

 

[tony84]

have a look to see if there are any estate agents/letting agents - maybe see if there is anything they can do - chances are they will have someone but it doesnt hurt to ask.

our local chippy lets people put business cards/leaflets up - people always look whilst theyre waiting on their food - theres an idea.

But as said, i usually go off refferals.

 

[Montaigne]

Hi Pam,

Does your husband do PAT testing and/or fixed installation testing as I'm a commission only telesales person that provides work to those sorts of businesses.

 

[Digital Investments]

Networking is a MUST, especially considering that most people choose trade people based of recommendations and referrals. Think about an on-going incentive he can offer to customers to encourage them to pass on his details to their friends

 

[Sage1974]

You don't generally call people up and ask them if they fancy having there house rewired

It's like knocking their door and asking if they want their drive tarmaced

My first telesales job was telephoning people and selling paving for their driveways. I did really well.

I feel for you Pam. Having a dispondent partner and husband is no good either. It's like you are positive and they are going against the grain. When I had my carpet and upholstery cleaning company, I learned that newspaper advertising was no good unless you do it often so that people see that you are a regular. I found that advertising in Yellow pages or now Yell and Thompson Local was very good and paid off.

For your type of trade seems networking is key. Good luck!

 

[Jeanette]

Hi,

Identify shops selling electrical goods, talk to them and ask if they can recommend your husband to people who ask for electricians. Place your business cards in their shops. Homebase if you have in your area would be a right place to keep your cards. They have normally at the entry a shelf for such business cards.

 

[Montaigne]

I'd suggest ringing up established electrical firms in the area too. It depends on what your pricing is but if you have very competitive pricing there is no reason why electrical firms will not use your husband as a subcontractor when they need extra help becuase if he is reliable and competitively priced it can be invaluable for a company to have a stock of subcontractors they can call on when needed.

 

[springbrook99]

Get yourself a listing on Google Places. It's free.
http://www.google.co.uk/places

If you type "electricians in lincoln" or "electricians lincoln" into Google Search, then you will see the first bunch of results are Google Places listings, so it's a way of fast tracking you on search results.

i.e. Enter http://www.google.co.uk and put "electricians in lincoln" and see what I mean.


and make sure you put a link to your website in the Google Places profile.

Your listing won't be active for a couple of weeks - Google will send you a postcard with a pin number to verify it. So do this now and you'll have a listing in about 2 weeks.

Also consider Facebook (set up a Facebook page - again it's free) and ask everyone you know to Like the page. Their friends will see that they've liked the page and it then becomes viral.

Delivering leaflets is a no no, unless it's targetted. (The house renovations was a good idea) but other than that, unless somebody needs an electrician there and then, your leaflet gets binned.

Online is the way to go.

 

[Montaigne]

Delivering leaflets is a no no, unless it's targetted. (The house renovations was a good idea) but other than that, unless somebody needs an electrician there and then, your leaflet gets binned.

I agree that there are better ways of selling your services but I don't necessarily think leaflets will all get binned if services aren't required. I have a leaflet from a start-up in my area pinned to my fridge for carpet cleaning, for whenever I should move from out of my flat as their rates are very reasonable.

The problem is that I may not need to use them for a year or two, at which point they may no longer be trading.

Leaflet campaigns like any form of sales promotion is a numbers game. There will be a percentage of people you send a leaflet to that will require the services of an electrician at that very moment but it will be a very small percentage and so you have to have significant coverage of an area to make it worthwhile.

 

[cindyliu]

You both are definitely right. But i dont think it's appropriate to quarrel here...

 

[Montaigne]

You both are definitely right. But i dont think it's appropriate to quarrel here...

We're not quarrelling; we're just disagreeing

 

[DPOM]

Hi, not sure if this thread is still alive or the OP is still around....

We are local to you (Boston) and deal with lots of electricians (my brother is an electrician in Spilbsy too ) I'd be happy to give you call and see if we can help you out in anyway

 

I help out 4 electricians securing between 10 and 20 appointments per day for them.

If you want leads / sales / data or contacts - pm me -

There are ways and means to do this

All business need someone who knows how to get sales - otherwise they are just good ideas that cost you money!