Hi Paully
Just wondered where you are based - can you give me an idea?
I believe there are significant gaps in the retail market for a service like yours if it marketd correctly. I can say this as someone who has recently purchased and had installed a new tiled kitchen floor. I always thought that there was is a huge gap between the 'hairy ars*d' builders supplier and the far too slick and expensive West end flooring showrooms.
If you could plug that you would have it made.
Two companies that have done that very succesfully are Pimlico Plumbers and Addison Lee.
The average middle class homeowner wilts at the mention of 'Plumber', fearing a rough tradesman turning up , dirtying the carpets, being sulky and taciturn, zero customer skills, treating the customer like morons, not cleaning up afterwards, full of 'Us' and 'Them' attitude etc etc. - Pimlico Plumbers changed all that, their plumbers wear a shirt and tie and uniform, they have an excellent call center where nothing is too much trouble and the customer feels they have had first class service - even though they pay 25% more!
Minicabs - to most people that means a grumpy, illiterate driver ( in London anyway ) in a stinking filthy 12 year old jalopy with no MOT, wearing a smelly tee shirt with last nights food stains on it ( and there is the gamble that they never turn up ) . Addison Lee however give a first class service , clean, under 3 year old cabs - all the same make and colour, clean respectable intelligent drivers in a shirt and tie - and you can (mostly) depend on them to be there when they say they will. Nobody seems to mind paying an extra 25% for that service either!
If you can establish yourself in that niche I reckon you will have it made - in London anyway. Think clean, respectable, shirt and tie, reliable, understanding and non-judgemental ( even when the customer really IS a twit!) , helpful, ready to please - you can easily charge 25% more for this service and have a 'word of mouth' response that will have your customers queing out of the door - in London anyway!
Regards
Jim
if you are in London and need advice / help on marketing yourself drop me a line.
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