In business, a good first impression is one of the most powerful tools to success, especially if you often need to do service calls as a tradesperson. Customers today are looking for the best experiences and are happy to share theirs with their friends and family – no matter if they are good or bad. Since tradespeople are often facing the possibility of being mentioned in a negative review online, it’s important to focus on making your clients happy. Good online reviews and word-of-mouth are worth their weight in gold.
If you manage to make a good first impression, you’ll set the tone of your and your customer’s relationship. Those looking to receive a long-term customer need to impress them with every service and build a positive reputation. Here are just some of the things you can do to impress your clients, achieve an amazing first impression and achieve business success through your good reputation:
Establish a good online presence
Today, it’s crucial to put your business online. No matter if you join Google Location listing or only rely on social media, you need to be discoverable on the internet. Customers today almost always research a business online before booking an appointment or making a purchase. If you don’t have any online presence, you’ll not be able to make any impression, let alone a good one, because you’ll be invisible to most clients.
Get a separate work phone line
While online booking and at-store booking exist, most customer relationships include at least one phone call at some point. Imagine this scenario: a client finds your phone number online, but you have listed your personal line.
You don’t recognize the number and choose to answer in a casual manner or ignore the call altogether. This is something that happens all the time, and it can greatly lower the impression your business makes on customers. In this case, the customer might choose to call someone more professional. But when you have a separate line for your trade, you’ll always be ready to talk business, answer like a professional or pick up the phone even in a pinch.
Here’s another smart upgrade: outsourcing your phone calls to an answering service. Professional answering services always handle all your calls in a most professional manner and leave your hands free to handle tools and actually do your job.
Branding is important
The right clothing is very important in any trade. For instance, if you see someone at the construction site with a hard hat and hi-vis vest, you’ll assume they are either a construction worker or a site manager. The same goes for any occupation, tradesperson included. If you look the part and make yourself recognizable, you will gain more respect from your customers.
Throw on some iconic tradie shorts that will provide you with the right look, safety and comfort while working. With all the pockets and buckles, you can keep all your tools handy and do your job quickly and efficiently. A branded t-shirt is also a good idea that will reassure your clients of your experience.
Keep things nice and clean
First of all, keep your language clean, but that’s not the only thing that needs to be neat. Your workplace should always be tidy to show that you’re responsible. Hopping out of your dirty van and kicking mud off your boots and fast food containers on the driveway is not a good look.
Make sure to always have some cleaning supplies at hand so you can keep your vehicle and your hands clean. Work with gloves and even consider putting on disposable covers on your boots to keep the clients’ homes clean and show respect.
Arm yourself with a good attitude
When you’re in a good mood and open for clean and pleasant communication, everyone will be thrilled to be in your company. Emotions can go from one person to another and make people create good opinions about you.
There will be days when it’s very challenging to stay positive, but leaving all your problems at the door when you step into your client’s home is crucial. It will make your reputation flourish and customers will be more ready to tolerate mistakes.
Create easy checkout
Make sure to invest in easy-to-read invoices and offer the most practical payment methods to your clients when it’s time to pay. Today, trade professionals can get contractor management software tools with electronic invoicing, online payments and mobile check processing. To reduce concerns about costs, some extra benefits to offer include instant financing.
Leave customers with information
Once you’re done with your construction job and you’re ready to leave, make sure to leave your clients with a few pieces of information. Providing them with product information, company information, maintenance tips, user diagrams, etc., can make your look even more professional and help them remember your information.
Wrapping up
Being a tradie today is not an easy task. The competition is strong and you need to do your best in order to impress your clients. But with these tips in mind, you’ll create an amazing reputation, always leave the best first impression and collect main customers for life.
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Mike Johnston
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