Being a tradie has become a profitable business venture for those armed with the right skills. However, irrespective of how skilful you are as a tradie, you can’t thrive in the long run if you don’t provide efficient and reliable customer service. After all, your customers are trusting you with their money, and you must help them when they need it most in return.
So, if you’re a tradie and are wondering what you need to do to improve your customer service game, read on. In this article, we’ll take you through nine of the handiest and most helpful tips to put into practice for providing more value to your customers than ever before. Before we get started, we’d like to talk about tradies insurance in Qld. Tradie insurance can financially protect your business from various on-duty accidents, damage, and natural disasters.
1. Social media activity is essential in today’s times.
There was once a time when customers would make phone calls to tradies to ask questions and get their answers. However, the times are slowly changing. Sure, many customers will call you to clarify their doubts, but many more will search for you on social media and interact with you there. Today, many tradies have social media pages, but they aren’t dedicated enough to respond to queries from existing and potential customers on social media platforms.
So, try and be as active on social media as possible. Of course, it’ll be challenging for you to keep social media engagement with customers up on busy days.
However, if you take some time out every day to upload content and interact with users, it can make quite a significant difference in the long run. If you’re not very good or comfortable at maintaining social media pages, don’t worry. There are numerous social media marketing agencies that you can consider to do the job on your behalf.
2. Be responsive at all times.
Business isn’t just about earning profits – it’s also about offering a product or a service to customers that solve their problems. Of course, as a tradie, you’re responsible for fixing a lot of issues that your customers face. However, have you considered that your customers may also have questions that they need you to answer? Sometimes, it’s all about putting customers doubts to bed, and the only way you can do that as a tradie is by being responsive.
So, whenever a customer comes your way with a question, remember to respond to it as quickly as possible. Even if you can’t offer a detailed response because of a tight schedule, at least tell them that you’ll get back to them later. And of course, when you’re free, do get back to them.
3. Publish informative content on your pages
Sure, you can advertise your tradie skills and services as much as you want, but think about this – will only advertisements be enough to convince people that you’re the one to choose over your competition? No, right? You can only prove your expertise as a tradie to both existing and prospective customers if you publish informative content regarding your services. From how-to content to tips and tricks to general information about your services – there’s a lot of content types you can explore to spice things up and provide information.
For example, you can upload short-form videos through platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, which boast of the Shorts and Reels features, respectively. You can also upload full-length instructional and tutorial videos through YouTube and IGTV, an Instagram app that allows users to upload long-form videos. You can also maintain a weekly or bi-weekly blog, which can inform audiences who prefer reading over watching videos.
4. Advise customers but never impose yourself on them
At the end of the day, the customer is the king. After all, it’s the customer that’s paying you the money you need for sustaining your business and your livelihood. So, you must listen very carefully to what the customers want and let them finish speaking before you respond to them. Remember to never interrupt them as well.
Also, be polite when advising your customers. Make a mental note of all their requirements, and provide your advice on all those requirements one by one. It’s essential to be flexible as well, as you’re likely to encounter customers who want a precise result. If the desired result is challenging to achieve in such a scenario, politely tell them why that’s the case and then put forward your ideas.
5. Offer personalisation
A lot of businesses these days rely on bots to do their talking for them. While it’s incredibly effective at handling multiple queries and complaints at once, the problem is that it doesn’t feel human. When bots do your talking for you, similar questions are likely to have the same responses. Ultimately, your customers will understand that it’s a bot and not you who’s responding.
Sure, it can be challenging to respond to each and every comment and query in a personalised manner. However, if you put in the effort to do so, you can gain a lot of trusts. After all, trust is something that can exist between two humans and never between a bot and a human.
6. Be respectful even if customers turn down your services.
You may be an excellent tradie specialising in a variety of skills, but the fact is that you aren’t alone. There are several tradies out there who are just as reputed as you are, if not more. So, even if a customer shows an interest in hiring you to do a job, there’s every chance that the customer opts for a different tradie.
For example, a customer may be looking for more competitive rates than what you’re willing to offer. In such a scenario, it’s likely that the customer chooses another tradie for the job. This is when you need to keep your cool and be respectful towards the customer the most. Remember to thank the customer for taking an interest in your business, and let there be no bitterness. You can be sure that the customer will remember you for your respect and gratitude.
7. Confirm appointments in advance
If a customer gets in touch with you and tries to schedule an appointment, you should confirm it or deny it based on your availability as quickly as you can. Try confirming appointments at least 24 – 48 hours in advance. This gives you time to prepare for the meeting, and this also allows the client the time to cancel the appointment if needed.
And if you cancel the appointment in advance, the customer will clearly know that you’re not available. This allows the customer to look for other options without taking away any of their time. Last-minute cancellations make for bad business.
8. Be punctual
So your appointment with a client is scheduled at 10:00 AM, and you show up at 10:15 AM. In your mind, you may feel like “it’s only 15 minutes”. However, in the sense of the customer, you’ll be perceived as an unprofessional tradie. Even if you do the job well, the customer will mark you for being late.
That’s why it’s crucial that you stay on time, all the time. Of course, there can be hindrances along the way that prevent you from being on time once in a while. However, if you’re punctual as consistently as you can be, you’ll be regarded as a professional worth every penny.
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9. Seek reviews from satisfied customers
What people are saying about you on Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other online platforms matter more now than ever before. You may be an excellent tradie who is unparalleled in terms of customer service. But how would others get to know that if they don’t find any reviews online?
So, whenever a customer expresses satisfaction with your work, please take a few seconds out to remind them to give you a rating and a review across all your pages. When prospective customers search for your business in the future, they’ll see those reviews and hold you in high esteem before even making contact with you.
Conclusion
We hope that these tips help you to be better at serving your customers. To conclude this post, we’d like to remind you once again of the importance of insurance for tradesmen. It can give you and your business the financial coverage it needs when it experiences hard times. To know more about the various insurance options available for tradies, click here.
