How to Grow a Small Electrical Business

Sometimes, the best way to increase profitability and grow your small electrical business is to think smarter about each job.

For example, how can you best serve your existing clients? How can you make them feel like the center of your universe, and by extension, provide them more services every time you visit?

Let’s look at three easy concepts to accomplish just that:

It’s not just about the amount of jobs you do in a day that define your overall profitability.
Your team can best serve each customer on every job when your team feels supported by you.
Streamline your service by including great software support to boost your productivity.

Focus on Excellent Customer Experience

Free Inspections

You might be wondering why the first tip to growing your business is to give something for free. However, the best way to maximize each trip to a new customer’s site is by offering them something for free.

Those inspections, aside from boosting the feeling of goodwill with the customer, can reveal additional services that might only take a few twists of the screwdriver while you’re there.

Increasing profitability doesn’t have to take much additional effort, and it could mean your field team is aware and receptive to the unspoken needs of your customers. Plus, not everything you find needs to be a billable service.

Train your team to point out the good as well as the fixes needed. A customer loves to know when something spotted by a professional appears well taken care of.

A free inspection works best as a conversation more than an upsell. Customers will appreciate the professional attention on their whole electrical system, even if it doesn’t lead to additional services that visit.

Post-Visit Customer Survey

Surveys are a great way to highlight the needs of your customer that they might not have mentioned during your visit.

Use a post-visit survey to tune your visits, your offered services, even your marketing messaging.

When a customer feels comfortable giving their unbiased feedback, that information can help transform your business.

This is also a great time to test the waters of proposed services that might require costly equipment. If customers are likely to jump on that service, you can feel more confident investing in that revenue stream.

“Offering new items that your survey shows are in demand may be more successful than attempting to predict the needs of your clientele,” notes Carol Deeb of Chron.com.

Also, end your surveys with a thank you and a mention of the value of customer reviews of your company on various online review sites. Although, don’t incentivize reviews. Multiple sites, and even the FTC, frown upon the tactic of rewarding praise in online reviews.

However, you are free to mention the value a review has for your company.

Automate the delivery of these post-visit surveys with FieldEdge integrations. Book your FREE personalized demo today!

Build on the Fundamentals of Your Company Culture

How you treat your customer matters. Though, that starts with how you treat your own staff.

Company culture may seem like a trendy, or unnecessary focus of your time. However, it’s helpful to think of it as the DNA of your business. The culture you set will define your actions and interactions across your entire business.

Although, it becomes harder to address the larger you grow.

Take the time when you’re just starting to grow to iron out communication and interpersonal issues on your small team. Systems and processes can help make new team members feel heard and supported.

Consider implementing some or all of the following:

Employee Handbook
Weekly Team Meetings
Peer Recognition Program
Performance Pay or Spiff Bonuses
Anonymous Suggestion Submissions

It might not seem obvious at first, but your customers will feel this internal effort through your team’s attitude and actions. Fully-engaged employees are more likely to deliver the highest level of service!

Improving your operational culture will help drive repeat business and long-term loyalty. It can even increase the amount of referrals that pour in.

Streamline Your Electrical Business Operations and Pricing

When looking to increase profitability, you’ll need to take a hard look at what’s taking up valuable time repeatedly throughout your day.

Are there inefficiencies in your scheduling and dispatching?

Perhaps there’s some customer service opportunities you’re missing out on. Do you have a way to review customer calls?

Maybe you’re missing out on repeat business from customers because you’re not offering notifications that your field team is on their way. Customers love to know when to prepare for their visit, so make sure you’re getting in touch with them ahead of time!

Are you still operating your entire business on pen and paper? If you’re in this boat, and wondering how to grow a small electrical business, going digital is a great place to start.

Are you spending hours every week reentering or reconciling data in QuickBooks? The best field service software can automate your invoicing and instant sync with QuickBooks, saving you time and headaches. No more double entry, and wasted paperwork floating around the office.

Once you have identified two to three operational areas that take up the most time in a day, begin creating a plan of action to reduce or automate these tasks.

Update your prices in a few minutes using this FREE electrical pricing calculator to increase profits now!