This is going slightly against what my blog is about but it is to help you, i have come across hundreds of tradesmen over the years and there is only a few that stand out from memory and the reason? there likable and have been around as long as i have been in this game and they spend alot.
They have been around for years because of a few reasons, there good at what they do, they have developed a word of mouth advertising within a community and the most important aspect......they know how to sell themselves.
I had a long conversation with one of the builders i mentioned and he runs around all day picking up goods for his work force (who are excellent at there job, various on site visits confirm this) and he isn't anything special in terms of a specific trade, he is pretty unorganised but i can see from a mile off why he gets the jobs he quotes for.
He is a wolf in sheep's clothing, he parades around as a tradesman but you strip away the layers and he is a salesman.
This got me thinking and as i always do when I'm doing anything for someone else, i think long and hard about what would i want if i was the customer? this advice is absolutely key.
You can bet your life savings on the fact you wont be the only one pricing up for the job, construction is a competitive market so i will put what the customers general concerns will be and how to address them.
1) Price - The price isn't as important as you think, you need to be in the same league as your fellow tradesmen because if your price is to high you wont be looked at, if your to low warning signs will pop up in your customers head, if your selling your service to cheap they may think your not going to be doing the job to a high standard and you will be cutting corners.
2) Standard of work - This for me would be a deal breaker, if I'm hiring you to do a big extension, a loft conversion or even a small area to be landscaped in the garden, the one thing that would put me at ease is proof of your work, now this may not be in the customers head so you want to bring this up, a portfolio to hand is essential or a recommendation from a previous customer if there happy to be contacted is a big boost to what your offering.
3) Don't put down your fellow tradesmen - When your pricing up the job for the customer don't try and put down your competitors, it comes across that your in bad taste. If someone asked "who else is quoting?" and started to put them down it wouldn't really come across well to me the customer.
4) Be approachable - Over the years as a salesman i always tried to be different, i would never make it all about work, i would try and strike up something personal when dealing with my customers, I'm not saying tell them your life story but when going to a customers property there house will tell you alot about them, if i had just finished 2 weeks of painting and decorating and a landscaper came to my house to price a job up and mentioned about the work I'd done, I'd be pretty chuffed and that man would stick in my head when choosing, same as seeing a football trophy on the mantle piece that there son has won in under 13's football, mention something and if it's something you have in common all the better, These things are something the customer is proud of and giving a compliment goes along way, I'm not saying to come on to strong but just be approachable, another question:- which is easier hiring a stranger or a friend?
5) Be honest - I don't really need to tell you this but don't start promising the world if you can't deliver, if you can't start on the date they want don't say you will and deal with the problem later, be completely straight with your customer and explain the reason why, I'd respect my tradesman alot more if they came straight right of the bat than tell me something and not deliver.
To summarise your customer knows what they want done, what they don't know is what they should be asking, when your pricing the job put the concerns in there head and address them before they ask, it will show them that you care and that it seems that others don't, it also puts you in a terrific light if your the last man to quote because if others before you haven't addressed the concerns you have put in there head then it makes you look like the best man for the job and again if a trademan comes after you and they can't answer the questions you answered it makes them look less professional as you.
Finally i was lucky enough after only a few days of starting this blog to be contacted by Tradesmen direct, on a similar goal as myself to help tradesmen and customers alike, Please click on the link below and find out what this website can offer you to help.
http://www.tradesmenconnect.com/
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