1 – Make Yourself Easy to Find
- How hard are you to find? When customers are looking for local businesses, they are primarily going to check 2 places:
- Referrals
- So, make sure you focus most of your marketing efforts on these two factors!
- Google: Be sure to set up a Google My Business listing ASAP if you haven’t already. This is probably the #1 way customers will locate you.
- Referrals: Be sure to maintain strong reviews. Ask your satisfied customers to leave you reviews on Google and Facebook. You can even add a line to your email signature asking customers to leave you a review!
RingRang Tip: According to Trustpilot, nearly 9 out of 10 customers want to read reviews before buying something. Get your customers to leave reviews on Google to kill two birds with one-stone.
2 – Simplify the Process
- Don’t reinvent the wheel. Just make it easier to roll.
- The issue with most service businesses is that they do things using outdated methods. For example, they only take cash payments, or they have an ugly, hard to navigate website.
- Your #1 goal should be to make your customer experience as smooth as possible. Take a look at your operations, and see what parts can be automated or streamlined.
- Appointment scheduling should be an easy task for your customer – either through an easy button on your website or a quick phone call.
RingRang Tip: To easily modernize your customer booking process, use a service scheduler like Jobber or Workiz. Customers love it and it makes it easier for you to manage your operations too!
3 – Do the Little Things
- In an industry where everyone is offering the same product, the little things make all the difference.
- The reality is, when customers are looking for service businesses, they are typically going to shop on price. So how do you get them to look past that? Create additional value through the little things.
- What can I do?
- Get quotes out extremely quickly – a higher priced quote from you is better than the no quote your callers are getting from your competitor
- With the above in mind, answer the phone when clients call!
- Make your certifications and insurances easy for customers to see – it will show you aren’t just a hobbyist!
- Show up to jobs with a clean, professional appearance – because your competitors aren’t.
- Smile and have a positive attitude!
- Spend that extra minute to learn about your customers and their interests. People notice this!
RingRang Tip: Doing these little things will help customers understand how serious and professional you are. This will lead to higher sale conversions, and help you justify higher prices!
4 – Make Customer Service your Competitive Advantage
- Just answering the phone with a smile will put you in the top 5% of service businesses.
- Customer service is the weak point of most service-based businesses. Missed calls. Grumpy overworked employees or owners.
- It’s pretty simple. Professional customer service can blow people away in this industry. Admittedly, this can also be difficult to manage yourself. That’s where RingRang Virtual Receptionists comes in!
- Why use a virtual receptionist: If you’re struggling to keep up with your phone, or find too much of your day is going towards dealing with client questions, a virtual receptionist is perfect. They take care of all of your client interactions, so you can focus your time on growing your business.
- How does it work: You forward your calls directly to a virtual receptionist, and they will answer calls on your behalf. Your clients will have no idea they’re speaking to someone outside of your business. After every call, the agent can schedule any appointments or send you any follow-up emails.
RingRang Tip: Use RingRang!
