How can you get more electrical business? Are you overwhelmed by the larger electrical contractors operating in your areas? These are common questions facing most small electrical companies in Australia.
The truth is that it's easier than you think to expand your presence locally and online. Here are some ideas.
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1. Be Fast on Your Feet
Your greatest asset as a small company is your ability to respond quickly. Customers appreciate it when they don't have to wait, mainly when a power outage or electrical breakdown puts them out.
Some ways to achieve this include:
- Focus on working in your immediate location, suburb or town.
- Answer phone calls, emails and enquiries promptly.
- Attend to urgent calls quickly or at least on the same day.
2. Provide Excellent Customer Service
Your business will be rewarded with repeat work, positive online reviews and referrals for providing excellent customer service.
- Do your best to keep customers happy by arriving on time, keeping your promises and exceeding their expectations.
- Be polite, pleasant and efficient, and go out of your way to help them.
- Always listen to your customers and take time to explain electrical concepts they can't easily grasp.
- Coach your employees in the importance of customer service and lead by example.
- Take advantage of your size by providing your customers with the friendly personal service that larger companies can't.
3. Use Google My Business for Online Marketing
Help people find your business with Google My Business. This free service places your location on Google Maps. When someone searches on Google for an electrician in your area, your pin comes up on the map along with your address and contact details.
- Enter your opening hours, relevant photos and website address.
- Also, add all business categories your company performs, such as electrician, electrical installation services or electrical repair shop.
It only takes a few minutes to enter the information, but remember to complete the address verification step before your listing goes live.
4. Local Website
It's a sound idea to have a website. A solid business website gives customers a contact point when they search for electricians in your area. It provides an opportunity to list your capabilities and expertise. Use a local or online website service to construct your pages and make sure the webpage is mobile-friendly. Key points include:
- Provide contact pages so customers can contact you online
- Have a facility for customer feedback and testimonials to help boost your credibility
- Keep your web pages current by updating the information regularly
- Post regular blogs about your work and its location to raise your local profile
5. Use Locally Focussed Facebook Advertising
Facebook is an excellent place for a small electrical business to start advertising. That's because you can create a very targeted audience and only pay when people engage with your ds. You can target people based on their location.
But don’t be the guy who turns up in the cafe handing out flyers.
Facebook is social, and thus you need first to earn engagement from your local audience with valuable and relevant content for them. Don’t try to sell. I think the best thing you can do is start building local awareness rather than trying to get jobs. When you’re beginning, the most important thing is to get your name out there.
Then I recommend you use engagement audiences to earn leads for your business. Engagement Audiences are a tool on Facebook that lets you target people who have already interacted with your page, ads, posts, and website. That means you can target people who have already visited your website, clicked on one of your ads, or saw one of your landing pages.
So for a local electrical business, Facebook advertising is a two-stage process. We do this within our Social SEO system, and it works great.
6. Encourage Online Reviews
Potential customers want to know they can trust you and that you do good work. It's a good idea to ask customers to provide online reviews. Google My Business is the most important place to have these because they can show up on the Google Local Listings and on Google Maps. You can use reviews on your website, on other places such as Facebook and True Local, in quotes and via social media. You can also use reviews in remarketing advertising on Facebook.
Be aware you will get positive and negative reviews. If you register on review sites, you can respond to reviews, and, as many features are free, there's usually no need to subscribe to paid plans initially. Always respond promptly to reviews. Never submit fake reviews, as you'll be caught out and discredit your business.
7. Target Local Search Terms
No matter where you advertise, always ensure you set up ads focussed on local searchers. Include the town or suburb where your business is and any other locations where you work, such as a nearby town or area.
8. Google Ads Local Search Advertising (AdWords)
As you become more established, consider using Google's Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising service. While you have to pay each time someone clicks on your ads, they will direct customers to your business if you structure them carefully. Many tools allow you to filter the audience and possible target customers.
There are a lot of searches for terms such as electrician near me, electrical repair and your business can join into these as needed. Google Ads search advertising looks easy to set up but you should use a Google Ads professional for this because you will also be up against tough competition and other professionals who are working for other companies.
The key aspects to consider;
- Choosing the right search terms (keywords) to target and using the best match type.
- Writing good ads and setting up all the ad extensions you can to capture ad real estate.
- Using landing pages specific to the search term and ad.
- Tracking carefully- including phone calls linked to search terms.
- Managing the account on a regular basis to improve ads, remove dud and non-converting search terms.
9. Email Marketing and Newsletters
Email marketing is another way of drawing customers and bringing repeat business. Use it to send out monthly newsletters highlighting special offers or successful contracts. Alternatively, cover practical tips about electricity and when it’s right to call the electrician. Remember, your recipients must consent to receive email marketing, and you must include unsubscribing options.
Grow Your Electrical Business
These ideas will improve your online presence and grow your business. While some aspects of online marketing may seem daunting at first, start small and monitor the results. You will soon discover the best strategies for your business.
You spend all day in the field and don't have time to manage your marketing. At LeadFuse we do all the work for you, we're experts at marketing your business so you can get more customers and make more money! Get started with a local marketing expert with the click of a button.