Five simple ways to build trust with customers

A successful business relies on a good reputation and a high degree of trust from customers. Customers trust you to do a good job, charge fair prices and stick to your word.

Unfortunately, it’s easy for a customer to tar every plumber with the same brush, so building your reputation as a trustworthy, reliable business or contractor is a must.

Here are our top five tips to presenting a professional image that will help build a positive reputation, and give you have an edge over your competitors…

 

First impressions

You may spend hours researching and pricing your services as competitively as possible, but that effort could all be for nothing if you don’t present a good image. Turn up on time, look smart and respect the homeowner’s property.

You’ll be surprised at how even professional looking estimates, quotes and invoices can all help your image when it comes to dealing with current and potential customers. Cultivate an image that is professional, clean, and importantly, consistent.

Timely responses

This doesn’t mean that you have to put down the tools for every customer call. But by setting yourself a time limit of when to get back to a customer can help you stay on track, and prevent them from taking their business elsewhere if they feel ignored.

What’s your USP?

With options for a tradesperson available at people’s fingertips, it’s best to shout about what makes you stand out from the crowd. If you’re covering a wide location for instance, or are willing to work odd hours to get the job done, highlight these facts to your advantage.

Word of mouth

We’ve seen it time and time again – customers often ask around for recommendations of a good tradesperson. Use this to your advantage by offering your customers incentives to recommend you to people they know, such as discounts on future jobs.

Get your credentials

Customers are far more likely to trust tradespeople who are recognised and accredited by an official trade body, association, or accreditation scheme.

 

If you haven’t considered these key points, then your potential customer is more likely to make their final decision based on price alone.

So selling to your strengths and demonstrating the reasons why you should be chosen to do the work can play a significant role in the overall decision-making process. And, in turn, win you more work and cut out time wasted on failed quotations.

For more information on why you should consider joining a trade association like APHC, check out our licensed membership page or get in touch with the membership sales team on 0121 711 5030.