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bigb

bigb

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I've made reference to it in other threads, but I've just taken over the family business. My dad retired, so I'm running the company.
A short history: my grandpa was an electrician, my dad was/is an electrician, I'm an electrician. Pops started this company in the mid 80's. He's been pretty successful. There were times he had 15+ employees. Since the market crash in '08, it's just been me and him. Most (90%) of our work is contracting. We have several General Contractors that we work for. I love that. We also have some apartment complexes and office buildings that we do maintenance work in. That's great, too. We get the occasional call out for service work. These are mostly people we've done work for in the past, or their friends/family.
So here's my question: when you need a professional to fix something, how do you decide who to call? Do you find an ad somewhere? Do you look for an online coupon? What do you do?
I ask because while I love doing my contractor work, I wouldn't mind getting more service work. It's basically guaranteed money as I give an upfront cost on my hourly rate; and then if it's a big fix, I give a bid on that. I don't really want to base my whole business on it as it can be very hit or miss, but I'm interested in expanding that. The old man never did any advertising and I'm looking at my options.
 
FB is a growing way to spread word of mouth. There are area based "rant and rave" pages that many locals join. From what I have seen a lot of people ask opinions on specific professions. Like I need a plumber who do you recommend and why? The smart businesses join these pages under a FB profile for their business and while they don't spam they have a presence.
 
Stoked said:
FB is a growing way to spread word of mouth. There are area based "rant and rave" pages that many locals join. From what I have seen a lot of people ask opinions on specific professions. Like I need a plumber who do you recommend and why? The smart businesses join these pages under a FB profile for their business and while they don't spam they have a presence.
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Great idea
 
Personally, we've always used people we know, or people that are recommended.

Not sure if it's possible, cause I don't know where you are, but farmers use electricians a lot...at least we do. Cellars, irrigation, etc etc, we typically always have a lot of big and small jobs for guys. So maybe look into that? Otherwise other ideas are good. Postings at the local hardware stores. But I think word of mouth and reputation always helps.
 
KSL

I had to replace the spring on my garage door and I picked the person based on their rating on KSL.
 
I try not to call out for most of my needs. When I do I try to pay family or friends first. When that's not an option I go with a reputable business. They normally advertise quite a bit (that's not what usually hooks me). Advertising and branding obviously works.

I've been getting slammed by door-to-door salespeople and advertisements left on my doorstep. Maybe canvassing a simple business card in key markets would work? I tend to like those who don't bother me but drop a card off advertising a certain list of services. Plus, it's something you can set your wife and kids to doing.
 
I’d guess electricians have a tough time expanding their business through service work. Plumbers, for example, get a lot of repeat business and can more easily build a loyal customer base, but a single family homeowner might only need an electrician once every fifteen years or so. Instead, I would focus on getting more apartment complexes, maybe go to an apartment association trade show where you could meet a thousand potential customers in a single day.
 
Stoked said:
FB is a growing way to spread word of mouth. There are area based "rant and rave" pages that many locals join. From what I have seen a lot of people ask opinions on specific professions. Like I need a plumber who do you recommend and why? The smart businesses join these pages under a FB profile for their business and while they don't spam they have a presence.
Click to expand...
My neighborhood has a Facebook page, and I do get a lot of work from it. It helps that I'm one of two or three electricians in the neighborhood. I hadn't thought about signing up the business page in it. First I'd have to update the business Facebook page. I set that up like 8 years ago and never did anything with it.
 
What are your thoughts on advertising on my truck? How likely are you to see a pickup truck with a business design on it and call that company?
What about fridge magnets?
 
bigb said:
What are your thoughts on advertising on my truck? How likely are you to see a pickup truck with a business design on it and call that company?
What about fridge magnets?
Click to expand...

Yes to all of it. The more you get your name out there the better. Pens, fridge magnets, ads in the pioneer shopper, KSL, Craigslist, FB and on your truck also encourage satisfied customers to post reviews on Yelp and other similar sites. A lot of this is free or low cost advertising. Perhaps a referral discount for loyal customers? like 10% off a future job?

You want to maintain a professional look so I don't think I'd go with photocopied flyers.
 
Stoked said:
Yes to all of it. The more you get your name out there the better. Pens, fridge magnets, ads in the pioneer shopper, KSL, Craigslist, FB and on your truck also encourage satisfied customers to post reviews on Yelp and other similar sites. A lot of this is free or low cost advertising. Perhaps a referral discount for loyal customers? like 10% off a future job?

You want to maintain a professional look so I don't think I'd go with photocopied flyers.
Click to expand...

Seconded. Just because someone doesn't call you doesn't mean that they won't remember your company name if they need something in the future. The more you can keep your name in front of people, the better. That's why the swag industry exists, and the companies that are most well known utilize swag so much.

If you do something on your vehicle, do it slick and snazzy. The printed skins for vehicles now are very affordable and you can get some graphic design work that will be really eye-catching.
 
Ask neighbors or friends

When we bought our (then 90 year old Victorian house) in 1984, we asked the seller for a list of tradespeople they used for work - - now I'll still ask friends/neighbors and/or check Angie's List or the BBB for references.

I've had good luck with folks I've found via Angie's List

Actually, we have some minor electrical work to be done - - planning to be in the Chicago area anytime?
 
I will respond tomorrow.
It's a "trifurcated" approach, imo.


1) Internet
2) referral
3) GC network

I will expand on all 3.
 
Trying Angie's List at the moment. I need to have a bonus room split into a bedroom and TV area and asked for about a dozen quotes and got... wait for it... one. Tried posting the work to KSL and got... wait for it... one more. Anyway, I didn't know how to find a reputable person/company to do it otherwise. So, if anyone is handy and wants to quote it, would love to have it. If you, bigb, would like to do the electrical part, let me know. :) Anyway, guess that tells you where I went to find someone to do the work.

I'm near the Ogden area.
 
bigb said:
I've made reference to it in other threads, but I've just taken over the family business. My dad retired, so I'm running the company.
A short history: my grandpa was an electrician, my dad was/is an electrician, I'm an electrician. Pops started this company in the mid 80's. He's been pretty successful. There were times he had 15+ employees. Since the market crash in '08, it's just been me and him. Most (90%) of our work is contracting. We have several General Contractors that we work for. I love that. We also have some apartment complexes and office buildings that we do maintenance work in. That's great, too. We get the occasional call out for service work. These are mostly people we've done work for in the past, or their friends/family.
So here's my question: when you need a professional to fix something, how do you decide who to call? Do you find an ad somewhere? Do you look for an online coupon? What do you do?
I ask because while I love doing my contractor work, I wouldn't mind getting more service work. It's basically guaranteed money as I give an upfront cost on my hourly rate; and then if it's a big fix, I give a bid on that. I don't really want to base my whole business on it as it can be very hit or miss, but I'm interested in expanding that. The old man never did any advertising and I'm looking at my options.
Click to expand...

Out of all the marketing that I tried when I was running my business KSl and google maaps is what brought in almost all of my business outside of word of mouth. Pay KSl to be one of the top featured in your county. Provide a link to your website. Make sure your google maps listing is detailed, accurate, has images, and again links to your site. Dex blows, Angies list is ok but you need to be more proactive with it, facebook didn't do much.
 
bigb said:
What are your thoughts on advertising on my truck? How likely are you to see a pickup truck with a business design on it and call that company?
What about fridge magnets?
Click to expand...

Absolutely not. I make a note of never calling the d-bag drivers. You are guaranteed to piss off a lot of people.
 
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