Make More Money as a Commercial Electrician by Doing less Work
When you’re self-employed, it’s easy to get bogged down in the daily tasks and lose sight of your larger goals. If you’re looking to make more money as a commercial electrician services, you need to focus on two things first — identifying your top selling products and services, and then outsourcing tasks that will free up more time to sell those products and services to new clients. Here are three ways you can make more money as a commercial electrician services by doing less work.
The Importance of Establishing Long-Term Relationships
A commercial electrician can always use help getting more commercial electrician services. And when it comes to helping contractors, few things are as beneficial as establishing long-term relationships with them. Commercial clients tend to seek out those companies with which they’ve developed relationships and trust over time. So, if you’re looking for ways to improve your business, try thinking outside of the box—outside of what you know—and identify potential clients who haven’t yet recognized your company’s value. Taking some time every week or month to connect with current customers and past clients will make all of your future connections easier and more successful.
Knowing Your Value to the Client
The electrician is an important part of any project, but he or she is not irreplaceable. If you’re charging too little for your services, clients won’t want to hire you and will be less likely to refer you in their future projects. Get familiar with how much your services are worth, so that you can charge enough to do good work while also turning clients into raving fans. For example, if it takes a residential electrician 8-12 hours of labor to install and wire high-end ceiling fan light kits in 2 rooms with standard switch placement, it may cost around $500-600 depending on labor costs. But if it takes an experienced commercial electrician just 4 hours to complete that same task, your price should be closer to $700-800.
Being Honest About Costs
Your first instinct might be to under-quote on projects, and that might work out fine in some cases. But in general, it’s better to give a rough quote of what you think something will cost and let clients decide if they want to proceed. Most commercial clients don’t want deals or bargains when it comes to their electrical systems—and they’re willing to pay full price for top-quality work (especially if you’re trustworthy). So don’t pretend everything is going to be cheap; it’s better to just give an honest quote up front. If your client decides not go with you because of price, so be it—you’ve given them all the information they need to make a decision!
Choosing Customers Wisely
Make sure you’re choosing clients wisely. They need to be companies that are repeat customers who will refer your business to others. If they are new clients and they sign a six-month contract, you can actually schedule them to come in every two months. That way, you make money off of something that isn’t really work for you and it keeps your schedule open for more lucrative jobs (or even lets you take time off). And if they cancel on you last minute? No worries, just reschedule them again in two months! It’s better than having a full schedule of one-time customers who never call back when they say they will anyway. Incentives for Referrals: Offer incentives for referrals so your existing customers know there’s no risk in recommending your services to friends and family—they’ll get rewarded for doing so. You can offer anything from free services to cash discounts or gift cards. However, remember not to incentivize people into saying bad things about competitors or encouraging others not to pay their bills on time. Not only is it bad karma, but it’s illegal as well! (And potentially grounds for lawsuits.) Just stick with offering referral bonuses when positive things happen—like paying you on time or coming back after an issue has been resolved with another contractor or vendor—that way everyone wins.
Do Good Work Every Time
In today’s world of commercial electrical work, customers want to know one thing: Can you do good work? You could be cheaper than all your competitors, but if you can’t get that price without doing shoddy work then why should anyone hire you? If your commercial electrical company is going to survive and thrive in today’s market, it has to do good work every time. Good electrical wiring is clean and efficient. And while it certainly can get done faster, there’s no such thing as a cheap fix-it job because these types of jobs often end up costing much more than just getting it right in the first place. So make sure your team knows how to go above and beyond what customers expect.
Treating Customers like Individuals
It doesn’t take much time to recognize that every single customer is different. Some customers will value your experience, some will value your prices, and some will just need some reassurance that they’re doing things right. Each of these people should be treated differently when you’re making commercial electrician services. However, because you don’t have time to get to know every single one of your customers personally, make sure to develop consistent systems in your business that allow you to treat each customer like an individual while getting paid like an expert at what you do! Be personal and be professional!
