my workman ect

[IanAnderson]

In the end, you simply cannot beat referrals.

Half the time advertising just brings in clueless customers to don't have the savvy to remember building work done within their own circle of friends.

Its fine for the lower end of the work scale(no offence) but for decent stuff that people are prepared to pay the going rate for, I think there are better ways.

One thing that we used to do was make sure that you leave plenty, and I mean plenty, of your business cards (and I don't mean the cheap ones you printed yourself) or better still have a proper A4 leaflet printed up with an introduction, loads of photos of your work, customer testimonials that generally just say how blooming brilliant you really are.

Leave them with a satisfied customer, tell them to take them to work, social circle, heck even the pub.

Referrals work on so many levels, we found that we could even put up our prices and aim for really good quality work, how? Simple, person B isn't going to say no to you, when he knows that person A, (a neighbour say) who referred you, payed your fair but quality rates.

You may well need to advertise to get you started (I did, one advert, 25 years ago, none since!), but make the advert an "hey, I am new, I am good and I am starting up right now, call us" rather than just the standard "free quotes, discounts for OAPS, call us" stuff that really should be left for the bottom feeders (no offence).

Just a thought.......

 

[dcdec]

Totally agree with the above.

My local paper has the same names in it every month, one guy says he has 33 years experience, to me that rings alarm bells because if he hasn't built up a solid customer base in that time then you have to wonder why (and he's not new to the area). Another offers 10% OAP discount, not good having to offer a discount just to get a call.

I have to say though that checkatrade seems quite popular here down south, their growth rate seems quite good but i'm still not tempted as the system is open to falsified testimonies etc. Word of mouth cannot be beaten and its how i get my work but i would like to get a website so i can have some pictures, testimonies and i think its something thats almost expected these days with any company be it large or small, and for what myhammer etc would cost i can build and maintain a website much more cost effectively

 

[IanAnderson]

i would like to get a website so i can have some pictures, testimonies and i think its something thats almost expected these days with any company be it large or small, and for what myhammer etc would cost i can build and maintain a website much more cost effectively

Agree, and nowadays there are so may easy ways to put together a page with some photos and a short intro. Heck, you could even do it with a facebook page!

It was the same with my local paper, same names all the time, it does make you wonder doesn't it, especially as the ads are not cheap either.

You would think that repeat business, even just maintenance would have built up over 33 years!

 

[IanAnderson]

I have to say though that checkatrade seems quite popular here down south, their growth rate seems quite good

Also, maybe these schemes are getting a foothold because we as a nation are much more mobile that previous generations.

I read somewhere that in my old home town near Nottingham, 45% of house sales were to people moving in from out of the area.

Of course, lots of these people won't know who the good guys are, in fact I think I even wrote about how to find good tradesmen when you are new to town, ages ago, on wikihow if I remember right!

In the end it's all about trust, I lose count of how many people I used to hear saying "oh, I would get that done but who do you call?" Pure fear of getting ripped off or the job being done badly, I recon.

 

[dcdec]

I agree Ian, people are scared of being ripped off, all the cowboy builder tv programmes must get into the psyche of the public.

 

[HERTS P&D]

I agree Ian, people are scared of being ripped off, all the cowboy builder tv programmes must get into the psyche of the public.

That's why I always give my customers a fixed price with the added bonus of 'no fix-no fee'.

Andy

 

[steveosm]

hi , in response to the question does anyone use these sites, well yes /me. i only set a myworkman registration up less than 10 days ago. contacted 11 jobs which was of interest to me, "quoted on 5, and got all 5. pretty good conversion i think . having said that, you do need to travel upto 50 mile for some,so if you want to stay within 10 , this might prove more difficult. either way this is still better than any other site of simalar nature ,and the costs are cheaper . honest opinion have a go,it does work . steve@osm

 

[Alarm]

And then call Sainsbury or Tesco to get your car fixed, home painted, garden made-over?

Well The AA fix your boilers now

 

[FiremanT]

i only set a myworkman registration up less than 10 days ago. contacted 11 jobs which was of interest to me, "quoted on 5, and got all 5. pretty good conversion i think .

What are the fees? Do you pay per lead, succesful or not?

 

[steveosm]

fees paid were £30.00 per quarter, unlimited leads of which you do not pay for .like i said ,works fine for me . in fact just got back from leics, quoted on job ,got job week on monday,!!! 6 out of 11 getting better. steve@osmcontractors

 

[FiremanT]

i only set a myworkman registration up less than 10 days ago. contacted 11 jobs which was of interest to me, "quoted on 5, and got all 5. pretty good conversion i think .

What are the fees? Do you pay per lead, succesful or not?

EDIT: I was being lazy, and now looked myself
£30 per quarter is no great drama, but the nearest job to me was 24 miles - to replace a tap, which I assume the punter has already bought.

I agree with the comment about the same names in newspapers etc. But times are more dificult now, so it isn't as dodgy as it once was.

 

[IanAnderson]

I agree that times are hard right now for many. Much maintenance money is being mothballed and lots of new stuff just isn't happening as folk batten down the hatches.

If you are getting leads and its working, kudos to the scheme, you have to keep up with a changing world. Like they say, if you are standing still you are slowly moving backwards.

A scary thought someone said here the other day, our pensions will be paid for by people working for companies that have yet to be thought of and started. How's that for a dynamic society!
Cheers

 

[helpdad]

fees paid were £30.00 per quarter, unlimited leads of which you do not pay for .like i said ,works fine for me . in fact just got back from leics, quoted on job ,got job week on monday,!!! 6 out of 11 getting better. steve@osmcontractors

Are you in Granite Way, Loughborough?

 

[handyman77]

Im not doing to bad out of Trustatrader. Had a about 10 leads and 4 jobs from that in about 3-4 months, its paid for itself! dont bother with rated people they take the wee wee!

 

[steveosm]

not granite way.. loughborough