Want to grow your contracting business?
You could expand your operations, hire new team members, or buy new technology. That’s what many small businesses do.
But do you really want to do what the rest of the pack is doing? I’m guessing you don’t, especially when many businesses are facing obstacles that make typical growth strategies less effective.
Now is the time to dig deeper and upgrade your trade from the inside-out, establishing processes that sustain your business in the long term and allow you to achieve your full potential.
Fortunately, our friends at FieldPulse have recently published an ebook that explores how to do just that. Here are a few of their tips from Upgrade your trade: the ultimate business improvement guide.
1. Maximize efficiency by asking the right questions.
Inefficiency isn’t just frustrating, but costly. In fact, you can miss out on as much as 20% to 30% of your revenue due to inefficient processes.
FieldPulse recommends asking yourself a few important questions to get on the right track:
- Is my information well organized? If it’s not, you may need to use management software to keep track of everything.
- Could some of my meetings be converted to emails? Not every meeting really needs to be a meeting. If you’re losing productive hours to endless meetings, create an email template to help cut down on wasted time.
- Are my procedures too complicated or time-consuming? If so, take the time to sit down and reevaluate. You may want to automate or outsource tasks such as billing and job tracking.
2. Make marketing decisions with your customers in mind.
As FieldPulse rightly puts it, how you portray your business and how you interact with your clients are just as important as the work you deliver.
After all, transforming your business also means transforming how people perceive your business.
Hello, marketing!
In addition to having a great online presence, effective marketing includes distributing engaging content and staying in touch with clients and prospects through email and other channels.
Want to make your marketing more meaningful and authentic? Here’s a tip for contractors from FieldPulse: build an online community. They write:
“Online discussion forums are not only a great marketing play, they can also serve as a sounding board for your customers to provide feedback—yep, good and bad.
The more open and active you are with your customers, the more open they will be with you in return. But remember, a community is only as good as what you put into it, so be sure to commit to it as your business grows.”
3. Save money through smart outsourcing.
It’s not an unusual situation for a field service contractor:
You have more opportunities than your current team can handle… but you don’t have not enough money to hire more people.
That’s where outsourcing comes in.
We’re not suggesting you outsource everything. No one else can do the specialized work you and your employees are pros at!
But there are plenty of processes that have nothing to do with your trade and might be better left to a different kind of pro. We’re talking about outsourcing functions like:
- Human resources
- Payroll
- IT
- Website development
- Social media management
- Customer communication
Ruby has you covered with that last one. Learn how we create meaningful connections with new and existing customers online and over the phone.
Get the full guide from FieldPulse.
This is just a sample of FieldPulse’s ebook, Upgrade your trade: the ultimate business improvement guide.
Ready to grow your contracting business by optimizing your profits, efficiency, marketing, and scale? Click the button below to access the full guide.
