One of the most important parts about landing a job is to impress your clients right away, preferably before they even start working with you. This will greatly increase your consistency in landing more jobs, which is one of the most sought out skills in the business.
But how do you impress your clients? Well, contrary to what it might seem, this has little to do with going the extra mile and more to do with achieving baseline expectations. These may seem obvious, but many contractors fail to deliver on the bare minimum.
If you can land these and also add an extra mile there somewhere, you’re way ahead of the competition.
Punctuality
Lack of punctuality will hurt your reputation and the client’s trust in your service, and for obvious reasons. Failing to arrive on time for a meeting and missing deadlines in general is a huge turn off that screams “unprofessional” to whoever is working with you.
If you realize in advance you might be delayed for whatever reason, at least be sure to let the client know in advance as well. It’s better to explain yourself sooner rather than later, because no one likes to be left waiting.
Branding
In a general sense, branding consists of creating an identity around your brand and business. This involves the use of colors, your logo, even a specific feeling or “vibe” – but we don’t have to overcomplicate.
Basically, wear your brand. If you can afford to make some custom t-shirts for work, that’s excellent. If you can give your clients a pen with your logo, that’s awesome. Business cards are still important too, so be sure to walk around with some of those in your pocket.
The idea is to get people to recognize your brand and what it signifies. Successful branding means that people will instantly know what you do and how you do the second they spot your logo.
Online presence
The subject of branding bleeds into online presence as well, even though they are different things.
Your online presence represents how accessible you are in the online world. When people Google your service, how easily can they find you? When they click on your Facebook page, can they find all the info they need to contact you?
Many potential clients will Google your name or company to know more about you before hiring, so it’s important that they can find what they’re looking for –- whether that be your website, reviews from previous clients, etc.
It’s obvious then why you should focus on improving your online presence at every turn.
Customer service
Customer service is another broad topic that we could dive really deep into, but I’ll keep it short for this article.
You want your clients to have a good experience working with you. Customer service is how we call the area of expertise that encompasses this entire experience, from the first phone call to the final handshake.
This will involve a great deal of communication, problem solving, and managing expectations, but the ultimate goal is the same: make sure the client is satisfied all the way through.
Professional estimate
An estimate should not be a simple WhatsApp message or said without thinking over a phone call. You probably already know exactly how much something is going to cost, but presenting it this way really undermines the importance of your service.
Besides, an estimate presented in such a hasty manner makes it hard to negotiate later. If you find that the service will be harder than it seemed at first, you will now have to charge more, which will confuse the client further.
This is why you should always go for a detailed estimate. The client will be able to know exactly where their money is going and therefore understand what they’re paying for, making your job a lot easier in the process.
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