Here Is How To Make Your Electrical Contracting Business More Effective
In a highly competitive environment, It is more important than ever to focus on producing high quality electrical quotes that will win your customers and generate profit for your business. We prepared four top tips for making sure you will make win-win electrical quotes!
Tip number one: Use a Template
Nothing seems amateur like a trashy looking quote, so make sure you're using a professional looking template that includes company name, logo, business number, address, contact details and payment acceptance terms. The template should also outline specific quote related details such as service and installation guarantees and leave plenty of room for sections outlining exactly what the quote includes or excludes. You can check PDFFILLER.COM which provides free Job Estimates Templates or either TEMPLATE.NET with subscription plans for Electrical Quotes Templates.
The template should be easy to use and customized for different types of quotes such as those for electrical service or installation and commercial or residential jobs. Most importantly, the quote template should include plenty of information on why a prospective customer should choose you instead of the next electrician.
Tip number two: Be Fast, Be Accurate
Time is money, so you should set a target of preparing quote within 24 hours (with template and a good system it is easy to do). Being able to provide professional looking quote in 24 hours or less which further demonstrates your professionalism, time management and prioritization skills.
You'll also need accurate pricing information on hand, so you don't have to guess the cost of the materials. Outline how you will deal with pricing additional work during the job. This is a good opportunity to design a process that works for you and your business rather than the customer's busy life.
Tip number three: Use Insights Not Guessing
Essentially a quote is an accurate estimate of the labour, materials and overhead costs required to deliver a particular outcome. However, without the proper data the estimate will be based on a guess or instinct rather than hard facts. For that reason, it's imperative that quotes are based on insights validated with data. To test and prove your assumptions you'll need a good job tracking and reporting process, systems or tools. With the right tools in place it's easy to track, measure and report on job profitability. You can compare historic estimates to actual profit and apply these data to new quotes. For example, you may have been grossly underestimating labour or overheads and overestimating materials.This information allows you to make important adjustments to your quotes moving forward to ensure you stay competitive and make money.
Tip number four: Always Follow Up
Always follow up with a phone call within few days after the quote was submitted to your customer. 2-3 days gives customers enough time to have gone through the quote, compared you to other electricians and have asked any questions they might have. You can download Google Calendar on your phone and set the app to remind you to call your customer on particular date and time. If the customer has already made a decision, and it wasn't you, then it's also a good time to find out status, answer any questions the customer might have.
Following these four steps should help your business move forward by consistently winning new profitable business.
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