Field service businesses such as local plumbers, HVAC providers, repair services, or cleaning services must juggle many moving parts to be successful. From booking and managing appointments to dispatching the right field service members, growing a service business requires hard work.
As if business owners weren’t already under enough stress, throw in a global pandemic, and many companies are still struggling to grow at a consistent pace. Thankfully, how to improve a field service franchise is significantly easier with the right approach on how to do so.
Ways to Grow Your Service Business
If you’ve been searching for strategic ways for how to grow your field service company, we’ve compiled a list of methods that will breathe new life into your company. Get started with the following tips.
New Marketing Ideas
One of the easiest and most beneficial ways to grow your field service business is through marketing. While it’s always a good idea to establish a well-rounded marketing strategy that consists of facets such as SEO or PPC campaigns, you should also focus your efforts on word-of-mouth advertising.
Ensuring each and every customer has a stellar experience with your company can go a long way in generating new business. The better the experience each customer has, the higher the chance that they’ll share their opinions about your business.
Consider how many times you’ve used a local electrician or cleaning service because you found them through a trusted family or friend. The same logic applies to business owners who want to gain more local traction.
Harnessing the power of online reviews is a further extension of word-of-mouth advertising. Encourage satisfied customers to talk about their experience with your business online via Google or Yelp reviews.
High-Quality Referrals
Referrals consist of one happy customer telling another potential customer about your business. Referrals are an easy way to grow your business, and you should lean on your social media profiles or other platforms where your customers can interact to generate additional referrals to your business.
You can use your social media profiles to prove that you’re a valuable resource to your customers. For example, if you are an HVAC company, you can post a short video with step-by-step instructions on how to switch out your filter. Or you can use humor such as GIFs or memes to connect to your audience on a more personal level.
Having a strong online presence is a simple way to drum up referrals that can turn into tangible business for your company.
Going Mobile
Another simple way to grow your small service business is through increased reliance on mobile apps for both your workers and your customers. While getting rid of face-to-face customer interaction is impossible in the field services industry, your business can use technology to take care of other areas of your business such as scheduling, online payments, sending receipts, and general client communication.
Customers expect convenience in all aspects of their life, even when it comes to booking a service from a local company. Make sure you are harnessing the latest technology to assist with processes such as payments, booking, inter-business communication, communication with the customer, etc. Nearly any aspect of how your company operates can be streamlined and made more efficient through the right mobile technology.
Cut Costs
Another way to improve your service business franchise is by cutting back on unnecessary costs wherever possible. This doesn’t mean you need to lay off your technicians to save money, however, there are small yet impactful ways to save money that as a business owner, you may not have considered.
For example, you can rely on subcontractors if you want to cut back on the number of salaried employees that you have. More and more companies are starting to take this approach. You can also consider using a field service app to optimize the route that each technician takes to arrive at the job, cutting down on wasted time between service calls.
Cutting costs often means replacing manual processes with streamlined, automated processes that come with the right field management software. Doing so will also directly benefit not only your employees but your customers.
Invest in Field Service Management
One of the simplest and most effective methods of growing your business is by investing in field service management software. At the end of the day, the best way to grow your company is by keeping your customers happy, which means not only meeting their demands but staying one step ahead of them.
As many field service providers are already enjoying their return on investment with the right field service management software, your small business must do what it can to keep up with emerging industry standards.
Doing your research on the different field management software that exists is an essential step in choosing an option that will provide both short-term and long-term growth for your company. Noteworthy features include options such as:
- Automated tracking tools to keep customers updated on when your field service employees will arrive at the job
- Customizable templates to easily send bulk emails
- Route optimization to cut back on wasted time
- Integrated technical support
The right field management software can take care of many moving parts of your business.
Conclusion
There are many ways to grow your service business to new heights. With a little bit of patience and with the right tools and knowledge on your side, you can continue to provide customers with unmatched levels of service to solidify your local reputation.
If you’re looking to explore one of the best field management software on the market, consider booking a demo with us at serviceminder.io today. Our software is designed to both automate and optimize your business to help attract more qualified leads. Book a free personalized demo today.