When reflecting on your approach, it’s good to consider how you come across to homeowners – being helpful, professional and genuine are highly valued traits.
Tweaking just a few things you’re doing, can help you build a homeowner’s confidence (and your own), giving them the boost they need to award their job to you.
We’ve collated a few of the qualities homeowners tell us they’re looking for in their tradespeople. Read on to see how you can consider these in your sales process.
1 – Listening and being transparent with the details
Homeowners appreciate transparency – it can be daunting to hire a tradie so they want to feel informed and confident that they understand what they’re getting.
By taking time to really listen to what your homeowner is saying – what they want to achieve, what constraints and stresses they might have, the budget and timeframes they’re working to – you can show them that their job is important to you.
- Talk to them about the steps you’ll take when doing the job and reflect this breakdown in your quote.
- Consider their situation and requirements when you’re putting together a plan for the job.
We had two flooring people quote for our job. The first was on site for about 5 minutes, and it felt like he was just there to get measurements so his office could quote. The second person took the time to listen to what we had planned for the space, looked at our drawings, looked at the flooring hiding under our existing carpet and vinyl. He explained what he’d need to do, talked to us about the order of work, his lead time for jobs and gave us helpful advice.
When you give a homeowner information to feel empowered to make a decision, they are more likely to move forward and award the job to you.
2 – Sharing your creativity
Homeowners might come to you with a vision for what they want to achieve – and your experience can enhance this. In particular, when a homeowner has a bigger job such as a kitchen or bathroom renovation.
Our kitchen installer spent time talking and listening to our design, our budget and hopes to achieve a kitchen design that reflected some of our personal style. He was creative and we were on the same page. He gave suggestions for flat pack cabinetry and custom work, helpful tips for sourcing materials – all to achieve a great kitchen for an unusually shaped space.
Tradies can often under-rate or forget that they are creative problem solvers. Share this with your homeowner to add to their vision. Problem-solving is all part of ‘taking care of them’, convincing them that you’re the tradie to choose.
3 – Follow through – doing what you say you will
Sometimes homeowners leave reviews and feedback that the tradesperson didn’t follow through with what they said they’d do, or that their communication style was slow and difficult.
We understand that there’s a difference of expectations, with homeowners wanting to engage with tradies, and for tradies, who spend most of the day on a job site.
Here’s a few tips for setting realistic expectations;
- When you start engaging with the homeowner – let them know what your process is, and the best time they can contact you.
- Set aside time for catching up on your messaging and paperwork – nurturing those homeowner leads will help you to build relationships and increase your chances of winning the job.
- If you commit to something – like a site visit or completion date – stick to the timeframes you’ve provided and if you can’t meet these timeframes, let the homeowner know why and what the new dates are as soon as possible.
Don’t be afraid to follow up with homeowners, persistently if necessary, if you need answers from them.
4 – Being personable
How you communicate with homeowners is important – whether over the phone, written or in person. If homeowners feel you come across as polite and professional they’re more likely to trust you. You want homeowners to award you the job, or if you’re not successful, leave a good communications review and share your name with friends.
Small things like giving your name or business name when you pick up or make a call to a homeowner can boost their perception of you.
And it may seem really obvious – but never use foul language. Occasionally we see inappropriate language being used in communications with homeowners and see homeowner reviews which site this as a reason for a bad review. Rise above and stay professional.
The goal when you’re pitching for work is to leave a homeowner feeling they can trust you and that you’ll complete their job to a high standard. A happy, confident homeowner is far more likely to award their job to you.
